Why the Same Vendors Keep Winning
What are the three factors that influence a vendor's decision to bid or not bid on a solicitation?
What are Access, Friction, and Signal?
Vendors should be able to read a solicitation and understand exactly what success looks like at the end of the project. Good drafting accomplishes this by defining project ______.
What are deliverables?
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need _____.
What are Roads? (Back to the future)
This section should clearly explain what the Borough wants to buy and what work the vendor must perform.
What is the Scope?
This elected body of seven members serves as the legislative branch of the Borough.
What is the Borough Assembly?
This occurs when unnecessary requirements, confusing instructions, complicated bid forms, or short deadlines make it harder for vendors to participate.
What is Friction?
A solicitation requires five forms, but only four are included in the bid package. This drafting error often results in vendor questions and an _____.
What is an addendum?
You're gonna need a bigger _____.
What is boat? (Jaws)
A federally funded project is being advertised, but none of the grant-required contract provisions are included.
What are missing funding requirements?
This appointed position directs the administration of Borough government and oversees daily operations.
What is the Borough Manager?
A vendor reviews past awards and sees the same company winning repeatedly. This may lead the vendor to believe they do not have a realistic chance of winning. What factor is being affected?
What is Signal?
If a vendor cannot determine from reading the solicitation how award will be made, the drafting likely failed to clearly identify the method of _____.
What is award?
One does not simply walk into ______.
What is Mordor? (LOTR)
You find three different project names throughout the solicitation because language was copied from a previous procurement.
What is a formatting and quality control issue?
This year the Matanuska-Susitna Borough was officially incorporated as a borough government in the State of Alaska.
What is 1964?
Name two actions procurement staff can take to reduce barriers and encourage greater vendor participation.
Answer: What are:
The phrase "or equal" is often used in specifications to help encourage this.
What is competition?
Leave the gun. Take the _____.
What is cannoli? (The Godfather)
Finding this before advertisement can save multiple addenda, vendor confusion, delays, and potential protests.
What is an error or omission in the solicitation?
Before becoming one of Alaska's fastest-growing regions, the Mat-Su Valley became famous for this New Deal-era farming project that brought Midwestern families north.
What is the Matanuska Colony Project?
According to the webinar notes, the goal is not simply to receive more bids. What is the ultimate objective of a healthy procurement process?
What is removing unnecessary barriers so qualified vendors can find opportunities, understand requirements, and feel they have a fair chance to compete?
(Or something similar to that)
The best way to reduce vendor questions, protests, and misunderstandings is to ensure the scope, bid forms, contract terms, and evaluation criteria are all ______.
What is aligned?
You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the _____.
Who is the lowest bidder? (Armageddon)
The solicitation contains correct dates, a complete scope, required forms, proper insurance, funding provisions, and evaluation criteria that align with proposal instructions.
What is a procurement ready for advertisement?
Covering more than 25,000 square miles, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is so large that its land area is often compared to this U.S. state.
What is West Virginia?