Innovating Procurement Services in a Time of Change

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

On March 16, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chesterfield County Procurement Department made the rapid transition from an in-person office environment to a virtual, remote working environment. The successes and benefits of operating in a remote environment has allowed us to become innovative with our procurement processes. These innovative approaches have enabled us to achieve success in the following three core areas:Safety: Our department’s ability to quickly pivot to a remote and virtual working environment allowed us to keep our employees and customers safe by reducing in-person interactions while continuing to conduct business with no significant disruption in operations. In addition, our ability to work remotely allowed redirection of certain Personal Protective Equipment and Supplies (PPE) to other departments who were not capable of working remotely or unable to pivot as quickly.Effectiveness: Facing the challenge of reacting swiftly to a pandemic to ensure continuity of operations has highlighted our employees’ ability to adapt quickly to unprecedented circumstances and demonstrates their ability to become leaders in innovation using the latest technology and resources available to operate as a more efficient and effective department. The positive feedback from both internal and external customers, as well as the efficiencies we have seen from the implementation of new processes and procedures to support a virtual work environment proves that our program is successful and will continue to be utilized post-pandemic.Transparency: Transparency in public procurement is a primary goal when developing processes and procedures. Our utilization of the available technology and resources enable us to support transparency via the ability to electronically save and store important documents and files. Not only does this allow internal and external customers easy access to contract documents and solicitations, but it allows our employees to easily access and retrieve data and documents that in the past would have only been available in a physical paper file located at the office.