SPANNERThe

Early Winter, 2009 Vol. 38, No.3

MARCH 17, 2010, 8:30-11:30AMGOING GREEN Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with MPPOA at our Sustainability Seminar, Lansing Community College

SAVE THE DATE MAY 7, 2010REVERSE TRADE FAIR Marriott Centerpoint, Auburn Hills

SEPTEMBER 23-24, 20102010 ANNUAL CONFERENCE “Get in the Game” Henry Center/Candlewood SuitesMichigan State University, Lansing

Members are Honored for their Success

The Top of the Park Place Hotel was the site of the annual MPPOA ban-quet and Awards Ceremony. Over-looking the bay, on a spectacular night, two members and an entity were honored for their outstanding achievements this year.

The Manager of the Year Award was given to Donna-Colley Andrews (pictured top right with co-worker Sheila An-

derson), of the Wayne County Airport Authority.

The Entity of the Year was given to the City of Rochester Hills. Ac-cepting the Award on behalf of the purchasing department (pictured

right) are Jean Farris, Supervisor of Procurement for the city and Buyer Lisa Cummins.

Buyer of the Year was awarded to Judith Schwarz, Purchasing Account Clerk for the Road Commission for Oakland County (pictured bottom right with last year’s recipient, Robert Rhein, from Oakland County.)

More inside about these awards. See page 3.

Everyone who attended the kick-boxing, exercise class agreed that this should be a component of EVERY annual confer-ence. For more photos, see page 4.

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NOW!2010 will be known as a year full of changes. Budget shortfalls, shutdowns, layoffs, and furlough days will be part of our new vocabulary. As profession-als, each day brings us new “opportunities” to do the best we can do and get ourselves prepared and to help our clients under some interesting circum-stances.

We had a smaller turnout at the Fall Conference than in the past, however, our small, but mighty group came away inspired to “Develop Our Effective-ness.” We heard about updates to the MITN system and changes in laws on Prevailing Wage. We heard about new laws coming into effect regarding water testing and we got our hearts pumping with a kickboxing. We learned about nutrition. We heard about Buy Michigan First from the State of Michi-gan, and about GSA contracts. We shared time together in celebrating other’s achievements our last night together, and we learned from each other as we shared experiences about our business and personal lives, along with a magic trick or two. We enjoyed the simple cool clear air of Traverse City from the beautiful view from our hospitality room overlooking the West Bay.

Congratulations to our MPPOA Award winners - Manager of the Year—Don-na Colley-Andrews --Wayne County Airport Authority; Buyer of the Year—Judith Schwarz, of the Road Commission of Oakland County; and Entity of the Year—Rochester Hills. Good job!

Be sure and save the date May 7th, 2010 our 3rd Annual Reverse Trade Fair. We already have vendors contacting us to get registered. Our goal is to get at least 90% participation from our members. The RTF helps support the schol-arships we use during the year for professional development. More agencies mean more vendors. More vendors means more scholarship monies. Start talking to your managers now!

The Board will be looking for help this year with our committees. The training workshops you have been requesting are being put on the schedule. Check the website.

It is easy in these days to despair. Don’t despair, there is hope. Hope comes from relationships of trust that go beyond economic struggles and status. Each of us has different skills and resources to share. We may not have finan-cial resources to help, but just letting people know you are there for them goes a long way. It is in these caring relationships for one another that we find a confident hope for our world!

—Stephanie

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Stephanie Robinson, CPPB City of Lansing

- 2 - Save The Date

MAY 7, 2010If anything has changed the nature or MPPOA, it’s the Reverse Trade Fair. At inception, everyone thought that it was a great way to bring vendors and buyers together. But, now, it’s much more than that.

Members have benefitted tremendously from the income to the organization that the Reverse Trade Fair offers. Because of its success, we have been able to offer free or reduced cost educational pro-grams, help out with certification costs and give a break to everyone with the expense of attending the annual conference. (This year was the lowest conference fee, ever!)

So—THE BIGGEST WAY YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE to your profes-sional organization is to take ONE DAY and devote it to MPPOA at the Reverse trade Fair.

This year the RTF is conveniently located at the Marriott Centerpoint, Auburn Hills, just off I-75. Watch mppoa.net for the posted schedule. It is designed to give plenty of time to get to the RTF and plenty of time to drive home within regular workday hours for most of our members.

Other benefits: 1. See many vendors in one day, instead of having to interrupt multiple days at work; 2. help the Michigan economy by making sure that you foster competition; and 3. Michigan businesses succeed, which helps us all.

LINDA NEWTON Walled Lake Schools

GENIEVIEVE HAYES State of Michigan

NEW MEMBERS

JODY MICHAEL Mott Community

College

HEIDI DZIAK CPPB

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority

NEWLY CERTIFIED

AMIE MERREN CPPB Cith of

Grand Rapids

LISA CUMMINS CPPB City of

Rochester Hills

CHRIS ADAMS ANNA MARIE ADNREW

CPPB Oakland Schools

SUSAN LEIRSTEIN CPPB, CPPO

City of Troy

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The Manager of the Year, Donna Colley An-drews, CPPB, CPPO, is the Procurement Projects Manager at the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA). Among other reasons, Donna was hon-ored because of her role in developing a P-card program for the department. In addition, Donna has generated thousands of dollars for WCAA by holding an online auction of items left at the airports (also including Willow Run) and at the Westin Hotel (also under WCAA authority.)

The challenges ahead of Colley-Andrews are immense, but 16 years of service in governmental purchasing and, as stated by one of those who nominated her for this award, her demonstrated values of “teamwork, accountability, customer satisfaction, employee respect, integrity and diversity” will serve her well.

Trash hauling, yes, trash hauling, is the contract that got Jean Farris and her staff at Rochester Hills notice for their Entity of the Year Award. In a fasci-natingly creative way, the contract not only saved money for residents, but also benefited the environment. In a guaranteed five year contract, residents

of Rochester Hills will save, in some cases, nearly half of their previous costs, and ad-ditionally take part in the Recycle Bank which rewards recycling with valuable discounts to local businesses. Not only do the businesses and residents win, but cumbersome contracts with multiple vendors are now eliminated. Prior to this, garbage trucks from a variety of contractors would be picking up trash nearly every day.

Jean Farris, a former president of MPPOA, and Lisa Cummins, an MPPOA board member and chair of the Professional Development and Recognition Committee, and the rest of the staff also contribute to the community in other ways. They sponsor the Greater Rochester Area Relay for Life, a Holiday Fun Night for employees and their families, and participate on the commu-nity’s “Festival of Hills” Committee.

Although Judy Schwarz, Account Clerk for Oak-land County, doesn’t have the title of purchasing agent, she is performing the functions of one, and is doing it happily, says her nominator, “for the personal satisfaction and experience. Her job as clerk has made her savvy, and she has developed skills that make her special.” Judy has been respon-sible for updating inventory descriptions to fit the item—a much needed improvement from the status quo. In addition, she has updated the forms for the department by interviewing their users, incorporating their ideas and generating the art necessary for printing.

Congratulations to all for receiving MPPOA’s honors in your profession!

Members Accept Honors

Debbie Scully and Bobby Moore-Narlock Retire

Debbie Scully, current MPPOA Secretary and long time board member has announced her retirement from the Macomb County Road Commission effective in mid-December. Debbie has contributed so much to MPPOA, it’s hard to know where to begin. Besides serving as an of-ficer, she has also chaired several committees, most notably Scholarships and Professional Recognition.

Debbie doesn’t know exactly what’s next. She is happy to be spending time right now with her husband, and their children, Megan, Melanie and Daniel. She has worked full time since she was 16 years old and has worked 24 years for the Macomb County Road Commission.

Bobby Moore-Narlock also retired. She was formerly a Treasurer for MPPOA and has been an active member in the organization. She retires from her position with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. Bobby has many other interests, and, though unavailable for comment, is likely to be found at craft shows throughout the year.

Annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award

Lansing Community College has received notice that it is one of the distinguished recipients of the 14th Annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement for 2009. This award is designed to recognize organizational excellence in pro-curement. The program measures innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership attributes of the procurement function.

This is LCC’s seventh AEP award. Other mem-bers agencies receiving the Achievement of Excellence Award are: City of Kalamazoo, City of Rochester Hills (award winner since 2004), and the City of Troy (award winner since 2003),

Visit the National Purchasing Institute at: www.nationalpurchasinginstitute.org.

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2009 ANNUAL CONFERENCE-4-

Ken Wasco, from Gordon Food Service, kicked off the annual conference by a very inspiring talk entitled, “Harnessing your Effectiveness.” Ken’s presentation and his book, “LIVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT,” tell how high achievers separate themselves from low achievers.

As always, Maryellen Jansen’s attention to detail kept the conference rolling along smoothly.

While attendance was not the best for an MPPOA annual conference, key people were there to learn and network.

Janine Rossi told about the new look of BidNet, the parent company of the MITN network. BidNet now makes it easier to see who is downloading RFPs and has streamlined usage for vendors.

Dan Argentati and Ron Metevier from the Michigan Fair Contracting Center spoke on Compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act and the laws regarding the prevailing wage. Both are available for more ques-tions at (877) 611-MFCC.

Allison Crews & Ernest Love, U.S. General Services Administration, Great Lakes Region, were on hand to tell members about GSA contracts. Ernest Love urged members to call with questions at (312) 622-5775.

Keri Bright served as Mistress of Ceremonies during the Award Ceremony at the An-nual Banquet.

Bob Palaner, H-O-H Water Technology, gave specifics on how to protect our most pre-cious resource: water. To reach Bob about water purifying systems, call (248) 669-7135.

Genevieve Hayes, Manager of the State’s Business Develop-ment Unit explained Recovery Act projects, including the MiJumpStart, Buy Michigan First, and the MiDeal programs.

Not only did our minds get a vigorous workout, but our own Kim Graham led a class in kickboxing and the mind-body con-nection was made! Kim later gave information about how to maximize nutrition in the workplace.

- 5 - 2009 Forum

in St. Louis

The state of Michigan was again well-represented on a national level at the NIGP Forum. Stephanie Robinson (second from right in the top row, below) took part in special events for chapter presidents.

Harle Robinson (bot-

tom left) was in atten-dance. With him is Doug Glaser, City of Dearborn, who also serves on an NIGP committee.

John Denhof (right), Kent County, is regularly seen at the Forum, working hard to learn the latest from the NIGP seminars.

Nick Lam, (pictured above with his

wife), received the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award. Congratulations to Nick!

Cheryl McCaffery, County of Kala-mazoo, has finished serving her term as a committee member for NIGP.

We’ll be contacting you.

Watch for an email requesting information about the CEO of your entity. A brochure telling about MPPOA has been developed, and we’d like those who are in charge in your entity to know why it’s so important that you are part of this dynamic organization.

We’ll be in touch!