Industry: Public

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… 

COVID-19 has undoubtedly exposed just how critical (and difficult) the role of public procurement is. Vaccine sourcing and distribution, vendor diversification initiatives, and supply chain shortages have thrust municipal procurement teams in the spotlight as you navigate these unchartered waters.

As you innovate and adapt to respond to the crisis now and prepare for a post-pandemic future, it’s more important than ever for public procurement professionals like yourself to connect with your peers to learn from their experience. That’s why, here at Bonfire, we hosted our first 2021 virtual user meet-up for municipalities from February 23 to 26. These sessions, spread over the span of four days, brought together procurement professionals from over 40 cities and counties from across North America. Here’s an insider look into what attendees learned. 

Day 1: Procurement in 2021 panel

We kicked off the meetup week with Bonfire’s Chief Client & Product Officer, Omar Salaymeh, speaking to the growth of our municipal client base and the trends we’ve seen across municipalities. We introduced the virtual audience to the over 40 organizations that had registered for sessions—setting the tone for a week full of collaboration and networking across regions.

The real show stopper of the day was our Procurement in 2021 panel. Ron Shoram, Business Analyst at Fairfax County, dove into his recommendations for supporting and aligning his county’s 70+ procurement stakeholders. Crystal Vandermeulen, Procurement Analyst at the City of Kamloops, grabbed everyone’s attention by sharing how her team rolled out a vendor performance program. Shawn Garris, Procurement Analyst at the City of New Haven, shared his recommendations for designing and maintaining a vendor diversity initiative. 

Day 2: Peer-led toolkit session

Marla Bossons from the District of North Cowichan kept a captive audience as she dove into her best practices using Bonfire’s intake, projects, and lifecycle modules. She kicked off her session sharing that after 20 years in the finance department, she expanded the scope of her role into procurement 6 years ago and formalized their procurement rollout. Marla highlighted how she uses Bonfire to:

• Achieve a consistent, defensible, and transparent process throughout the lifecycle of a project
• Get notifications and reminders so nothing slips through the cracks when it comes to renewals, insurance reminders, rate changes, evaluations, and more
• Easily access all procurement information in one central location
• Provide stakeholders with a quick glance at the status of projects

Marla received lots of questions throughout her session and left attendees with plenty of tips and tricks. 

Day 3: Meet the Bonfire product team

Day 3 was all about giving our clients insight into what’s to come in the Bonfire platform. We gave a sneak peek into our upcoming Approvals feature, which is designed to consolidate approvals at every stage of the procurement process in one central place. 

At Bonfire, our product roadmap has always been inspired by our rockstar clients, so we always appreciate an opportunity to get feedback and ideas on how the platform can better serve them. We divided clients into smaller breakout rooms to discuss what they love about being a part of the Bonfire community, and how we can integrate those benefits in the platform. There was a collective feeling that procurement isn’t meant to be done in a silo, and there were lots of ideas on ways clients could learn from their Bonfire peers to improve and streamline their process through the platform.

To end the day, we discussed the challenges that come with tracking vendor diversity, especially given some recent policy changes that have made it even more critical. Teams discussed how they manage these challenges today, and how Bonfire as a partner could improve this very critical step of the process. 

Day 4: Municipality roundtable

This day was entirely dedicated to focused discussions centered on topics most pressing for municipalities in 2021. Topics of discussion that emerged in these breakout rooms included:

• How Bonfire was able to connect procurement with suppliers amidst nationwide PPE shortages
• Tracking supplier diversity and ways Bonfire can assist with tracking and reporting
• Supplying services and products necessary to ramp up vaccine rollout efforts 
• Using Bonfire alongside an ERP
• How COVID increased the need for an efficient and effective process, exposing ways old processes and systems weren’t supporting public procurement in the way they needed
• Transitioning vendors to an online submission platform

Overall, it was a fantastic week full of shared client insight, networking, and a look into municipal procurement in 2021. For a look into upcoming virtual user meet-ups, visit our website!

Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives released the full text of the $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Bill formally cited as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. In the bill is an appropriation of $130.2 billion for the Fiscal Recovery Fund to mitigate the fiscal effects on local governments stemming from the public health emergency. According to the latest report by ICMA, over 84% of local governments in the United States had revenue negatively impacted because of COVID-19, and federal aid to supplement the grants provided through the 2020 CARES Act is considered a critical need.

The appropriation, as proposed, will be distributed 50% to Cities and Nonentitlement Units of Local Governments and 50% to Counties.

The distribution of $65.1 billion of payments to Cities and Nonentitlement Units of Local Governments are further divided into:

• $45.57 billion to Metropolitan Cities or municipalities with a population over 50,000; and
• $19.53 billion to Nonentitlement Units of Local Government or municipalities with a population under 50,000.

The allocation of payment for Metropolitan Cities is pursuant to the formula under section 106(b)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306(b)(1)), except that, in applying such formula, the Secretary shall substitute ‘all metropolitan cities’ for ‘all metropolitan areas’ in each place it appears. Basically, the allocation will be in direct proportion to each city’s population.

There is no capped amount for Metropolitan Cities, but the capped amount for Nonentitlement Units of Local Government may not exceed the amount equal to 75% of the most recent budget for the Nonentitlement unit of Local Government as of January 27, 2020.

The remaining $65.1 billion are for payments to counties within the 50 States, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The amount allocated will be based on each County’s population as reserved under the Fiscal Recovery Fund.

There are special rules and definitions for urban counties and counties that are not Units of general local government, and consolidated governments. For the purpose of this proposed legislation, the District of Columbia is regarded as a single county.

A metropolitan city, Nonentitlement Unit of Local Government, or County receiving a payment from funds made available under this section shall only use such amounts to:

1.  respond to or mitigate the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) or its negative economic impacts;

2.  cover costs incurred as a result of such emergency;

3.  replace revenue that was lost, delayed, or decreased (as determined based on revenue projections for the metropolitan city, Nonentitlement unit of local government, or county as of January 27, 2020) as a result of such emergency; or

4.  address the negative economic impacts of such emergency.

Using a nonofficial and rudimentary methodology to estimate the distribution using U.S. Census data for 2019, the following apportionments are approximations of what might be expected by Metropolitan Cities and Nonentitlement Units of Local Government:

This map will be updated continually as the formulas and definitions are more crystallized.

The new aid could make all the difference for local governments needing to make tough decisions this year about essential worker layoffs, distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, and other public health and safety initiatives. The legislation was passed by Congress on Saturday and will now be passed on to the Senate for approval this month.

This article was originally published in the Questica newsroom.

For more information on maximizing your COVID-19 funding, download this essential guide.

Our friends at The Institute for Public Procurement have declared March as “Procurement Appreciation Month” and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate the too-often unsung heroes of public agencies. Procurement Appreciation Month is celebrated throughout the month of March and is dedicated to honoring public procurement professionals. It provides a more formal opportunity to take time to thank all public procurement teams for the work they accomplish throughout the year. 

Here at Bonfire, we are passionate about supporting our public procurement clients and ensuring their success. We’re always amazed at the lengths they go to in order to make things happen and support their teams or their internal clients. 

We ran a questionnaire for our Bonfire employees and asked them “How do you describe our clients?” The answers included key words like heroes, hustlers, innovative, caring, and front-line supporters. Especially in the last year of COVID-19, teams have risen to the challenge and found new ways of working while ensuring day-to-day operations take on little to no impact amidst the disruption. 

Many of our clients have also won awards recently and we couldn’t be more proud! The Ventura County Government procurement team announced that they were awarded the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement from the National Procurement Institute (NPI). Congratulations team! Procurement Manager Cliff Chroust shared his excitement for the win and said, “The 2020 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement award arrived!!! It’s a great procurement team that makes this happen!” 

Thank you to all of the Bonfire procurement heroes who push the boundaries of innovation and inspire our team to come to work every day and think of new functionality to support you. We love being a part of your team!

With vaccines now rolling-out across all states and provinces, the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel is becoming brighter. But, for procurement teams, the pressure that started in March 2020 continues to mount as procurement plays a key role in setting-up vaccine clinics and supplying their agencies with the goods they need to fully and safely open.

As public agencies are setting their sights on our next normal, supply chains are showing signs of recovering, new suppliers are appearing, and more products are available through existing suppliers. All of this provides new opportunities for public agencies to grow their vendor pool. One of the best ways to find these new suppliers is by using commodity codes, such as the UNSPSC commodity codes and the NIGP commodity codes in public solicitations.

Using commodity codes is an effective way to make sure that qualified suppliers are aware of opportunities at your agency. For example, commodity codes can be used in Bonfire to invite all suppliers of that commodity to bid when the opportunity is published.

To help procurement teams everywhere, Bonfire has created a cheat sheet of UNSPSC commodity codes and NIGP commodity codes for commonly required emergency supplies. Here’s a sneak peek:

UNSPSC Commodity Codes

NIGP Commodity Codes

The full cheat sheet includes thermometers; sterilization, disinfectant, and antiseptic agents; PPE; and tents and partitions. Download it for free and save it as a desktop reference.

As a public agency, you support your vendor community and you also depend on them. In order to ensure you receive the best value for your procured goods or services (and that you’re spending taxpayers’ dollars most effectively!), you need competition. And that starts with getting your opportunity in front of more qualified vendors. 

Bonfire eProcurement’s vendor database helps public procurement agents flag suppliers when a bid is posted that matches their commodity code. Additionally, users can invite vendors to bid on their opportunity as well.  

That all sounds well and good for my procurement team, you may say, but what about my vendors? We get it—nurturing strong vendor relationships is one of your top priorities. The last thing you want is to frustrate them with a confusing and arduous submission process.

So what do vendors that do business with public agencies think of Bonfire? We’ll let the numbers speak for themselves:

• In the last year, Bonfire doubled the number of vendors that public agencies have access to in the platform, with approximately 250,000 vendors in the database. 
• Vendors can access Bonfire opportunities, view requirements, and submit bids entirely online, at no cost.
• Vendors have the option to subscribe to Bonfire Premium Vendors, allowing them to access an exclusive portal featuring 20,000+ new projects a year, as well as receive notifications of matching opportunities. Suppliers love the features so much that we saw Premium Vendor subscriptions grow by 724% in the past year.

Responding to public bids is easy: A Bonfire vendor story

Kokosing Industrial is one of the largest water and waste-water general contractors and design builders in the USA. They use Bonfire to electronically find, manage, and respond to construction RFPs issued by a Bonfire client, as well as other public sector agencies.

When their client first started using Bonfire, they had some apprehensions about how the submission process would work, and how much extra time would be required to sort through technical challenges. As Preconstruction Manager at Kokosing, Dennis Tinkler, explains, “When you’re trying to figure out technology and make sure it works, sometimes it’s a challenge. But quite frankly, we didn’t have any problems with Bonfire and that’s truly what I appreciated.”

Some of the benefits Kokosing Industrial experienced as a Bonfire vendor include:

• Visibility – They can view all bid documents, requirements, public notices, and timelines in one centralized place
• Upload confirmation – They receive confirmation of successful document upload and data entry that clearly indicate the information has been correctly submitted. Once the response is submitted, they receive a timestamped submission receipt.
• Communication – They can receive and reply to communications through Bonfire so all information is tracked, transparent and centralized.
• Paperless – No more emails, curriers, or undocumented phone calls.

To learn more about how Kokosing Industrial uses Bonfire to electronically find, manage, and respond to construction RFPs, check out the video here.

The COVID-19 virus is on the rise again and lockdowns continue across North America. And now, public procurement teams are facing a whole new challenge—sourcing and distributing vaccines.

It’s a daunting time, but also a time of great innovation. Industries are adapting new processes and technologies that they may not have ever considered before, or they may not have expected to implement for another few years. The field of public procurement is no different—we’re seeing an industry that has traditionally not been first-adopters of new technology, now adapting quickly to keep business flowing as usual. Truly, the teams behind the hand sanitizers we see in every public sector building are heroes as they have found new ways to maintain status quo in a turbulent year. 

Through COVID-19, Bonfire has witnessed first-hand how public procurement teams have used our solution and, specifically, how our procurement software has supported emergency scenarios. To enable your team to continue to adapt to the curveballs that COVID-19 has thrown your way, or to prepare for future emergency situations, here are two key Bonfire Strategic Sourcing Software functionalities that are here to help:

Vendor Databases for Emergency Procurement

For both regular and emergency procurements, Bonfire can suggest vendors based on commodity codes, so clients can build invite lists quickly. You can save these lists as a roster of vendors who can support emergency situations, or you can use the functionality on-demand. Once the list is prepared, you can invite the vendors to bid on the proposal and then immediately close the project (for example, if your agency has an emergency procurement policy, it may allow you to close projects sooner than usual after running an invitational). Bonfire even has built-in best practices that recommend how long a project should be open for. However, you also have the ability to override the timeline, which is particularly useful in emergency situations. 

We’ve even seen cases with our clients successfully completing one-day project turnarounds, which is almost unheard of in the public sector. This type of scenario allows you to get the submissions online with the same digital (or “contactless”) means as before, while maintaining rigorous security and transparency obligations in an emergency situation. 

Centralized Emergency Documents

Emergency documents can be created and uploaded in Bonfire and stored in a centralized place to outline procedures during an emergency situation. Bonfire offers the capabilities to store these documents safely, but the documents and procedures themselves—as well as the legal decisions as to how to proceed in an emergency—are decided upon by the client. Having a place to store such a document, however, provides you with the peace of mind in case you are audited in the future and need to reference your emergency procurement procedures.

How Municipal Procurement Teams Transformed in 2020

As a procurement professional, you have had to adapt on-the-fly to address the changing needs of your constituents during COVID-19. We dug into the Bonfire database, and comparing usage in 2019 vs. 2020, here’s an inside look at how municipal government procurement projects have changed:

• 350% increase in communications devices and accessories
• 285% increase in computer services
• 150% increase in consumer electronics
• 67% increase in data voice or multimedia network equipment or platforms
• 1300% increase in information technology service delivery
• 122% increase in software

To ensure a contactless government experience, or to ensure government employees can work from home seamlessly, municipal governments had to quickly and compliantly source the right technology. And Bonfire was there to help.

To learn more about how Bonfire can help your procurement team navigate emergency procurements during the pandemic and beyond, talk to a Bonfire expert today.

On December 27, 2020, the new U.S. $900 billion stimulus bill was signed into law. The package includes stimulus checks for individuals, enhanced federal unemployment benefits, relief for businesses, funds for vaccine distribution, and more. For the public sector, new funding has been introduced to support schools and transportation, and for state and local governments, CARES Act funding has been extended.

For public sector procurement teams, here’s what you need to know.

New aid and extended deadlines

With the new stimulus package, colleges and schools will receive $82 billion, including $22.7 billion earmarked for colleges and universities and $54.3 billion for elementary and secondary education. 

Transportation will receive $45 billion, including $16 billion for another round of airline employee and contractor payroll support; $14 billion for transit; $10 billion for highways; $2 billion for intercity buses; $2 billion for airpots; and $1 billion for Amtrak. 

For reference, Coronavirus-related spending in 2020 totalled $30 billion for K-12 and higher education funding, and $25 billion for Mass Transit funding.

Although no new money was earmarked for state and local governments, the deal would give them an additional year to spend the $139 billion appropriated under the CARES Act.

Requirements for expenditures

With the deadline to use your CARES funding extended beyond the original December 30, 2020 deadline, it’s time to consider how to maximize your unused funds to respond to challenges caused by COVID-19.

The Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) covers some of those more obvious expenses—like establishing temporary public medical facilities or disinfecting public areas—but it also covers some indirect costs related to COVID-19, like expenses to improve telework capabilities for public employees working from home.

As you consider how to leverage your funding, keep in mind these three requirements for CRF eligibility:

• Necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency. This includes expenses for public safety measures (such as maintaining social distancing), improving remote work infrastructure, and more. The Department of the Treasury includes a nonexhaustive list of eligible expenses in this guide.
• Costs not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020.
• Costs incurred during the period between March 1, 2020, and the end of 2021. 

Using CARES to purchase procurement software

Government agencies across the country are using CARES funding to invest in procurement software. The City of San Angelo, Texas, for instance, used CARES to buy online bidding software to maintain social distancing by eliminating the need for in-person proposal submissions, courier deliveries, and physical bid openings. 

Investing your CARES dollars in an online bidding solution (like Bonfire) can serve as a force multiplier, driving greater impact even with limited resources. In emergency situations, these tools can help you get the goods and services your citizens need quickly and compliantly. By streamlining manual tasks, increasing vendor competition, and fostering stakeholder collaboration, digital solutions can help drive best value in your bids and RFx, setting up your agency to thrive during the pandemic and beyond. 

According to Terry White, IT procurement expert covering procurement and disruptive technologies at Omdia, “It has never been more important for government procurement teams to strengthen, stabilize, and regulate the procurement process with digital tools. Work from home, flexible working hours, and the need for rapid and efficient processing and evaluation of bids demands it. If not for the government agency themselves, then for the citizens they serve.” 

To learn more about digitizing your procurement process with CARES, chat with a Bonfire expert today.

Established by the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) is here to help State and some local governments respond to COVID-19. The Fund covers some more obvious expenses—like establishing temporary public medical facilities or disinfection of public areas—but it also covers those indirect costs related to COVID-19, like expenses to improve telework capabilities for public employees working from home.

We’ve previously talked about how governments can use their CARES Act funding to deliver services to communities faster than ever before with procurement software. So now what? What are the eligibility requirements for CRF dollars and how can you ensure that you’re being compliant as you’re investigating software options? We’ve got you covered. Three requirements for CRF eligibility were highlighted in recent guidance from the Department of the Treasury. In this blog, we’ve outlined how to identify procurement software that aligns with all three requirements so that you can spend your CRF dollars worry-free.

Are your expenditures necessary to address COVID-19?

The first requirement states that CRF may only be used to cover costs that “are necessary to expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency, with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” In their list of nonexclusive examples of eligible expenditures, the Department of the Treasury mentions expenses for public safety measures (such as maintaining social distancing) as well as expenses to improve telework capabilities for public employees.

First of all, if vendors were previously coming into the office to drop off proposals, or were mailing them in, procurement software can help maintain social distancing and limit face-to-face contact by providing vendors with an easy and convenient online submission process. Unlike email vendor submissions, which can open your agency up to significant legal risk, keep an eye out for procurement software that is built for the rigor and rules of North American public sector procurement, so you can remain rest assured that you’re maintaining compliance.

And if your team is working remotely, you can award contracts seamlessly with online bid and RFP evaluation. You can also ensure project continuity while your team is working from home with built-in communication and collaboration tools.

Were the covered costs not accounted for in your budget?

Additionally, CRF may only be used to cover costs that “were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government.”

This means that, even if you didn’t budget for procurement software this fiscal year, the CARES Act provides a unique opportunity to digitally transform your procurement process to make it more efficient, more collaborative, and more adaptive to emergency situations.

Are the costs incurred before December 30?

Lastly, the CARES Act provides that payments from CRF may only be used to cover costs that “were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.”

Guidance from the Department of the Treasury clarified that for a cost to be considered to have been incurred, performance or delivery must occur during the covered period but payment of funds need not be made during that time. So as long as you have implemented the software before December 30, the cost is considered “incurred,” even if you haven’t made a payment.

Since the December 30 deadline is fast-approaching, signing on with a software vendor that enables quick and organized implementation is critical. Although some solutions require 6-12 month implementations, eProcurement providers like Bonfire can provide successful implementations in as little as two weeks. Just make sure that, before signing the dotted line, you and your vendor are aligned on implementation outcomes to ensure you’re up and running with the new software before December 30.

Want more tips on how to find COVID-related funding, apply it to your missions, and multiply that funding to maximize outcomes? Download this guide full of practical insights on how to use your CARES funding as a catalyst for digital transformation that will help you thrive during the pandemic and propel you into the future.