The Office of Procurement presented its first standalone FY26 budget and a nine‑month status update to the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee on April 7, saying the office has focused on supplier outreach, revamping the county supply schedule and preparing an ERP integration to speed payments and solicitations.

Pamela Dickerson, director of the new Office of Procurement, told the committee the office’s FY26 proposed budget is about $6.3 million, a decline from FY25 figures driven by shifts in operating charges; she said compensation spending is projected to rise because of annualization of salaries and anticipated adjustments. Council staff analyst Sylvia Singleton presented staffing numbers: the office proposed 39 positions for FY26 with 37 fully funded and 34 filled as of March 25; five vacancies were noted and recruitment was underway prior to a hiring freeze.

Dickerson described operational changes and new services: a procurement ombudsman to assist county businesses and improve payment timeliness; an expanded and simplified county supply schedule with new categories (industrial services, food and catering, and a mission‑oriented business category); and a push to make the supply schedule easier to join through an application process rather than a full solicitation. She said the office has approved more than $481 million in purchase orders to date; Dickerson presented the breakdown the office tracks, including about $66 million awarded to county‑based MBEs, $54 million to county‑based small businesses (figures as presented), and roughly $300 million to non‑county‑based entities (the office said many of these are local nonprofits and grant providers). The office said it plans to refine that breakdown and return to the council with clearer categorization.

Committee members asked about outreach and training. Dickerson said the office uses GovDelivery and other county communications and held a procurement summit where more than 200 businesses attended. The office identified vendor outreach and internal and external training as priorities; Singleton’s budget summary noted potential obstacles in FY26, including loss of training and development funding and continuing issues with system integrations and data integrity. Dickerson said the procurement team is working with OIT to bring procurement and finance together in a single online platform by the start of the fiscal year, and that an upgraded ERP/Ariba implementation is in acquisition planning.

Council members asked for more granular data on vendors by district and sector. Dickerson said the office has certified‑vendor lists (about 9,000 certified vendors) and broader GovDelivery reach (more than 20,000 recipients) and that staff can break out vendor counts by category and location for council districts; she invited members to contact Olivia Warren for event coordination and outreach partnerships.

Why this matters: county procurement drives significant public spending and is central to efforts to increase contracting with county‑based and minority businesses, speed payments and reduce waiver use. The office told the committee it will return with more detailed vendor breakdowns and proposed outreach steps as it implements ERP integration and the supply‑schedule changes.