Board Voice executive director Jody Paterson is featured in this Jan. 31 news story in The Tyee about the many concerns in the non-profit sector over how the procurement process unfolded for WorkBC employment training contracts. Here’s an excerpt:
…Paterson said that since 2011, the provincial government has divided the province into fewer and larger regions and reduced the number of contracts available.
While at one time there were 300 different organizations delivering services, it dropped to 73 in 2012 and to 45 in the most recent procurement process.
“There’s all these pretty boring technical questions around how you procure that can really change the result even when you don’t plan for it,” Paterson said.
“We believe the procurement process is having results that are perhaps not valuing the community where these services exist, not valuing the contribution of the communities, and not thinking about the right fit for the community.”
Board Voice continues to stay on top of this important issue. Given that BC must put most bids of more than $75,000 out to bid, how the province procures is a critical aspect of who receives funding. Non-profits can quickly lose out to for-profits in procurement if the “extras” that charities bring to social are are not measured in procurement.