Former state official gets his job back

Armstrong set to take over as state procurement chief

LITTLE ROCK — A former state procurement director, Ed Armstrong, will return to his former job starting later this month, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transformation and Shared Services said last week.

The state’s current procurement director, Mitch Rouse, will become chief counsel at the state Department of Human Services, said Alex Johnston, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transformation and Shared Services.

Armstrong served as the state’s procurement director from February 2016 until December 2021 before becoming general counsel at Arkansas Tech University in January 2022, according to his resume.

Alexa Henning, spokeswoman for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Friday in a written statement that Sanders selected Armstrong to be the state’s procurement director because “the governor values Ed’s experience in both the private and public sector with strong legal and state procurement expertise.

“He will prioritize the governor’s plan to reduce the size of government by driving more efficient policies and working collaboratively across agencies to pursue effective ways to save taxpayer money,” Henning said.

Armstrong’s salary will be $150,000 a year as the state’s procurement director and he will begin work Feb. 27, Johnston said.

Rouse will keep the same salary of $150,002.32 a year as chief counsel at the state Department of Human Services, said state Department of Human Services spokesman Gavin Lesnick.

“His official start date is Monday, and we will work with [ the Department of Transformation and Shared Services] to ensure a smooth transition,” Lesnick said.

Sanders previously replaced Rouse as secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services with former Washington County Judge Joseph Wood of Fayetteville. Rouse had been appointed secretary by thenGov. Asa Hutchinson in July 2022. He previously served as the department’s chief legal counsel. He has been the department’s procurement director since January 2022, according to Johnston.

The Department of Transformation and Shared Services was created in 2019 after the passage of Act 910 of 2019 for the purpose of creating a more efficient government through service delivery and collaboration across state government. It’s one of 15 state departments under Hutchinson’s consolidation of 42 executive branch agencies under Act 910 of 2019.

The department comprises the Office of the Secretary, the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems office, the Division of Building Authority, the Division of Information Systems, the Employee Benefits Division, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of State Procurement.

As the state’s procurement director, Armstrong helped the state realize more than $20 million in negotiated savings, increased revenue from surplus property sales through innovation and reduced electronic marketplace expenses through consolidation and negotiation, according to his resume.

His resume said he also cut red tape and pushed for more business- friendly policies in public procurement and worked closely with Hutchinson’s staff, the Legislature and state Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther to make Arkansas’ procurement law more effective, efficient and fair, according to Armstrong’s resume.

He served as a senior assistant attorney general from January 2013 through January 2016, a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP from March 2004 through December 2012 and a law clerk at the attorney general’s office from January 2003 through May 2003. He also served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law between May 2009 and July 2013.