Diane Palmer-Boeck has spent 38 years in public-sector procurement, including serving as director of procurement and project management for the City of Plano, Texas.

After leaving the city four years ago, she launched Government Procurement Leadership Solutions and began working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments. One of her first assignments was overseeing its new and emerging eight-month procurement officer program.

We spoke with Diane about attracting people to the profession, procurement’s evolution from a transactional to a strategic function, the opportunities and risks presented by artificial intelligence, and the growing role of cooperative purchasing.

Building the Procurement Profession

Q: After nearly four decades in procurement, what do you see as one of the profession’s biggest workforce challenges?

DP: There are still so many people who don’t even know what procurement is, and that in itself is a challenge. Often, people are hired by government entities into other departments where procurement happens to be part of their role. Then an opening comes up in procurement and they move into it. We need people to understand that procurement can be a long-term career with opportunities for growth all the way to the executive level.

Q: If many people aren’t even considering procurement as a career, but kind of stumble into it, what’s to be done?

DP: Governments and procurement organizations are creating internships, even starting at the high school level. I brought people in through our summer internship program in Plano. Some national procurement organizations have also partnered with universities. I’ve taught classes at the University of Texas at Dallas in its supply management program. College fairs and conferences are other opportunities to help people understand the full breadth of what procurement can offer.

There is also a natural bridge for people leaving the military who have supply or procurement backgrounds. Quartermaster personnel make major purchases, and buyers on military bases support communities of soldiers and their families in much the same way local government supports its citizens.

Q: What’s the attraction for people who might want to go into procurement?

DP: It’s never the same thing every day. In local government, you might work with the fire and police departments one day, parks the next, and then engineering. There is such an array of things you’re purchasing that the work is never the same.

There is also a strong sense of servant leadership for people who want to do good for the community they serve.

From Transactional to Strategic

Q: How has the role of procurement changed over the course of your career?

DP: Procurement has moved into a strategic role within organizations, and that has been evolving over the last 15 to 20 years.

Q: Can you please describe what you mean by strategic?

DP: It means being part of the conversation early. I always tell people we should be having conversations during the budget process, not three or six months into the new fiscal year. We need to be intentional about planning what we’re buying and when we’re buying it, and the only way to do that is to be involved at the front end. I teach and preach that procurement should be part of the budget process.

Q: Can you give an example?

DP: Often, departments are buying the same things but don’t speak to each other. If procurement is part of the budget process and we see that the police department is buying something and the fire department is buying something similar, we can look at buying it one time.

Being involved early also gives us an opportunity to stage procurements and implementations so that everything doesn’t happen at once. That helps us plan resources, manage workloads and make the implementation process more manageable for the organization.

Artificial Intelligence and Professional Judgment

Q: Is artificial intelligence going to change the world of procurement?

DP: AI is evolving so quickly that I don’t think anybody really knows exactly what to do with it yet. From a procurement standpoint, we have to be cautious. It’s not going to replace people or the critical thinking that goes into the procurement profession. We also can’t rely on it to write an entire specification for us. It’s not that smart yet.

I’ve heard from colleagues who are seeing proposals that appear to have been written by AI, and then when the companies come in, the people making the pitch can’t fully stand behind what is in the proposal. That creates an interesting dilemma. We have to be cautious and make sure what we’re getting is something the company can actually stand behind. I haven’t experienced that myself, but colleagues have shared that experience with me.

Vendor Engagement and the RFP Process

Q: Do you recommend that vendors are involved in the RFP process?

DP: Yes, I do, but we need to be intentional about how vendors are involved and maintain a fair, transparent and competitive process. Vendor input can be valuable in helping us understand the marketplace and what solutions are available, but we need to make sure no vendor is given an unfair advantage.

Once the RFP is issued, most agencies have a formal Q&A period built into the process, along with pre-proposal meetings. Those give vendors an opportunity to ask questions and better understand the project, expectations and requirements while ensuring that everyone receives the same information.

Q: Would you describe a pre-proposal meeting?

DP: They used to be held in person, but now many are done through Zoom or Teams. We go over the project, expectations and timeline. Often, the deadline for questions comes before the pre-proposal meeting so those questions can be addressed during the meeting. It gives us an opportunity to make our expectations clear.

Q: Can those meetings lead to changes in a solicitation?

DP: Yes. If there is a significant issue—which doesn’t happen all that often—an agency can issue an addendum to the bid or proposal packet. The addendum makes additions, deletions or changes to the original document.

The Growth of Cooperative Purchasing

Q: Let’s talk about the growth of cooperative purchasing.

DP: As procurement has become a more strategic partner within our entities, we’ve become more intentional about looking for opportunities to collaborate and leverage resources. Cooperative purchasing has expanded over time in several ways, from third-party cooperatives to departments and public entities working more closely together within a region.

Q: How do third-party cooperatives fit into that picture?

DP: Cooperative purchasing through third parties such as TXShare, from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, goes hand in hand with the fact that we don’t have enough people in the profession. Cooperative purchasing can help fill that gap by allowing entities to leverage work that has already been done rather than having to conduct every procurement independently. When you have limited staff and increasing demands, that can free up your procurement team to focus its time and resources on other priorities.

Q: Specifically, how have you worked with TXShare?

DP: I started working with them about three and a half years ago. They act as an extension of an entity’s team, offering training classes for new employees as well as people who have been around and want retraining.

Cities also reach out directly to me with a need—for example, a pavement analysis contract—and ask whether we have something under contract. If we do, I send them the contract documents, links and proposals for the companies that were awarded contracts. If they want, I can connect them with those companies. I can also help them write their scope of work if they’re going to use one of those contracts, or I can hand it off and let them run with it.

Some cooperative contracts have multiple awarded companies, which gives an entity options. It can compare those companies, negotiate pricing, conduct a mini-RFP or work directly with a company it knows and whose references it trusts. That flexibility gives public entities different ways to meet their needs.

This article was supported by and written in partnership with Civic Marketplace.

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