Just Four Virginia Entities Among 194 National Honorees Last Year

Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond’s Department of Procurement Services was notified this weekend that it had earned the prestigious Achievement of Excellence in Procurement (AEP) Award from the National Procurement Institute, which honors agencies that demonstrate a commitment to excellence in procurement. This award recognizes the Department’s efforts to provide “best in class” procurement services to partners in City agencies, contractors, and Richmond residents. 

“This prestigious award represents our team’s focus to continually improve our approach, processes, and customer focus,” said Rene Almaraz, Director of Department Procurement Services. “We look forward to building on this milestone by incorporating more best practices, leveraging technologies, and continuing to grow a professional staff who are committed to serving the residents of Richmond. 

“I cannot thank our team enough for their hard work and diligence toward making DPS one of the best procurement organizations in the nation,” Almaraz said. “Their achievements include implementing OpenGov, our new procurement system, our focus on enabling departments to operate with greater autonomy, and proactively working with departments to plan larger acquisitions. These accomplishments also underscore the support we’ve received from City leaders to drive our mission.” 

The award follows the recent interview in CPOstrategy Magazine, which profiled Almaraz as a national leader in the complex procurement field: https://bit.ly/CityofRichmondBrochure.  

Almaraz came to Richmond with 33 years of experience in the Department of Defense and the private sector, including experience as head of contracting for the San Diego Unified School District, which serves 100,000 students and employs more than 10,000 people. 

The National Procurement Institute designed the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement program to recognize organizational excellence in public procurement. This prestigious annual award is earned by those organizations that demonstrate excellence by obtaining a high score based on criteria designed to measure innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership attributes of the procurement organization. The AEP continues to be recognized as the premier award in the public procurement profession.