Purchasing group may help county save money
TROY, N.Y. » Rensselaer County officials are hopeful they will be able to save taxpayer money by joining forces with a regional purchasing group.
Rensselaer County has expanded opportunities for savings by joining the Empire State Purchasing Group, a regional purchasing community by BidNet, County Executive Steve McLaughlin recently announced.
County officials said that the partnership with the Empire State Purchasing Group is the latest effort by McLaughlin and the county to update and modernize county purchasing efforts. McLaughlin said this effort is being coordinated by Bureau of Central Services Director Jim Gordon, who was appointed earlier this year.
The statewide purchasing group for bid and vendor management is utilized by local government agencies throughout the state. The county is inviting all potential vendors to register online with the Empire State Pur- chasing Group to access upcoming solicitations by visiting www.biddirect.com/new-york.
“It has been a primary objective of mine since taking office to put forth measures to ensure the county is receiving the largest return on any dollar invested. To that effect implementing strategies such as the Empire State Purchasing Group will assist us in achieving our goals through increased competition for county contracts,” said McLaughlin.
Rensselaer County joins the Empire State Purchasing Group and the community of over 200 participating local government agencies located throughout New York State. Officials said that along with a variety of bid and vendor management solutions, Rensselaer County gains access to a bid library to help with bid creation, a shared pool of vendors, and association with likeminded purchasing professionals in the area.
“The Empire State Purchasing Group is an efficient means geared toward simplifying our purchasing process while also providing greater service and
benefits for our local vendors with such features as centralized bid opportunities, and automatic notifications. At no cost to taxpayers, the County will save time, money and resources by modifying the manual bid process,” said McLaughlin.
Vendors interested in doing business with Rens- selaer County and other nearby government agencies are encouraged to register online at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/newyork.
Benefits to the county joining the Empire State Purchasing Group include:
• Centralized location for bids from over 200 participating agencies
• Bid alerts customized to the vendors’ products or services
• Reliable and timely delivery of notifications, ad- dendums and documents
• Advanced notice of Term Contract expiration
• E-Bid and E-Quote Submission
The Empire State Purchasing Group is one of BidNet’s regional purchasing groups throughout the country. Officials said that this will provide Rensselaer County a bid and vendor management solution, document and addendum distribution, and tracking of all activity throughout the procurement process.