The Public Purchaser. A Message From our President. The Newsletter of the Southeast Texas Association of Public Purchasing

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1 First Quarter Newsletter 2015 Greetings!!! I can t believe as I write this that March is already over!!! Wow, time has really flown by. Immediately following our 4th quarter meeting in December, the 2014 and 2015 executive board of directors met to conduct an Officer Transition session. The event allowed the outgoing executive board members to meet with the incoming board members to discuss their duties and provide them with their knowledge as well as paperwork. The session was very educational for all. The 2015 Lone Star Conference, which is hosted by SETAPP this year, is in the final stages of preparation. The outstanding educational opportunities are arranged by Carla West and Alan Phillips and include topics such as legal issues, procurement cards, utility purchasing, transformation in Purchasing, sustainable leadership, and much more. This year we are excited to have the current NIGP President, Don Buffum from Mississippi State University, be our opening session keynote speaker. On Monday evening, we have a fun event for all attendees, casino night! Not only do you get the opportunity to interact with fellow attendees but you ll have a chance to play cards, win door prizes, take funny pictures and get a special gift from SETAPP. Let us not forget the Vendor Expo which is scheduled for Tuesday. Veronica Douglas and her committee have been working hard to bring you well over 50 vendors to spend time with discussing their products and your agency s needs. If you have not registered to participate there s still time. Cheryl Krejci and her committee are receiving registrations daily so don t miss out! All the conference information can be found on our website at Our first quarter luncheon was a great success and thank you to Regina Spencer for coordinating the event. Be sure to look for information coming your way regarding our second quarter luncheon in Beaumont in June which will include an additional educational piece. Your 2015 board of directors have some exciting meetings planned for the remainder of the year, as well as other events and I hope you can attend. Please feel free to call me anytime at or me at Debbie.kaminski@fortbendcountytx.gov. Debbie Kaminski 2015 President The Public Purchaser The Newsletter of the Southeast Texas Association of Public Purchasing A Message From our President Facebook -

2 Ms Danita Canty has served in multiple positions over the years since she s been a member of SETAPP including registration committee at the 2009 Lone Star conference, our membership chair from , our current Treasurer, and our current Lone Star conference casino night chair. Last year she organized the first ever social event for members at a location in midtown, she arranged for the first time for members to participate in a walk-a-thon in Sugar Land, she organized food collections for the Houston food bank at two of our meetings and organized the toys-for-tots program in December. And in between all that she has been a Buyer for Fort Bend County since October of She s responsible for not only day-today buying but reviewing agreements, processing requests for quotes, completing site visits with vendors and working hand-in-hand with department heads and elected officials to fulfill their requirements for their offices. Please join the awards committee in congratulating Ms. Danita Canty!!!

3 2015 darcell ambres scholarship recipients Congratulations to veronica douglas with the city of Houston and Cheryl krejci with fort bend county on their receipt of our 2015 scholarships awards!

4 Member Spotlight Angela Jackson Angela Jackson currently works for the City of Houston in the Strategic Procurement division. Her 23 years in public procurement has earned her the position of Purchasing Manager. Angela s personal interests and hobbies include traveling, reading and playing with her grandsons. If you grew up near Angela and stopped at the Dairy Stop you may have run into her where she made shakes and other duties after school! You may not know that she has hiked the Alps, surfed in the Pacific Ocean and climbed the Great Wall of China. She also enjoys romantic comedy movies with a happy ending and she rates them by how much they make her cry (the more tears the better the movie). When Angela was young she thought life was a mystery.now she knows it is!

5 Newly Certified Members CPPO: Mr. Christopher Burton Houston Community College Procurement Operations 2015 Membership Renewal Don t forget to log onto the website to renew your SETAPP membership!!! Payment by credit card is now available. What all can you find on our website at SETAPP.ORG? List of Officers and Committee Chairs By-Laws Chapter Meeting dates/locations Newsletters Pay your Dues with credit cards Pay your Lone Star Conference Registration Job Postings and much, much more!

6 SETAPP is hosting the 2015 Lone Star Conference in Galveston from May 3rd 6th. It s easier than ever to register since credit cards are now accepted. Please log on to our website to view the program and register at

7 SETAPP is hosting the Lone Star Conference May 3-6, 2015 in beautiful Galveston, TX and we would like your vendors to be a part of our vendor expo. By participating in our vendor expo, your vendor will have the opportunity to meet buyers from all aspects of government procurement including municipalities, education, K-12, and TxDot! For as little as $ they get (1) exhibitor booth, (2) chairs, (1) business card size ad, and (1) ticket to the luncheon. Several sponsorship opportunities are also available. If you know of an interested vendor, information is available on our website ( or they can contact Veronica Douglas at , or by veronica.douglas@houstontx.gov. Thank you and I look forward to another successful conference and expo in 2015! Let us know if your Procurement Office did anything special during March to celebrate Purchasing Month!!

8 2015 1st Quarter Meeting Our first quarter meeting for 2015 was a great success and attended by over 35 members. Our speaker, Gilbert Jalomo, Jr., CPPB, Purchasing Agent for Fort Bend County, spoke on contracts. He emphasized the role purchasing professionals play day-to-day with contracts and the importance of understanding the documents and not being a paper pusher. The topic was very informative for all in attendance.

9 With March being Purchasing Month SETAPP celebrated with a special gift given to each member at our first quarter luncheon.

10 Fellow Members, Last week, I had to opportunity to attend the Annual NIGP Leadership Symposium. The symposium is geared to officers of the board from each chapter in NIGP. I wasn t quite sure what to expect, but it was a great experience I thoroughly enjoyed. I was able to connect and network with our counterparts from across the nation. From the smallest chapters to very large chapters, we shared ideas on how to create the best experience for our members. We shared thoughts about leadership and what it takes to build a successful chapter. I came away with many ideas that I plan to share and hopefully implement within our chapter. The ideas we shared not only apply to our chapter life, but to our work, and personal lives. The presenters we had were remarkable. Not for one moment did they leave you bored, and wondering why am I here? We actively participated; we played games, and had an overall fun time. We shared stories and came to find that many of us are experiencing some of the same challenges. All the information shared is being gathered and put into a presentation. As soon as it is available, I would love to share with you all. This was a great opportunity, and I am grateful to have been able to attend. Thank you for making SETAPP what it is. Cheers!! Maxine Carden, CPPO, C.P.M., CTPM

11 NIGP CHAPTER AWARDS Hey SETAPP Members! Its time to show NIGP and our neighboring chapters what SETAPP is made of! This is OUR year to shine! Aside from the Chapter of the Year Award, NIGP has created 4 excellence awards! Which means, more opportunities for our Chapter! The excellence awards are: Excellence in Membership Recruitment, Retention and Engagement Excellence in Education and Professional Development Excellence in Advocacy for Members and the Profession Excellence in Inspiring Procurement for the Future The objective of these awards is to acknowledge the valuable contributions made by SETAPP detailing how we strive to support NIGP and its mission to develop, support, and promote the public procurement profession. The Chapter Awards Program recognizes Chapters who have developed programs that educate, provide professional support, and champion advocacy initiatives that benefit the membership, the profession, and constituents. Are you interested in accomplishing a mission? I don t mean mission impossible, I mean mission possible! We are currently looking for members to assist with the submittal of the Chapter of the Year Award and/or the submittal of an excellence award. If you are interested in working on a committee, please let me know. We would love to have your help! If you have any questions, please let me know. Veronica Douglas, CPPB Veronica.douglas@houstontx.gov

12 The below is the first page of the Chapter Ambassador Program Application. The full application can be found on NIGP s website. The Ambassador Program is a result of the new NIGP 2.0 initiative. Please take the time to learn about this new opportunity to serve NIGP.

13 MEMBER EVENTS TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR!!! Danita Canty, who is our designated special events coordinator, along with Veronica Douglas are busy hunting for fun things to do for our membership. They intend to schedule at least two (2) walk-a-thons in the fall and a fun night with the family at Dave and Busters or another exciting location in the summer. In addition to these events they will be collecting food for the Houston Food Bank at our June 25th and October 15th meetings and toys for the Toys-for-Tots program at our December 3rd meeting. Danita and Veronica are always open to suggestions so please feel free to contact them with your ideas. Danita Canty Danita.Canty@fortbendcountytx.gov Veronica Douglas Veronica.Douglas@houstontx.gov

14 Legislative Watch 84th Regular Session Purchasing and Contracting Related Bills The Legislative Liaison Committee will periodically the members the updated legislative watch list. Below is the link to the Texas Legislature Online which will provide you additional information. Lucy Felan SETAPP Legislative Liaison Committee Chair

15 2015 SETAPP Officers and Chairpersons President Debbie Kaminski, CPPB Fort Bend County Phone: (281) Vice-President Veronica Douglas, CPPB, PSCMC City of Houston Phone: (832) Secretary Maxine Carden, CPPO, CPM, CTPM Texas Department of Transportation Phone: (713) Treasurer Danita Canty Fort Bend County Phone: (281) Immediate Past President Alan Phillips, CPPB, CTPM City of League City Phone: (281) Awards & Scholarship Committee Chairperson: Veronica Douglas, CPPB, PSCMC City of Houston Phone: (832) Budget/Finance Committee Chairperson: Danita Canty Fort Bend County Phone: (281) Education/Certification Committee Chairperson: Debbie Carpenter University of Houston Clear Lake Phone: (281) Program & Facilities Committee Chairperson: Regina Spencer, CPPB City of Houston Houston Airport System Phone: (281) Membership Committee Chairperson: LaTanja Bolden City of Houston Phone: (832) Public Relations Committee Chairperson: Tommy Tarver City of Houston Phone: (832) Legislative Committee Chairperson: Lucy Felan Texas Department of Transportation Phone: (409)