Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
An MMA webinar demonstrated how to navigate the COMMBUYS landing page and conduct an advanced search for contracts, vendors and grants. Speakers included (clockwise from top left) Patricia Burke, Local Government Account Manager, Laurie Burzlaff, Assistant Town Manager and Director of Operations, North Andover, Tim Kennedy, Director of Strategic Sourcing Services, Operational Services Division and Jackie Needham, Local Government Account Manager.
An MMA webinar today with the Operational Services Division’s Local Government Enablement Team demonstrated how to navigate the COMMBUYS landing page and conduct an advanced search for contracts, vendors and grants.
OSD Local Government Account Managers Jackie Needham and Trish Burke began by discussing the efficiency of the wide-ranging statewide contracts, which meet the requirements of the state’s Uniform Procurement Act (Chapter 30B) and offer competitive pricing with pre-negotiated benefits.
Needham said the OSD has developed a statewide contract reference sheet and user guides to make it easier for buyers to understand the key aspects of each statewide contract, enabling them to make informed purchasing decisions and place orders in COMMBUYS.
Burke presented key features of the COMMBUYS landing page, including the Statewide Contract and Tradespersons Indexes. The Statewide Contract Index is a downloadable Excel file that can be navigated using the Alphabetical Index and Expanded Search features. The spreadsheet contains essential contract criteria, vendor information, and program designations.
Similarly, once downloaded, the Tradesperson Index can be used to search for vendors by county and trade category.
Using the database’s Advanced Search Tool, Burke demonstrated how to find bid solicitations, blankets and vendors. The Bid Solicitation search allows users to locate references and files for specific goods and services used by other municipalities. With the Blankets and Vendors search, users can verify which Statewide Contracts are eligible for certain vendors.
Burke also discussed how to post a bid notice.
North Andover Assistant Town Manager and Director of Operations Laurie Burzlaff moderated 25 minutes of questions and answers, which addressed inquiries about confirming vendor pricing, PunchOut Catalogs, and searching for contracts using keywords. Tim Kennedy, director of strategic sourcing services at OSD, joined Needham and Burke for the Q&A.
• The Key Features of COMMBUYS: A Live Demonstration with OSD presentation (960K PDF)
• How to post a bid notice on COMMBUYS Training quick reference guide (270K PDF)
• Mass. OSD Local Government Enablement Team profile (3.5M PDF)
• Statewide contracts reference sheet, November-December 2023 (480K PDF)
• Statewide contracts reference sheet, September-October 2023 (480K PDF)