Gregg County again wins national procurement award | Gregg

Only 45 counties in the U.S. and Canada have won the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award, but Gregg County has taken the honor for two consecutive years.

The county — specifically its Purchasing Department — again was given the award from a group of agencies including the National Procurement Institute.

“Gregg County is using best practices for procurement,” county Purchasing Agent Kelli Davis said Tuesday, “and this measured achievement ensures the taxpayers the money is being spent wisely.”

The annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award recognizes organizational excellence in public and non-public procurement using criteria that measures innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership attributes of procurement, defined as the process of finding, agreeing to terms and acquiring goods, services or works from an external source.

The 2017 and 2018 awards were delivered to Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt, but he bestowed credit to award recipient and Purchasing Agent Kelli Davis and her department.

Davis also serves as president of the Public Purchasing Association of East Texas and secretary of the Texas Public Purchasing Association.

“It shows that what we’ve done with becoming more professional in our Purchasing Department with our bid process and leasing out to the vendors and making sure that all statutes are being awarded — that’s part of the award,” Stoudt said. “And I’m thankful for Ms. Davis taking us to another level in purchasing.”

Smith County Purchasing Director Kimberly Gould also was given the national award.

“Of course, there is always more work to do to continue improvement,” Davis said of Gregg County purchasing, “but we will celebrate where we are today with this achievement. The staff of the purchasing department are absolutely top notch and I am super proud of them.”

Joining the National Procurement Institute in bestowing the award were the California Association of Public Procurement Officials, the Florida Association of Public Procurement Officials, the Institute for Supply Management, the Institute for Public Procure, the National Association of Educational Procurement, the Texas Public Purchasing Association and the Canadian Public Procurement Association.