The City of Sunny Isles Beach’s procurement department received a Southeast Florida regional award and city staff described recent procedural changes made to purchasing oversight.

City staff accepted an award from the NIGP Southeast Florida Purchasing Chapter recognizing the city’s procurement work. Purchasing director Genesis Cuevas and purchasing agent Anastasia Nafedova were named in the presentation; outside chapter officials from Aventura, Boynton Beach and Davie joined to present the award.

Presenters outlined several administrative changes the procurement team has implemented. Those items, provided as part of the award justification, included a 2023 amendment to city code to permit electronic bid submissions via the city’s vendor portal, strengthening internal controls by converting purchase order change requests to a digital form requiring two approvals (department head and finance), and an emphasis on staff education and certification (Genesis Cuevas holds a Master of Public Administration and is a certified public procurement buyer; Anastasia Nafedova holds NIGP PPA designation as of May 2024). The procurement office also hosted “How to do business with the city” vendor workshops in February and November 2024, staff said, and participates in the Southeast Florida Governmental Purchasing Cooperative.

At the meeting the mayor read a separate March proclamation naming March 2025 as Purchasing Month for the city and thanked procurement staff for their outreach work. The presentation and proclamation were ceremonial actions; no formal policy change was adopted during the meeting.

Commissioners praised the department for training and outreach; staff and visiting procurement officials described the award criteria and noted the department’s role in regional cooperative purchasing efforts.