The Governor’s Fiscal Fitness team, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, and R.I. Division of Purchases this week joined forces to offer “Open for Business,” a free, first-of-its-kind vendor-assistance training program at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Crossings in Warwick.
The half-day workshop, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., highlighted recent changes in the way the state makes purchases and does business with vendors.
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Recent work by Fiscal Fitness and the Division of Purchases include online “reverse auctions” and more aggressive negotiating by combining multiple state agency needs, resulting in increased “leveraged buying” power, said a Sept. 20 state news release. “Fiscal Fitness has worked with the state’s purchasing team to make some great improvements, making things easier for the vendors and getting better prices for the state, but it’s still just the tip of the iceberg,” Dan Majcher, director of Fiscal Fitness, said in the news release. “We know the vendors will be happy with what they walk away from.”
Workshop highlights included: 8:30 a.m. – welcome, Saul Kaplan, director of the RIEDC; keynote address, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri; 9 a.m. – “What’s new at the R.I. Division of Purchases?” Brian Stern, state purchasing agent and executive director of the R.I. Department of Administration; 9:30 a.m. – “State Purchasing – Unraveling the Mystery,” Jerry Moynihan, administrator of purchasing systems; 10:30 a.m. – Vendor registration and processes, Lorraine Hynes, assistant director of purchasing; 11 a.m. – “Purchasing from an Agency Perspective”; 11:30 a.m. – a 45-minute question and answer session.
Further information on the session, and on the state purchasing changes, is available online at riptac.ecenterdirect.com.
