Executive Board Retreat: July 17, 2013
Location:
City of Portland Fire Station #1, 55 SW Ash Street, Portland, OR 97204
AGENDA
9:00 Light breakfast, coffee, etc…Check!
9:25 Introduction-Why are we here? Why was this retreat necessary?
Theresa: Never had an opportunity to nail things down, too many unresolved meeting items. Make future
meetings earlier. Have everyone on the same page.
Sherry: OPPA doing substantive things, we need to as well. Train the trainer, etc. we want to increase
participation in our meetings
Lawrence: Lots of retirements leaving the field. In a few years, who will fill these vacancies. Who are
we? A sentence or word. What is the Future? NIGP Columbia Chapter (CC) exists because? Take care
of local governments and schools? Need to assist members in career progression, skill building, moving
up. We are looked to for leadership, how can we help our people move up and fill gaps in the future
Practice interview skills,
Action Item maybe HR people to ask about what they look for if you want to be a manager. Going over
the interview process is important
Action Item Maybe Darren Matthews’ career path presentation?
Action Item Schedule a Panel of purchasing managers (CPO panel) the goals of this panel would be:
1. Discuss what they are looking for, in employees at every level: : intern, assistant buyer, buyer, sr.
buyer, purchasing supervisor, purchasing manager.
a. In order to get a better understanding of the requirements for each job, this panel could
also include, at a minimum, senior buyers and purchasing supervisors to discuss the
duties and details of their job.
2. Sketch out a Career path or talk about the one already in place at your agency involving the jobs
above.
Questions will be needed. One example question might be: what you need to do to be a procurement
manager. More questions needed in advance to CPOs.
History: NIGP CC, wanted a higher class of training than OPPA, more advanced classes. OPPA has
moved in to the advanced classes now, but it leaves NIGP CC searching for new direction. Link with
PSU.
Maybe we need a word to define NIGP CC or a mission statement.
9:30 Running Calendar and Running Action Items
Notes:
We are NIGP Chapter, how much can we rely on NIGP national if we need support? Depends on the
issue and the resources NIGP national has available.
AM Agenda (9:40-Noon)
Columbia Chapter: Who are we? What is our goal? How do we measure success? Figure out what the
success measures are for each agenda item?
As an Executive Board?
Notes:
We are the leaders of the chapter; we drive the chapter’s activities, classes,
meetings, and serve the membership.
As a Chapter?
Notes:
We need to have a motto or sentence like Law said
Word Vote:
Words Suggested:
Education, Supportive, Professional, Collaborative, Exciting, Innovative, Creative,
Technical, resourceful, experts, inspiring, empowering, knowledgeable, mentor,
passionate, dedicated, diverse, corps(esprit de corps), core, rewarding, aspiring,
strategic, ambitious, cooperative, enthusiastic, responsive, responsible, cohesive.
Board members asked to list their top 10 words. Vote tallied, only those words with 7 or
more votes go to round 2.
Round 2 words:
Professional, collaborative, empowering, knowledgeable, diverse, responsive, cohesive
Board members asked to list their top 3 of these words, to get a final list of 3.
Top 3 words:
Empowering, Responsive, Collaborative
Action Item: Add these words to the Webpage. Words were added to the bottom of the
Columbia Chapter logo.
Why are they members? What do they get out of it? How many Members have NIGP
UPPCC Certifications like CPPB and CPPO?
1. Consider Personal phone calls to non participating members, in an attempt to get
them more involved.
Action Item: Track meeting membership attendance
2.
Perhaps we could institute a “bring a buddy” meeting where current Columbia
Chapter (CC) members bring a member that has not recently been to a meeting.
3. Another idea involves at the end of each meeting, ask the attendees what they got
out of the meeting.
Creation of a suggestion box present at each CC meeting would
Action Item: James to create a meeting suggestion form for the meeting
suggestion box that asks two simple questions:
1. What did you get out of the meeting?
2. What can the CC improve on?
Action Item: (Board as a whole) at each meeting, Board Members are to meet and greet
the membership
4. Informal Networking: creating an informal networking event may increase member
participation in the long run.
5. Charity event: Chapter visibility would be improved if CC got more involved with
charitable activities
Examples:
a. Oregon Food Bank: In the past CC board members have volunteered to help
out at the Oregon Food bank.
b. One new idea would be to volunteer at the local Ronald McDonald House
How will we know if we are successful with membership efforts?
Membership attendance at the meetings will increase
Involvement in Committees, other CC activities will increase; we will see new faces at our
meetings and events
The number of members reading the mass e-mails sent by CC will increase. Currently only about
30 read the e-mail. Perhaps altering how the e-mails read, and their subject lines could help?
Action Item: Sherry to Go through Current member list and determine which members attend the
meetings.
Let’s look at our relationship with National NIGP…
How do we connect with National?
 Forum
 Submissions (Chapter of the Year)
 Regional Director
 Regional teleconference meetings
 Action Item: Officers (Directors encouraged but optional) must attend these
teleconferences to report on Chapter activities, membership, and classes.
 Are we utilizing the resources offered to us?
 Action Item Get a NIGP Officer to come out and give a presentation. Perhaps Bobbi
Matthews (NIGP President) could discuss the new UPPCC certification requirements at a
CC meeting
Notes:
Membership:

Who are our members? Do we know their backgrounds, experience, etc...?
Notes:
Action item Reach out to Institute of Supply Management and ask for information on the
demographics of the Procurement Profession. They have this information. Put this information in
a packet
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How are we retaining our current members?
How can we recruit new members?
Notes:
Creation of a new membership packet was discussed, however currently there is a new member
packet including an informational introductory letter, chapter pin, and membership card.
Darrin Mathews has extended an invitation to present his class (as seen at the OPPA spring
conference) on the public procurement career path (both ideal and actual)
Recruiting College Student members
 Student members join at no cost, and they get all the benefits and privileges of
membership listed in the privileges section below
 CC needs to start networking with students, and emphasize that membership can assist
in a student’s job search.
 One idea is to attend the PSU recruitment fair, but many of the attendees are not
technically students anymore by the time they attend that fair
 Talking to the PSU School of business administration may assist CC in determining the
best ways to reach out to the local college student community.
 Generally, access to students increases in November

Action Item: Schedule a trainer for career management training, (one known trainer may be
available for $200/hour) and couple that with the panel of local CPOs/Purchasing managers
to come to one of the CC meetings. This pairing would be a good draw to student members.
Outreach to High School Students

High School students currently don’t know our profession is even an option. In the State
of Oregon, a college degree is not required to work in Public Procurement. This means
that our profession could be an option or something to consider for High School kids. For
those High School graduates going to College, some local colleges like PSU and
Chemeketa have classes and programs related to Public Procurement. Our profession is
a career path that with increased visibility could be a great option for those who plan early
rather than “falling into” the profession, as has been the experience with most Public
Procurement Professionals.

Consider the Scott Case presentation on Public Procurement and how it drives
innovation and sustainability initiatives. A simplified version of this message could appeal
to High School students
o Combining this message with Darrin Mathew’s message about procurement
career paths may prove effective.

Consider talking to a high school guidance counselor or going to a career fair much in the
same way as we attend RVTS.

Contacting NIGP for the current nationwide salary study data would be good information
to have
Outreach to Federal Procurement Professionals, and veterans (military procurement
professionals) is also an option
Action Item: Marketing Committee Create a recruiting packet, containing salary examples,
procurement demographics from ISM, benefits of membership in NIGP CC listed above, etc.
Something to hand out at career fairs or trade shows.
Action Item: Change the banner on the Website, or make a physical banner for meetings to
increase NIGP CC visibility.

Are they talking about Columbia Chapter? If so, what are they saying?
o
Another survey may be poorly received, perhaps a targeted group of phone calls to nonattending members may prove informative

What are they contributing to Columbia Chapter? How?

What privileges do they enjoy as a member?
6 Free lunches per year
A Holiday lunch party
Rewards
Networking Opportunities
Scholarships
Information on job openings
Access to purchasing managers/CPOs, Directors, Procurement Professionals
Scholarships: Every year the NIGP CC has about $2,000 in scholarship money to award to its
membership. Usually only half, or $1,000 of available scholarships are awarded.


One idea is to have the scholarship fund help subsidize members going for their
CPPB/CPPO certifications. These are expensive to get due to the number of classes
and other fees, so scholarship support may be limited.

Another idea is to put on the CC website, Pro-D e-mail list/NIGP CC e-mails for
upcoming training a phrase to the effect of: “Attend these trainings for FREE here’s
how: link”
What are new ways we can we contribute to their professionalism?
Obtain exciting new topics and speakers for our meetings.
1. Project Management/Life Cycle Costing
2. Field trip to Wilsonville Coke plant (a nearly “0 waste” facility) summer field trip for early
June 2014?
3. Construction Procurement related topics: consider Darrin Mathews or Ed Pabot, City of
Eugene
4. Strategic Procurement already scheduled by NIGP for October workshop.
5. Contract Terms and Conditions by City of Portland Technology Procurement Supervisor
Scott Schneider; Requested topics:
a. The Battle of the Forms
b. Intellectual Property (IP) rights, ownership of work product, and general Ts and
Cs unique to Technology Contracts
c. Basic Contract Formation
6. References: how does your agency use them?
7. Best and Final Offers (BAFOs)
8. City of Vancouver CPO Kevin Yin trainings; Requested topics:
a. Job Order Contracting
b. RFP/Qualifications Based Selection (QBS)
c. RFPs/RFQs/Evaluations
d. Solicitations and Contracts involving Federal Funds
e. General Contract Management, especially in Construction
9. Webinar: Project Management Tools for Contract Administration
10. Anything taught by PSU’s Dr. Lee Buddress- April 2014 meeting?
Action Item: Workshop Committee to construct the February Workshop around the following
topics: Time Management, Stress management and Wellness, Performance Measurement
Action Item: Push the Scholarships and rewards program to encourage training.
Action Item: update calendar of events with upcoming trainings from NIGP.
Notes:
Committees:

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What are they?
o We need quarterly check-ins on how the Chapter of the Year (CoY) Application is going.
Application is due April 30, 2014.
o Formation of the Chapter of the Year Committee, Chaired by Lawrence, Members:
James, Travis, and Sherry.
 Action Item James and Lawrence to begin Hoarding information and
documents. Agendas, sign in sheets, speaker lists, everything, for CoY
application
 Action Item CoY Committee to meet the last week in July. Subsequent
meetings will be held beginning October 21-25.
Clearly define the responsibilities of each. See Committee handout
When are they called to “action”? See Committee Handout
How much time is required to reach their goal(s)? See Committee Handout
New committee recommendations? For what purpose?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Some Committees had their names changed, and one new Committee (CoY Application
Committee) was created. Below is a current list of the committees, and their members:
Budget Committee- President, Past President Treasurer
CoY Application Committee: VP, Secretary, Travis, Sherry
Focused Outreach- all members appointed by the President
Audit Committee - all members appointed by the President
 Action Item: Audit to perform a budget audit by the end of July.
RVTS Steering Committee – Dian Seaton, Jerry Jelusich, Kelly
Scholarships and Rewards Committee – VP, Past President, Travis
Professional Development – Pro D Director
Workshop Committee – VP and Logistics Director
Website Committee – Suzi and Travis
 Action Item Website Committee to teach officers how to upload data to the
website.
Outreach and Marketing Committee – Suzi, Sherry, Lawrence, and James
ICP Committee – ICP Director
Membership Committee – Membership Director
 Action Item: Membership Committee This committee needs membership, recruit
at least one volunteer to assist in committee duties, and work on increasing
attendance at meetings.
When will we call for volunteers on each committee? Should we do this more frequently?
Notes: Committee Chairs are encouraged to reach out to the membership for volunteers.
Particularly those with special skills that may be relevant for a particular committee task. For
example, the CoY Application Committee would likely need someone skilled at putting graphics,
pictures, and icons into word documents, to enhance their application’s aesthetics.
Noon - 1:00 PM Lunch
PM Agenda 1:00 PM-4:00 PM
Topics and Speakers: Trending, relevant to our daily work, what do managers/supervisors want their
employees to know?
Action Item: Travis to create a digital copy of the running calendar created at this meeting.
Holiday lunch this year will be at the Red Lion Inn in Portland on the first Thursday in December.
Kudos to Cindy for setting that up in advance. Nelson from NIGP National will attend and
present.
Action Item: Lawrence to coordinate the NIGP CC manager/buyer of the year awards.
1. Solicit for nominations at the Holiday lunch. (considering the elimination of selfnominations, no decision reached)
2. Nominations due by Jan. 17th 2014 to Lawrence
3. Announce manger/buyer of the year at February workshop.
Action Item: Theresa to investigate whether CC should create a formal application form for the
Buyer/Manager of the year awards
Action Item: Website forms need to be updated
Chapter Visibility: Where have we been? Where are we going? Volunteering as a Chapter?
Action Item Travis to create a CC newsletter. Contact volunteers (James and Sherry
volunteered), and get them to write articles for the CC newsletter. Bryant smith could be a good
resource to reach out to.
Action Item: Send out a Holiday lunch reminder e-mail blast in November
Increase Chapter visibility through donations to Oregon Food Bank/Toy Drive
Action Item: Create “Dress for Success” clothing donation drive for the April 2014 meeting
Action Item: Research Job Fairs: PSU’s are held February-April, High Schools also have them,
but we do not know specifically when.
Where are we going as a Chapter? Succession Planning is key to the future of the CC. Outreach
to student groups, encouraging succession planning in our agencies and fostering the transfer of
knowledge from experienced procurement professionals to their successors is critical to the long
term health of our profession.
Measuring Success (Generally):
One measure of success is the submission of the CoY application, however the CC is cautioned not to
succumb to the temptation of having all of its efforts, classes, activities, etc. revolve around the CoY
application.
4:00 PM – 4:30
Overall Discussion:



Was our first retreat effective? We believe it was.
What have we accomplished? See items noted above, and action items below
What didn’t we accomplish? See Items Tabled below
Items Tabled for a Subsequent Meeting
1. Review of Board Assignments: Checklist(s) of Officer Duties
2. Strategic Plan Review
Adjourn Retreat
Re-cap action items
Action Items Summary
Item
number
1.
Responsible Party
Action Item
Unassigned
Research whether HR people will give a presentation about what
they look for if you want to be a manager. Going over the
interview process is important
2.
Unassigned
Ask for Darren Matthews’ career path presentation?
3.
Unassigned
Schedule a Panel of purchasing managers (CPO panel) the goals
of this panel would be:
1. Discuss what they are looking for, in employees at every
level: : intern, assistant buyer, buyer, sr. buyer,
purchasing supervisor, purchasing manager.
a. In order to get a better understanding of the
requirements for each job, this panel could also
include, at a minimum, senior buyers and
purchasing supervisors to discuss the duties and
details of their job.
2. Sketch out a Career path or talk about the one already in
place at your agency involving the jobs above.
4.
Website Committee
Add these words to the Webpage. Words were added to the
bottom of the Columbia Chapter logo
5.
Lawrence and James
Track meeting membership attendance
6.
James
create a meeting suggestion form for the meeting suggestion box
that asks two simple questions:
1. What did you get out of the meeting?
2. What can the CC improve on?
7.
Board as a whole
at each meeting, Board Members are to meet and greet the
membership
8.
Sherry
Go through Current member list and determine which members
attend the meetings.
9.
Officers, Directors
encouraged but optional
Officers must attend these teleconferences to report on Chapter
activities, membership, and classes.
10.
Unassigned
Get a NIGP Officer to come out and give a presentation. Perhaps
Bobbi Matthews (NIGP President) could discuss the new UPPCC
certification requirements at a CC meeting
11.
Unassigned
Reach out to Institute of Supply Management and ask for
information on the demographics of the Procurement Profession.
They have this information. Put this information in a packet
12.
Unassigned
Schedule a trainer for career management training, (one known
trainer may be available for $200/hour) and couple that with the
panel of local CPOs/Purchasing managers to come to one of the
CC meetings. This pairing would be a good draw to student
members.
13.
Marketing Committee
Create a recruiting packet, containing salary examples,
procurement demographics from ISM, benefits of membership in
NIGP CC listed above, etc. Something to hand out at career fairs
or trade shows.
14.
Website Committee
Change the banner on the Website, or make a physical banner for
meetings to increase NIGP CC visibility.
15.
Workshop Committee
Construct the February Workshop around the following topics:
Time Management, Stress management and Wellness,
Performance Measurement
16.
Unassigned
Push the Scholarships and rewards program to encourage
training
17.
Unassigned
Update calendar of events with upcoming trainings from NIGP.
18.
James and Lawrence
Begin Hoarding information and documents. Agendas, sign in
sheets, speaker lists, everything, for CoY application
19.
CoY Committee
Meet the last week in July. Subsequent meetings will be held
beginning October 21-25.
20.
Audit Committee
Perform a budget audit by the end of July
21.
Website Committee
Teach officers how to upload data to the website.
22.
Membership Committee
Recruit at least one volunteer to assist in committee duties, and
work on increasing attendance at meetings.
23.
Travis
create a digital copy of the running calendar created at this
meeting.
24.
Lawrence
Coordinate the NIGP CC manager/buyer of the year awards.
1. Solicit for nominations at the Holiday lunch.
(considering the elimination of self-nominations,
no decision reached)
2. Nominations due by Jan. 17th 2014 to Lawrence
3. Announce manger/buyer of the year at February
workshop.
25.
Theresa
Investigate whether CC should create a formal application form
for the Buyer/Manager of the year awards
26.
Unassigned
Website forms need to be updated
27.
Travis
Create a CC newsletter. Contact volunteers (James and Sherry
volunteered), and get them to write articles for the CC newsletter.
Bryant smith could be a good resource to reach out to.
28.
Unassigned
Send out a Holiday lunch reminder e-mail blast in November
29.
Unassigned
Create “Dress for Success” clothing donation drive for the April
2014 meeting
30.
Unassigned
Research Job Fairs: PSU’s are held February-April, High Schools
also have them, but we do not know specifically when.
Vote on the Addition of a new Member: (placeholder for recordkeeping purposes)
After the Board retreat, on7/24/13 the Board received an application for membership from Kimberly
Porter, CPPB of Multnomah County. The President, Theresa, called for a motion to approve the
membership.
Motion made by Pro-D Director, Kathi
Motion Seconded by Logistics Director, Cindy
Motion supported by the Vice President, Lawrence
In favor: Lawrence, James, Cindy, Kathi, Kelly, Theresa
Opposed: none.
Application accepted.