Working a good man hard

As previously presaged, Professor Steven L. Schooner came to Guam to spread the faith in effective procurement to True Believers and skeptics alike.

And he was spread thin, putting on two seminars over two days, a presentation to the students and faculty at the University of Guam, giving a talk to the Guam Chamber of Commerce, and enlivening morning talk radio with Ray Gibson, not to mention charming the socks off policy makers from all branches of Guam government and private business in private conversations.



I can't thank him enough, nor recount the typhoon-wind itinerary, but the following links give a glimpse of the media storm he created:

Lecture on procurement in business and government

Thankfully, a professional is on-island, enlightening and educating those in both the public and private sector about procurement, its processes and opportunities.

Steven L. Schooner, the Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University, gave a free lecture at the University of Guam yesterday. He is also the featured speaker at the Guam Chamber of Commerce's Procurement Seminar.

Schooner stressed that the way most governments function today is heavily dependent on the private sector.

“(The) government can't do anything without the private sector. So in effect, we have outsourced the business of government,” he said.

“Politicians believe that if we purchase more effectively, we'll be able to get more. It's incredibly naïve to think we'll get more goods, services, roads and bridges for less money. There are potential savings if the governments did this more effectively,” he added.

Another thing Schooner spoke about was the opportunity of getting into procurement, since governments don't have enough people qualified to do the job.

As it is, the first thing that most governments lack, Schooner pointed out, was their lack of knowledge or preparation regarding the business of procurement.

I don't know how long these links will last, but here are others:

Seminar deals with public sector procurement (KUAM TV report and video)

And these links here and here will take you to a streaming "audio" page and a "download" link to an mp3 recording of the interview with Ray Gibson on radio K-57.