It’s Procurement Appreciation Month, and although we’ve already kicked off the celebrations, we’re not ready to stop! Public procurement teams: we want—no, we need—to keep singing your praises because you truly are the unsung heroes of our communities. This month is also a very special milestone for our team here at Bonfire as we celebrate our 9 year anniversary in business. We’ve come a long way and we wouldn’t be where we are without our clients and an industry that continues to evolve, striving to find new efficiencies in their processes. With that, here’s 9 reasons to celebrate Procurement Appreciation Month: 

1. Recognizing the unsung heroes

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again. Procurement Appreciation Month gives us the opportunity to sing the praises of the traditionally unsung heroes. Many of your constituents—and most likely others who work in your agencies—don’t always realize what exactly you do, or how you do it, but for those ‘in the know,’ we understand how much you do, and the impacts you leave in your community.

2. The backbone of emergency response

You kept things running smoothly during COVID-19 lockdowns… but this isn’t the first major crisis you’ve handled. Whether it be global pandemics, snowstorms, hurricanes, forest fires, or flooding, you’ve rolled your sleeves up ready to work—and work fast. Your strategic thinking, vendor preparedness, and established workflow processes have got us through some challenging times.

3. Stewards of taxpayer dollars 

Public procurement isn’t just about getting the best price, it’s really about finding the best value in a way that’s compliant and transparent. This is often a guiding principle for public procurement teams because you’re not spending corporate dollars, you’re spending taxpayer dollars—as the saying goes, ‘spend it like it’s your own’, and that is exactly what you do. 

4. Defenders of fraud

Unfortunately, there are many organizations that would be happy to take advantage of your agency, and more specifically, your taxpayers’ dollars. But you’re armed and experienced to recognize the signs. You have detailed workflows and processes in place to ensure any vendors that your organization works with are vetted, approved, and certified to ensure fraud doesn’t creep its way in. 

5. Agents for social good

Public procurement teams have always been aware of the need to balance awarded contracts with Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE’s), but in the last year social justice movements gained momentum. It became clear to those in the industry that procurement departments have the opportunity to truly promote social good by creating a level playing field for diverse suppliers. It’s exciting to observe and support public procurement as you play a key role in supporting these social movements.

6. Advocates for community-based vendors

Public procurement teams are passionate about engaging their vendors and ensuring those vendors feel supported through effective two-way communication and transparent evaluation. The number one question we are asked here at Bonfire when procurement teams are evaluating our solution is: Will my vendors be happy? (Spoiler alert: yes!)  

7. Building a future

Public procurement isn’t just representative of government procurement; there are many facets and public education is a big piece of the puzzle. The procurement teams who work in the academic sector must be recognized for their work to ensure students have the best resources and environments to learn, grow, and prosper. The procurement decisions made in this sector help to define the next generation. 

8. Fueling the Bonfire Strategic Sourcing Solution

We’re so grateful to work with your procurement teams and be part of this community of professionals. You are constantly sharing feedback, ideas, and best practices with us and others in the field so that, together, you can improve and provide the best outcomes for your customers and constituents. It’s because of this natural desire to improve that Bonfire has also flourished. Your feedback has driven new features, enhancements, and helped to guide our product roadmap. Not to mention, you simply inspire and motivate us every day to put our best foot forward!

9. Returning your kind words

We work with over 450 public procurement teams across North America and thousands of procurement professionals. Every day we humbly receive emails or phone calls of gratitude, whether it’s because we got your team up and running on our solution within a month, or because our support team answered some questions for your vendor, or because we provided you with some best practices for building your latest RFP template. To take time out of your busy day to deliver these kind words is so much appreciated, and we thank you for that. 

“Thank you” from Bonfire CEO, Corry Flatt

Our CEO at Bonfire, Corry Flatt, wanted to take a moment this month to provide a special thanks to all those who work in public procurement…