In part two of our discussion with Sherry Neas from North Dakota, we lay out a practical playbook that starts with a precise legislative summary, aligns interpretations with partners like risk management and the AG, and then moves through manuals, training, website updates, and template revisions that vendors can actually follow.

We talk about capacity like operators do: splitting the team so daily buying continues while a focused group drives implementation on deadline. Sherry shares how to use bill tracking tools to catch amendments that change scope at the last minute, and how to communicate updates to counties, cities, schools, and vendors in plain language. We also dig into sponsor relationships and why a short, proactive email confirming a policy launch or contract award earns lasting trust at the capitol. When vendors escalate, transparency about protests and resolution processes turns conflict into clarity.

If you care about public procurement, legislative implementation, vendor communication, and building leaders who think in laws and deliver in practice, this one’s for you. Listen, share with your team, and leave a review telling us your best post-session habit.

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In part one of our discussion with Sherry Neas, Division Director of Shared Services for North Dakota’s OMB, we walk through a practical framework for pre-session preparation, stakeholder alignment, and testimony that actually moves the needle.

We start with the pre-legislative rhythm: weekly collaboration with higher ed, monthly sessions with state agencies, and a quarterly procurement advisory council that surfaces policy gaps early. Sherry explains how to decide what belongs in statute versus guidelines, why governments express authority matters, and how opening a law invites amendments you need to anticipate. Then we dive into testimony craft—writing with busy legislators in mind, using concrete examples, pausing for questions, and closing with a crisp call to action. We talk media training, committee protocol, and choosing speakers who want the podium and can handle rapid-fire questions.

Once the session heats up, systems and teamwork take over. Sherry details a bill tracking workflow, cross-division assignments, and the necessity of freeing someone’s time to focus on legislative work. We get into internal approvals—how subject matter experts, legal counsel, leadership, and the governor’s office align positions with policy, resources, and fiscal notes. When stakeholders disagree, she shows how to prevent surprises by briefing sponsors and chairs early, proposing amendments, and keeping associations in the loop. And when controversy sends a bill to conference committee, Sherry treats it like a complex RFP: listen first, map concerns, iterate toward solutions, and support the carrier with clear talking points.

If you’re a procurement leader navigating legislative season, this conversation offers a repeatable playbook: begin with the end in mind, engage stakeholders early, testify with clarity, and build relationships through respect and helpfulness. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review telling us your best tip for surviving the session storm.

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What if you could cut overdue bids by more than half without buying a new e-procurement system? We sit down with Stacia Dawson and Michael Stroud from Missouri’s Division of Purchasing to unpack a practical playbook for turnaround time management that anyone can adopt. Their approach blends simple tooling—Smartsheet for structured data and Tableau for clear visuals—with tight weekly reviews that turn insights into action.

We walk through the foundations: setting phase-based goals, logging actual dates with consistency, and using a stoplight status to keep focus on what’s at risk. Stacia shares how the team moved beyond giant spreadsheets and guesswork to a living dashboard that sorts work from oldest to newest, reveals bottlenecks fast, and makes it easy to intervene. Michael explains why low-code tools were the right fit: low cost, fast to implement, and flexible enough to evolve as the team learned. The result? A 62% reduction in overdue bids, faster cycle times, and a shared understanding of what drives delays.

If you’re looking to modernize public procurement with limited resources, this story shows exactly where to start: one sheet, a few well-chosen fields, simple color rules, and a weekly cadence that makes data matter. Subscribe for more practical procurement strategies, share this episode with your team, and tell us: which metric would you track first to unlock faster, fairer awards?

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