Hello AZNIGP Members-
Okay everyone, I want you to get on your feet, raise your hands in the air and sing along with me to Kool & the Gang’s hit song Celebrate! “Celebration Time, Come On!” “Let’s all Celebrate and Have a Good Time” And, boy, do we have some Kool things to celebrate.
First off, let’s celebrate our Chapter members who have recently achieved professional certification. This is truly an amazing accomplishment that requires significant effort, dedication, and perseverance. Each and every time a procurement professional achieves certification, they not only benefit, but our Chapter benefits, and our profession benefits. And special thanks to Maria Hernandez, CAP, and Telma Bearden, CAP, who create the learning environments that help our members succeed. So, just when you thought we were done singing, “It’s Time to Come to Together” and raise a glass to our freshly minted certification recipients:
New CPPB’s:
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Lorraine Barbacano
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City of Mesa
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Vicky Edwards
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Town of Marana
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Takiya Greene
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City of Avondale
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Nila Henson
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State Procurement Office
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Marilyn Layton
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State Procurement Office
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Karen Stallings
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State Procurement Office
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Rudy Torres
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Town of Marana
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Christina Ulman
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Mohave Educational Cooperative
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New CPPO’s:
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Janine Locke
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Industrial Commission of Arizona
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Jesse Atoigue
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Department of Child Safety
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Marsha Chavez
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City of Avondale
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Jessica Leasure
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Deer Valley Unified School District
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New NIGP-CPP’s
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Diana Landeros
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Town of Queen Creek
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Amy Turner
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City of Phoenix
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“Celebration Time, Come On!” We’re not done celebrating yet!!
Last month our Chapter conducted its 14th annual Reverse Vendor Trade Show at ASU West. It was a smashing success! The event welcomed 625 vendors along with 116 Chapter members representing 37 public entities. Danielle Hartke, State Procurement Office, and Victoria Wride, Department of Child Safety, led this monumental effort, supported by a stellar committee that delivered a polished event that truly Celebrated the important partnership our profession shares with the supplier community. The positive revenue generated from this event will help fund scholarships and professional development opportunities for our members. I want to take a moment and thank all of our attending public entities who volunteered their time, arrived early to help prepare, and supported our valued vendors throughout the day. Now that’s a team effort worth Celebrating!
What better way to Celebrate our entire membership then to release our General Survey which will invite your thoughts and ideas on how to improve our AZNIGP Chapter. This survey will be published in early July so please keep an eye out for it. Chapter leadership is excited to receive your candid feedback so that we can grow and excel as a Chapter. With more than 500 members in our Chapter, it’s important that we hear from all of you in order to properly chart our future course. I want to emphasize that this survey is completely anonymous and it has been designed that way to ensure we receive your valuable, candid feedback. So, please respond and share your thoughts and opinions when you see the invitation that will be released in early July.
Finally, I want to Celebrate one of the most important functions we perform as Procurement professionals –cost savings. Our ability to control, reduce, and avoid costs sometimes gets overshadowed by the multitude of responsibilities we perform. Yet our ability to interact with the marketplace on a micro level has enormous impact on the macro level. Our tenacity in seeking competition for every public dollar, our negotiations skills in driving lower costs and greater value, our diligence in recovering overpayments, applying our market knowledge when working to reduce excessive contract renewal price increases - all of these individual actions contribute to the success of our organizations.
And more importantly, when those micro efforts are combined throughout our professional community on a local, state and national level, those discreet actions become significantly magnified, creating a tidal force that helps shape macro-economic trends including inflation rates, interest rates, etc. Let’s never forget the vital role we each play in controlling costs for the benefit of not only our organizations and communities but the greater economy. So the next time you are able to shave 3% off a contract renewal, think about the small ripple you just created that will move throughout the economy, combining with other ripples of similar cost savings efforts that will grow and strengthen into a tidal wave that will touch and impact all areas of our vibrant and dynamic economy.
I never cease to be amazed by the tremendous responsibilities that we have been entrusted with as public procurement professionals. I am honored to share and Celebrate those responsibilities with all of you.
So, take a moment and reflect on all of the good things in your personal and professional lives and the accomplishments we have achieved together and the accomplishments yet to come. But for now, “Let’s All Celebrate and Have a Good Time - Yoo Hoo!!”
Thank you
Michael Greene, CPPO, C.P.M.
2026 AZNIGP President