He’s Still Here!

Vanderhoef attempts to save county money before he leaves office

Hey, did you almost forget that County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef is still in office? You’re not the only one.

In an effort to end his 20-year tenure as county executive on a high note and to reduce costs, Vanderhoef announced last week that the Department of General Services Purchasing Division has partnered with SmartProcure, a national repository of 58 million purchase orders from more than 2,200 federal, state, and local government agencies.

“As a result of this intergovernmental partnership with SmartProcure, Rockland County now has the tools to negotiate better prices on behalf of our taxpayers,” said Vanderhoef.

Vanderhoef says this partnership will give the County Purchasing Division access to government purchasing information from across the nation, allowing them to quickly determine the best value, price, and source for most procurement decisions. The County Purchasing Division did not previously have access to procurement data from other governments.

SmartProcure improves procurement intelligence through information sharing, and connects thousands of local, state, and federal agencies to government contractors in order to determine market opportunities, product trends, and competitive intelligence. SmartProcure provides all participating government agencies with access to the government purchase database at no cost.

The City of New York recently announced their intention to partner with SmartProcure. The City of New York’s participation will increase the usefulness of the spending data for all governments in the New York Metropolitan area.

SmartProcure provides the most comprehensive, high-quality government purchasing data; powerful, easy-to-use analytic and reporting tools; and a nationwide information sharing platform to enable easier and more efficient government procurement.

SmartProcure started as an idea by procurement professionals in the public and private sector. The goal was to improve procurement intelligence through information sharing. With thousands of local, state and federal agencies contributing pricing, product and vendor data to the system, each agency has the collective knowledge to make better purchasing decisions. The information is also made available to government contractors to determine market opportunities, product trends, and competitive intelligence.

Paul Brennan, Director of Purchasing for Rockland County, advised that “the use of the SmartProcure Database allows county procurement staff to research price history on almost any product or service, discover new vendors and increase competition for our solicitations, analyze our own spending, and increase the opportunity for cooperative contracts among government agencies.”

“SmartProcure gives you negotiating power,” Brennan said. “It’s going to be an important tool for us.”

  SmartProcure, Vanderhoef