Professional Certifications

The Purchasing Division strongly supports the public procurement certification process provided by the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council and the Institute for Public Procurement-NIGP. As such, Purchasing Division employees directly involved in the procurement process are encouraged to obtain certification as a Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) or a NIGP-CPP Certified Procurement Professional. In addition, management personnel in the Purchasing Division are encouraged to obtain professional certification as a Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO).

Currently three out of seven Purchasing Division employees with purchasing responsibility have achieved professional certification in public procurement.

Certification is the process by which the public purchaser demonstrates a standard of competency for the benefit of the public. Certification reflects achievement of established professional standards and a competency for those engaged in governmental purchasing, and attests to the purchaser's ability to obtain maximum value for the taxpayer's dollar.

The trend in governmental purchasing is for mandatory certification of procurement professionals. The CPPB, CPPO, and NIGP-CPP designations communicate to the taxpayer that the public employee who manages their tax dollars has reached a specific level of education and experience and is knowledgeable about government purchasing.