Purchasing Department

Introduction

The Purchasing Department is a centralized agency supporting and providing assistance to support the operations of city departments and staff. The Procurement Team strives for open and fair competition, while maintaining goodwill with those interested in doing business with the City. It is our mission to be as transparent as possible, and to do business in a manner that preserves the public trust and is in the best interest of our residents and taxpayers.

Mission and Vision Statement

The Purchasing Department seeks to promote success through collaboration with city departments and staff by providing the highest quality contracting services through full and open competition, inclusion, fairness, and use of best practices. We strive for a customer-focused culture and working together to develop high quality, best value contracts and solutions utilizing transparent, competitive, inclusive procurement processes.

The City views the relationships with its vendors, suppliers, and contractors as a business partnership where all parties are expected to coordinate and combine talents, ideas and actions in order to produce superior results for the citizens and taxpayers of the City of Fitchburg. We are committed to increasing business opportunities for vendors and contractors to Work With Us by providing a fair, open, and transparent participation process and engaging in a variety of vendor development and outreach activities to promote inclusion and to expand our vendor database. 

Responsibilities

Purchasing, under the supervision of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) oversees all procurement activities and related contract preparation. The Procurement Team monitors compliance with applicable procurement laws, prepares and executes contracts and purchase orders, and maintains records of vendor performance.

PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES

THE FOLLOWING MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL LAWS REGULATE PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES:

• c.30B - Supplies and Services, Real Property, Surplus Equipment
• c.30,39m - Public Works Construction
• c.149 - Building Construction
• c.7C, §§44-57 - Design Services

THE FOLLOWING THRESHOLDS DICTATE THE TYPE OF PROCUREMENT THAT OCCURS:

• Less than $10,000 - Sound Business Practices
• $10,000 to $50,000 - Formal Quote Process
• $50,000 or more - Sealed Bid (IFB) or Proposal Process (RFP)

The CPO may opt to employ a more restrictive and competitive process when they feel such a process is in the City’s best interest.