SEMCOG recently hosted a SEMCOG University webinar entitled “Unlocking Local Prosperity – Collaborative Purchasing for Every Michigan Community,” breathing some life into a topic familiar to many.
Squeezed budgets, staff shortages, and rising expectations challenge Southeast Michigan’s cities, villages, townships, counties, and education organizations to deliver great services. In this context, purchasing processes could provide opportunities for cost savings and community enhancement. Re-evaluating processes that seem to be working well can be especially challenging for communities without a full-time purchasing team-a reality many of us share. However, taking a fresh look can uncover opportunities for greater efficiency, cost savings, and long-term success.
Partnering with the Michigan Municipal Services Authority (MMSA), the Alliance for Innovation (AFI), and Civic Marketplace, SEMCOG was happy to offer a webinar to help empower local governments and schools – large or small – access to fully compliant, competitively bid contracts, simple purchasing tools, and a pathway to keep more taxpayer dollars working locally. The webinar included a presentation by Ron Holifield, President, Civic Marketplace; Samantha Harkins, CEO, MMSA; Rebecca Fleury, Senior Vice President, Strategic Government Resources, Inc.; and SEMCOG staff.
At this webinar, local elected officials; township, village and city managers; department managers; finance managers; and procurement managers and their staff learned about:
- Economic development upsides – Thinking about collaborative purchasing in terms of cooperative bids that can channel business to Michigan/regional/local suppliers
- Accessibility for all vendors – Technical help and statewide/national visibility that opens doors for small and diverse businesses to access a larger pool of potential clients
- Transparency and compliance – Sharing nationally-vetted best practices ensure painless audits and avoid politics
- Real‑world wins – Learning how other communities accelerated projects and stretched dollars using collaborative purchasing best practices
Has your community been considering a new approach to purchasing? Or, do you think you’ve got a best practice to share in this aspect of local government or school operations? If so, let us know what you’re doing now, or what you’ve got in mind for future contracts for goods, services, and professional services.
Locals Lead
This webinar was hosted as part of SEMCOG’s Locals Lead Initiative, which showcases the vital role that local leaders have in adopting innovative and collaborative approaches that foster resilient, vibrant communities. The Locals Lead Initiative offers practical training on successfully dealing with challenging issues by underscoring the value of collaboration, partnerships, and civility in local government.
Leave a Reply