Effective immediately, the Pur-chasing Division requires that all evaluators of solicitations, despite the type of transaction, sign a Certification of Non-Conflict of Interest, in accordance with §5A-3-28 of the West Virginia Code.

This Code citation states, "neither the secretary, nor the director nor any employee of the division of purchasing, shall be financially interested, or have any beneficial personal interest, directly or indirectly, in the purchase of any commodities or printing, nor in any firm, partnership, corporation or association furnishing them. Neither the secretary, nor the director nor any employee of the division shall accept or receive directly or indirectly from any person, firm or corporation, known by such secretary, director or employee to be interested in any bid, contract or purchase, by rebate, gift or otherwise, any money or other thing of value whatsoever, or any promise, obligation or contract for future reward or compensation."

By signing this certification, the evaluator(s) and/or advisor(s) attest that they have no conflict of interest, including financial or personal, in the evaluation of the specific solicitation. Please note that this requirement applies to all transaction types.

This certification applies only to transactions processed through the Purchasing Division. It is not a requirement for agency delegated purchases; however, agencies may adopt this policy at their discretion.

Our name is often misleading: the Purchasing Division. Obviously, we oversee the procurement functions of state government, including the establishment of spending author-ities, rules and procedures by which all state agencies must abide by when spending taxpayer’s dollars.

In addition, our division does a few other things of interest, such as managing the state’s central fleet, overseeing state travel, administering the state and federal surplus property programs, maintaining the state’s physical inventory, encumbering purchase orders, encouraging vendors to do business with the state, and handling parking at the State Capitol Complex. All of these programs and services are completed in a day’s time…business as usual.

Our success can be attributed to many factors. The first point is that the Purchasing Division is fortunate to have efficient managers who are dedicated to making these programs operate smoothly and successfully. Secondly, procedures and guidelines have been established, tested and utilized consistently to provide the foundation for productivity.

And finally, perhaps most importantly, our agency partners have designated individuals who are equally dedicated and efficient in performing these functions. Working together yields a successful outcome.

The next public auction scheduled by the West Virginia State Agency for Surplus Property is Saturday, April 26.

Our use of cellular telephones in today's business world continues to grow. Surprisingly, where and how we use these phones make a difference to some individuals.

A recent study was conducted relating to the level of acceptability of gabbing on cellular phones at various public places.

The results are fairly predictable:

The survey indicates that if you wish to use your cellular telephone, you may want to make that call at a less congested area, where you will not inconvenience others.

Buying a small bandage isn't simple anymore. Some promise to do more than cover your cut. There are gels, liquids, anti-scar strips, antibiotic, and antibacterial brands. The cost can be up to 20 times that of a regular bandage.

Doctors quoted in The Wall Street Journal say small wounds heal best when kept moist. Now, Band-Aid Advanced and Curad Hydro Heal feature a gel substance originally used by hospitals to seal in moisture. They stay on better and might be worth trying if you have a condition that interferes with healing. Otherwise, at 50 cents each (instead of 5 cents), they might be overkill. Liquid bandages ($1 each) are good for knees, elbows and knuckles where regular adhesive strips don't stick well.

Doctors say if you get a cut, wash it with soap and water, pat dry, apply antibacterial ointment and bandage it to keep the wound moist and clean for a couple of days.

State agencies shall use a grant as the legal instrument reflecting a relationship between state government and a local government or other recipient whenever:

(1) the principal purpose of the relationship is the transfer of money, property, services or anything of value to the local government or other recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by federal and/or state statute rather than by acquisition, purchase, lease or barter, of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the state government; and,

(2) no substantial involvement is anticipated between the executive agency acting for the state govern-ment and the local government or other recipient during the performance of the contemplated activity.

We want your questions! … Submit your questions via e-mail to Diane Holley at dholley@gwmail.state.wv.us.

Recognizing excellence has become an important part of the tradition of the Purchasing Division's training conferences. Each year, the Purchasing Division announces the recipients of two award programs, the Agency Procurement Officer of the Year and the Partner in Purchasing.

The Agency Procurement Officer of the Year program recognizes individuals who have demonstrated high levels of performance and professionalism. This program provides an avenue for agency procurement officers to nominate co-workers and colleagues who have served as role models in the purchasing profes-sion.

"We initiated this program to not only identify those public procurement officers who are excelling in their profession, but hopefully to inspire others in this field to continue to strive to excel," said Purchasing Director Dave Tincher.

Another recognition program sponsored by the Purchasing Division is the Partner in Pur-chasing program. This award recognizes indivi-duals who have demonstrated high levels of performance and pro-fessionalism in working with various programs administered by our division, including Capitol Parking, Fleet Management, Fixed Assets, Surplus Pro-perty, Automated Purchasing and Travel Management. This program provides an opportunity to applaud the agency coordinators or representatives who work diligently to see these programs succeed.

"The Purchasing Division does more than procure goods and services on behalf of state government," Tincher adds. "We handle inventory management, state travel, Capitol parking, surplus property, manage over 1600 vehicles in the state's fleet and maintain the state purchasing system. We wanted to create a recognition program that addressed these areas."

State agency representatives had the opportunity to nominate individuals from their office. The 2003 recipients will be announced at the Agency and Vendor Purchasing Conference and Product Exposition this month.

Procurement of the Year

Edie Barker (BEP)
Susie Teel (DHHR)
Lt. Col. Jim Powers (State Police)
Jo Miller (DHHR)
Lendin Conway (DEP)
Beverly Carte (DNR)
Ratha Boggess (Treasurer's Office)

Brent Kessinger (DEP)
Barbara Haddad (IS&C)
Susie Teel (DHHR)
June Casto (DEP)

The end of the 2003 fiscal year is approaching. In making this transition, Jo Ann Dunlap, Administration Unit Manager for the Purchasing Division, has offered state agencies a timeline to ensure that all requisitions are expedited prior to the June 30 deadline.

Agencies must submit all expiring requisitions no later than May 1, 2003 to allow ample time to bid, evaluate, award, secure bonds, acquire signatures, encumber and distribute purchase orders by June 30. Expiring requisitions should be clearly marked as "Expiring Funds" in red ink when submitted to the Purchasing Division. Our division will make every effort to expedite all requisitions but will place extra emphasis on processing those with this notation at the end of the fiscal year.

Below is the Purchasing Division time line for year-end closing.

May 1

Deadline for expiring requisitions [WV-35] to be submitted to Purchasing and clearly marked as expiring funds. All pre-approvals must be obtained by the agency. Agencies should closely monitor all expiring requisitions being processed in the Purchasing Division and not assume the buyer is aware that the requisition is expiring.

June 9

Deadline for non-bid expiring requisitions to be submitted to Purchasing and clearly marked as expiring funds. After June 9, agencies may walk through expiring requisitions up to 1:00 p.m. on June 30. Please note the Attorney General's approval may be required for processing.

After Purchasing executes the purchase order, the agency is responsible for obtaining all necessary signatures and having all paperwork submitted to the Purchasing Division by 3 p.m. for encumbrance.

Agencies must submit the document to the Auditor’s Office by 5 p.m. to complete the transaction. This also is the first day that fiscal year 2004 encumbrance documents may be entered into WVFIMS. They may only be approved to the Purchasing Division [Org. 0200].

July 1

First day for the Purchasing Division to electronically approve fiscal year 2004 encumbrance documents to the State Auditor’s Office until July 1.

June 9

Deadline for fiscal year 2003 encumbrance documents to be submitted to the Purchasing Division. These documents are not to be walked through as expiring requisitions.

It is the responsibility of the agency to obtain all required signatures prior to submitting to the Purchasing Division for processing.

June 23

All encumbrance transactions not processed by this date will be rejected to the agency of origin. In the case of rejected purchase orders, if the agency elects to resubmit this transaction for fiscal year 2004, do not delete the "P" document, but modify it to be funded by fiscal year 2004 accounts and re-approved to Org. 0200.

If the agency chooses not to delete the rejected "X" document, it would be necessary for the agency to modify the existing purchase order adjustment after the completion of year-end processing to manually rollover the WVFIMS purchase order.

Further, all purchase orders and adjustments must be modified to be funded by fiscal year 2004 accounts and reapproved to Org. 0200 with a status of UP before the Purchasing Division may encumber.

July 1

Agencies may modify any rejected encumbrance document due to year-end processing to reflect the correct fiscal year. Agencies may begin approving fiscal year 2004 transactions.

This is dependent upon approved expenditure schedules being filed with the State Budget Office.

Purchase orders with a July 1, 2003 start date will be held by the Purchasing Division until the funds associated with the contract can be encumbered on WVFIMS for fiscal year 2004.

Are you interested in learning more about who is planning to attend our upcoming Agency and Vendor Purchasing Conference at Lakeview Resort this month? We've got the information... right at your fingertips!

Visit our conference website at www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase /conference/2003 and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on the link to view the vendor and agency attendees.

Finding effective ways of dealing with uncertainty can go a long way toward keeping you on track.

Quoted in Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine, recognized problem-solvers give this advice:

The Purchasing Division processes millions of dollars in purchase orders every year. Seven individuals within our division serve as buyers, procuring goods and services expecting to exceed $10,000 on behalf of West Virginia state agencies.

In most cases, the buyers are assigned certain commodities and services to procure. However, with two of our buying staff, their assignments are based on the specific agency.

John Johnston and Pam Jones are dedicated to a specific agency. John processes all purchases for the Division of Highways [DOH] and Pam focuses her attention on transactions made by the Department of Health and Human Services [DHHR]. These state agencies compensate the Purchasing Division for these services offered.

The Purchasing Division is dedicated to working hard to meet the needs of state agencies. This program provides partnering agencies with individual, specialized attention. It’s a quicker and more efficient way of doing business and the results have proven to be a win-win solution.

"The advantage of obtaining a dedicated buyer is that your purchases are top priority for that buyer," said Johnston. "You’re always number one in terms of getting work processed and you have the same contact person for everything."

The Purchasing Division has been offering a dedicated buyer to the Division of Highways since 1987. "It has been very helpful to have one individual handle the majority of our purchases over $10,000," said Sue Farley, Procurement Supervisor for the Division of Highways. "John is familiar with the organization of the department and the products being procured."

The Department of Health and Human Resources implemented the dedicated  buyer agreement with the Purchasing Division in February of 2002. Pam Jones agrees that having one contact in our division is a definite plus for DHHR. Dennis Meadows, Director of Purchasing for DHHR, stated that the dedicated buyer concept was initiated from a management team’s request to find alternative methods of processing transactions through the Purchasing Division.

"The dedicated buyer allows the department’s purchasing staff the ability to increase their productivity. The buyer becomes more familiar with the in’s and out’s of the purchasing needs and requirements of our department," Meadows said.

Are you unsure of certain purchasing procedures? ... Do you have a question regarding travel requests? ... Would you want to know what surplus property is available? ... If you need information concerning any function within the Purchasing Division, complete this form: