Beginning in March, Assistant Director Curt Curtiss and I began meeting face-to-face with agency representatives to discuss issues directly related to their operation. We have conducted initial meetings with ten agencies thus far.

An added benefit to these meetings is an opportunity for the Purchasing Division to share information on upcoming events occurring in our division or modifications to the state purchasing policies and procedures.

After each meeting, an electronic survey has been conducted to determine if the participating individuals find this forum beneficial. To date, 100 percent of agency representatives attending these meetings have rated their level of satisfaction as either very satisfied or satisfied.

Similarly, 100 percent of the respondents have indicated that they found the meetings to be beneficial, with problems and concerns being addressed and, in many cases, resolved. The informal manner in which the meetings are conducted was applauded. Each of the agency representatives agreed that these meetings should continue.

"This meeting gave the Bureau a rare opportunity to see and hear the Purchasing Division's perspective on various issues and concerns," said Mark Miller of the Bureau of Employment Programs. "It also gave us the opportunity to make the Division aware of upcoming events and issues for the Bureau that will need the assistance and support of Purchasing."

June Casto of the Division of Environmental Protection was in agreement. "The open dialogue was great," she said. "It gave our agency the opportunity to voice any concerns we had as well as the Purchasing Division an opportunity to let us know what was going on with their agency. We also discussed a burning issue that we needed to resolve. After brainstorming ideas, we came to a conclusion."

I want to extend my appreciation to each of the agency representatives with whom we have met. From the Purchasing Division's perspective, the results have been extremely positive. Equally, the responses received from our electronic survey is very encouraging. Agency representatives appear to be experiencing benefits from opening the lines of communication.

In attempt to be more responsive to our customer's needs, the Purchasing Division has established regularly scheduled Best Value Purchasing Evaluation Training sessions which are available to all state agencies, according to Curt Curtiss, Director of Acquisitions and Contract Administration Section for the Purchasing Division. This training will focus on evaluating Request for Proposals, Expressions of Interest and Design Build projects.

All sessions will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the Purchasing Division's Bid Opening Room, located at 2019 Washington Street, East, in Charleston.

The first session will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on June 12, 2001. Registra-tion is required, by contacting Sue Smith in the Purchasing Division at 1-800-BIDS2WV, ext. 226, or locally at 558-2544 no later than June 8, 2001. The second session will be June 26th; registration for this session must be made by June 22.

"The Purchasing Division has been conducting this training on an "as-needed" basis for several years, but by offering this information on a regular monthly schedule, state agency personnel can better plan to train the individuals who may serve on an evaluation committee," said Purchasing Director Dave Tincher.

According to the Purchasing Division's Policies and Procedures Handbook, all evaluation committee members must receive RFP evaluation training prior to commencing the evaluation.

The purpose of this training is to ensure that the committee is knowledgeable of the proper evaluation procedures and the purchasing process.