Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.29
Liaison Lindsey MacDonald
Submission Date Feb. 6, 2013
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Western Washington University
OP-T2-25: Local Businesses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 0.25 Susan Banton
Supervisor
Procurement & Supply
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution give preference to local products and businesses in its purchasing decisions? Local food purchases, which are covered in OP Credit 6: Food Purchasing, are not included in this credit.:
Yes

A brief description of the program:

The Washington state purchasing manual has been updated as follows:

“When conducting purchases under Direct Buy provisions, agencies are encouraged to buy from locally owned small businesses and Veteran Owned Businesses to the extent that such acquisitions are cost effective"

Buying locally is always a primary consideration when the purchase can be accomplished in accordance with sound purchasing practices.

Purchasing professionals at WWU believe “Local Preference” is inequitable because it results in part of the tax dollar being spent in “subsidy” instead of value. Sound purchasing equates to the concept of best value purchasing, i.e. lowest responsive bidder. A purchasing agent who has the marketplace artificially constrained cannot exercise the ingenuity and initiative, which is a contributing factor to their effectiveness.


The website URL where information about the program, policy, or practice is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.