GA’s salt contract helps DOT keep mountain passes open

This winter has been a tough one for the state Department of Transportation crews working to keep mountain passes and eastern Washington roads open. The road salt the crews have spread to maintain the passes is a product that General Administration has worked hard to keep on hand through a state contract. Demand for the salt has exceeded the supply available from the contract vendor. Transportation expects to use 57 percent more road salt this season than it projected – about 85,000 tons compared to an original estimate of 54,000 tons.

The 85,000 tons is enough to fill about 900 railroad box cars.

GA anticipated the demand in January and took action, but it wasn’t easy. Supplies are tight throughout the country due to heavy snowfall in the Midwest, New England and other parts of the western U.S. But GA found suppliers in Utah and Canada with additional inventory.

Transportation now projects to have adequate supplies, even if the weather takes another bad turn.

“We were very nervous that we would run out,” says Monty Mills, Transportation’s regional material manager. “We are now in better shape than most other states in the country.”

GA contracts

GA responds to help residents hit by storms

General Administration has also responded in other ways to help out during recent volatile weather:

• Within 24 hours, we found 18,000 square feet of space in Tumwater so that the Red Cross could set up a command center for 400 workers to help victims of flooding in Lewis County. Al Haggerty, Red Cross disaster relief operations director, said, “It is always fantastic when we can partner with state government to get services to the people who need it.”
• Six teams of trained inspectors responded to a City of Centralia request for help inspecting homes damaged during flooding. GA teams completed inspections of about 100 homes in Lewis County so that residents were able to learn quickly about the status of their residences and when they could return.
• Delivered 40,000 pounds of federal surplus food in Grays Harbor County. Areas served stretched from Ilwaco to Quinalt to McCleary and included Chinook Tribal food banks.
• Delivered 2,000 blankets to Lewis County relief centers.
• Helped the state’s Emergency Management Division obtain and deliver trailers to accommodate 100 people in Elma.

“General Administration played an important role in meeting a number of life-safety requests from local jurisdictions that were heavily impacted by the December storms and floods,” said Jim Mullen, director of the state Emergency Management Division of the Washington Military Department. “GA will be a vital part of the state’s response and recovery in future disasters.”

Find environment-friendly choices in contract offerings

General Administration offers customers a wide variety of “green” choices, and we added several options in the past few months. Here are a few examples.

• We added the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid sedan (contract 04907) to our growing list of environmentally friendly vehicles available off of state contracts. This new offering from Chevrolet gets up to 15 percent better mileage than a standard gasoline-powered Malibu.
• We made Washington the first state in the nation to contract for the Toyota Prius (contract 04206) and Ford Escape hybrid SUV (contract 04907). We also now have the Honda Civic hybrid and Toyota Camry hybrids on state contract.
• We now offer a zero-emissions truck. The Miles ZX40ST work truck (contract AD501) features a rechargeable electric motor. It can travel up to 60 miles between charges. The Department of Corrections recently ordered six of these trucks for use in Walla Walla. This vehicle has very specific uses, but demonstrates the range of choices we provide to our customers.
• A new janitorial products contract (contract 00307) offers dozens of environmentally safe and effective cleaning products.
• Our building materials contract (contract 02007) includes wood products that are harvested from forests managed under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. This program ensures that timberland management balances environmental protection equally with economic development.

Our state government customers are always looking for new opportunities to reduce their impacts on the environment, while managing costs. Our contracting goal is to anticipate their needs and provide them with a choice of green products and services at a reasonable price.

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GA vehicle contracts

Enterprise contracts yield savings, reliable performance measurements

State government today is seeing the benefits of a partnership among several state agencies to delve into enterprise contracting efforts. The savings during the 2005-07 biennium total $23 million. Even more significant is that the group has been able to work through some initial challenges and come together to share ideas, information and a common goal. In a relatively short period of time, we’ve turned enterprise contracting into a program that will continue to yield dividends.

Along the way, we discovered that savings is not the only success measurement for a contract. We now recognize that customer contract adoption rates are much better in measuring and tracking effectiveness. An enterprise contract – one that has been fully researched and vetted by purchasing professionals – offers continued high adoption rates based on the confidence shown by users that they are gaining the best overall value for the state.

As a consequence, savings do follow high adoption rates.

The strategy to measure a contract’s adoption rate led to development of a research database that is proving invaluable in identifying new contracting opportunities. Additionally, customer groups asked us to take on a leadership role in enterprise contracting. This prompted GA to develop:

• A comprehensive program plan that continues to be refined based on lessons learned.
• A market intelligence program to provide improved data-driven contracting decisions.
• An accelerated training curriculum to better prepare staff to lead and manage enterprise-wide contracts.
• A decision process to develop appropriate new contracting opportunities.
• A solid partnership with other state agencies to ensure that overall contracting efforts are coordinated.

We still have a long way to go in contracting reforms, but the initial progress is creating opportunities for further advances.

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Buyers will share $168,000 in rebates from hybrid vehicle sales

Buyers of Prius and Camry hybrid vehicles will share $168,000 in rebates as part of a tax credit that General Administration receives from management of a state contract. The rebates will be sent later this year.

Significant amounts are likely to go to buyers in Seattle and King and Pierce counties. GA distributed $62,000 in rebates to 37 public agencies that bought the same hybrids last year. The City of Seattle received the largest amount – $16,000.

The contract that GA manages requires the vehicle dealer, Bud Clary Toyota of Yakima, to share with the state a portion of the federal hybrid motor vehicle tax credits it earned from 2007 government fleet sales. GA contracted for the Prius in 2000, making Washington the first state to offer a hybrid vehicle on a state contract. The Prius, Camry and other hybrid vehicles are available at thousands below the retail price.

We should also note that sales of hybrid vehicles are now outselling non-hybrids by a 3 to 1 ratio. GA’s motor pool fleet of 1,600 vehicles now has 570 hybrid vehicles. That’s 35 percent of the fleet. That is the highest percentage of hybrids of any public sector fleet in the nation. By comparison, California is ranked fourth with 581 hybrid vehicles in a fleet of 51,500 overall vehicles.

A varied fleet gives our state agency customers a good option to deal with rising prices for fuel.

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Campus building project shifts to design phase

Recently, we kicked off schematic design for the Heritage Center and Executive Office Building project, the next phase in the architectural process. During this phase, the architects will work closely with future building tenants to lay out spaces and ensure the building’s systems are practical as well as cost effective. The architects will also develop strategies for other design issues, such as sustainability and universal access. The project is scheduled to conduct schematic design through June 2008.

In addition, we plan on releasing a solicitation soon for a general contractor/construction manager, who will participate in the design process and manage overall construction of the project. Together, we will achieve buildings that reflect the character of the historic west campus buildings and stand tall for 100 years or more.

Heritage Park partnership focuses on educational opportunities for visitors

Six agencies, including General Administration, continue to craft a plan to make Heritage Park and the state-owned properties of the North Capitol Campus a viable visitor destination. The work of our partner group is intended to provide guidance.

An initial report is due out soon. The document is intended as a starting point for a series of broader discussions among all parties interested in seeing Heritage Park and other properties become even more of a draw to tourists. In addition to the park, the effort encompasses the adjacent state land around Capitol Lake. The partner group includes representatives from the Washington State Historical Society, the Office of the Secretary of State and the departments of Community Trade and Economic Development and Fish and Wildlife, as well as the City of Olympia and the Heritage Park Development Association.

Visiting the Capitol

Revamped online parking system offers easier customer access

General Administration’s Parking Services recently revamped its online registration system, making it easier for 5,000 parking customers to sign up for parking or make changes in their status. The new system allows a parking customer to:

• Sign up for parking.
• Notify the parking office of a temporary car change.
• Update existing parking data and provide notification of a change in status.
• Cancel a payroll deduction for parking.
• Request a replacement permit.

In addition, customers will be able to review their parking record online and notify Parking Services about any issues and needs in the parking garages and other lots on campus. The system will also help Parking Services improve communication with its customers.

Online parking

Surplus warehouse set up in Tumwater for government buyers

General Administration is now selling surplus goods in Tumwater, where government customers can find deals on surplus office furniture, including file cabinets, chairs, tables and more. The merchandise changes daily.

The new surplus warehouse is open only to government agencies. GA currently does not have the resources, including trained staff, to handle cash transactions at Tumwater Surplus, so it is not open to the public at this time.

Government employees are not allowed to buy items for their own personal use. Tumwater Surplus is also not open to tax-exempt non-profit organizations.

Tumwater Surplus is co-located with our Central Stores program, in a warehouse at 7511 New Market St. It is open 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (closed on state holidays). We continue to offer surplus items in Auburn, including at the retail store, which is open to the public.

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Washington state surplus items on eBay