54th Annual Rutgers University
Public Purchasing Educational Forum
April 23, 24, 25, 2024
Tropicana, Atlantic City
Co-sponsored by:
Rutgers Center for Government Services
Northern New Jersey Chapter of NIGP
Southern New Jersey of NIGP
Governmental Purchasing Association of New Jersey
New Jersey Association of County Purchasing Officials
Registration Information
The 54th Rutgers Public Purchasing Educational Forum is scheduled for April 24-25, 2024, at Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City. We also offer a pre-Forum ‘Ethics” seminar on April 23, 2024, at the same location. As always, the Forum will provide the latest and most relevant information for the purchasing professionals, as well as an opportunity to earn up to 10 CEUs and to network with peers.
There are two ways to register for the conference:
- Purchase orders/vouchers and registration forms must be sent together and e-mailed to cgs@docs.rutgers.edu A check or voucher must accompany the registration form, made payable to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
- Online registrations (with credit card or e-check only) are currently accepted as well. Click on the “Register Online” button in the left column.
You can register for 2-day or 1-day Forum participation, as well as for the pre-Forum “Ethics” seminar. For registration, please use the following codes:
| Code | Event | Fee |
| PP-2250-SP24-1 | 2-day Forum, 4/24 & 4/25 | $450 |
| PP-2250-SP24-2 | 1-day Forum, 4/24 | $245 |
| PP-2250-SP24-3 | 1-day Forum, 4/25 | $245 |
| PP-2220-SP24-2 | Ethics 1/2-day, 4/23 | $133 |
Before a student is officially enrolled in a course, payment must be authorized or secured. A student who has a delinquent account with CGS will not be permitted to enroll in any additional courses or events offered by the Center until the delinquency is resolved. Withdrawal requests must be submitted in writing at least 3 business days before the Forum and will incur a $25 processing fee. Withdrawals will be refunded, minus the $25 fee. Failure to notify CGS within the time frame will result in forfeiture of all fees. There is a $25 fee for returned checks.
All registrations for the conference must be received NO LATER than three business days before the conference begins. Conference registration will be closed on April 17th, 2024. Late registrations will not be accepted.
To obtain credit for a session, you must be present through the entire duration of the session and check in through a QR code at the end of the session.
DOE Waiver for overnight travel for school district employees can be found HERE
Rutgers University, Center for Government Services is pleased to announce vendor opportunities for the 54th Annual Educational Forum at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City. This two-day conference will run from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, April 24th and 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Thursday, April 25th giving vendors the opportunity to display their goods and explain their services to more than 250 purchasing agents from municipal and county governments, state and county colleges, school districts, as well as public authorities and utilities.
Vendor space is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Credit cards and e-checks are accepted. Registration deadline is April 1, 2024.
Vendor registration is now open: Register HERE
Event set-up details will be provided to registered vendors two weeks before the event.
Vendor registration includes:
- Registration for two company representatives (breakfast and lunch included for both days)
- One six-foot skirted table with two chairs
- Standard electrical outlet
- Wastebasket
- Entrance to all conference sessions and events
Questions? Contact Debbie Steinert at dsteiner@docs.rutgers.edu
Rutgers Center for Government Services is pleased to announce a Valenti/Stanton Scholarship for the new QPAs!
Joseph Valenti and Mary Lou Stanton were outstanding instructors in the Public Purchasing program at Rutgers CGS. They educated and supported thousands of public purchasing professionals in the state of New Jersey.
The principal aim of this scholarship is to offer financial support to the recently certified QPAs to attend the Annual Rutgers University Public Purchasing Educational Forum. The scholarship will cover the cost of the forum and hotel accommodation for the winning applicant. It is the applicant’s responsibility to receive approval from the supervisor to attend the Forum.
How to apply: the applicant must fill in the scholarship application form with the deadline of before the date of the conference. The applicant should satisfy the following conditions: receive the QPA certification within 2 years prior to the conference date and be employed in the public sector (local, state, federal) with purchasing-related job responsibilities.
The submission deadline for the 2024 Forum is March 25th, 2024.
Scholarship Application Form
Hotel Information
Tropicana Atlantic City - Boardwalk Resort & Casino
2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 - Hotel map and Navigating Tropicana
Room Rate: $89 per night*.
The above rate is per guestroom, per night, single or double occupancy. Rates are subject to applicable resort fees and governmental room taxes. Each additional person will be charged at a rate of $25.00 per person, per night with a maximum of four (4) persons per guestroom.
*A daily resort fee of $27.99 per room, per night plus the current occupancy room tax will be charged in addition to the room rates set forth above.
Rates are also subject to an Atlantic City Tourism Promotional Fee, currently $2.00, and a New Jersey State Occupancy Fee, currently $3.00, and Atlantic City Occupancy Surcharge, currently $2.00, per room, per night.
Room Reservations - 888-516-2215 (8am-2am EST, 7 days a week)
Group name: Rutgers Public Purchasing Educational Forum
Group code: STRPP4
***All callers will be asked for this code but can also book by saying Rutgers Public Forum **
ONLINE RESERVATIONS: https://book.passkey.com/go/STRPP4
More information on how to pay for the hotel with a Purchase Order, can be found HERE.
Cut-off date: Sunday, March 24, 2024.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
TUESDAY, APRIL 23 |
|
3:00 – 6:00 | PRE- CONFERENCE SEMINAR Ethics Dr. Stephanie Bush-Baskettee, Esq., PhD |
6:00 – 7:00
| WELCOME RECEPTION: “STRONGER TOGETHER!” Meet your NJ Purchasing Associations: Northern New Jersey Chapter of NIGP |
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 |
|
7:30 – 8:30 | REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS |
8:30 – 8:45 | Welcome |
8:45 – 9:45 | Keynote ENHANCING SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGH THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENC Dave Cole, New Jersey State Chief Innovation Officer
|
10:00 – 11:00 | Concurrent Sessions I PREVAILING WAGE. NEW SOFTWARE AND TEMPLATES. Toni Longo, Assistant Director
|
| BEST PRACTICES FOR MANAGING PUBLIC-FUNDED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Ron Meischker, Director of Industry Labor and Compliance, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters |
| SUSTAINABLE JERSEY RESOURCES FOR GREEN PURCHASING Tracey Woods, Energy Program Manager, Sustainable Jersey |
| FEDERAL PROCUREMENT. DAVIS-BACON ACT. Gerald Reiner, Purchasing Manager, Bergen County Utilities Authority |
N.J. LOCAL PUBLIC CONTRACTS LAW AND REGULATIONS REFERENCE GUIDE AND YELLOW BOOK UPDATE Marc Pfeiffer, Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy | |
11:00 – 11:30 | BREAK/VISIT EXHIBITS |
11:30 – 12:30 | Concurrent Sessions I Repeated concurrent sessions I |
12:30 – 1:30 | LUNCHEON/VISIT EXHIBITS
|
1:30 – 2:30 | GENERALSESSION Purchasing Jeopardy Jim Jorgensen, city of Clifton (retired) |
2:45 - 3:45 | CONCURRENT SESSION II (not repeated) Legislative Update Lori Buckelew, Assistant Executive Director, NJLM |
| Public School Purchasing James Shoop, BA/PA, Passaic Board of Education (retired) |
4:30-6:30 | NETWORKING RECEPTION: “BOOGIE NIGHTS”
|
THURSDAY, April 25 |
|
7:00 – 8:30 | REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS |
8:30 – 9:30 | PLENARYSESSION New Age Workplace Gerald Reiner, Purchasing Manager, Bergen County Utilities Authority |
9:40 – 10:40 | Concurrent Sessions IiI (not repeated) BREAKOUT NETWORKING SESSION
|
10:40 – 11:00 | BREAK/VISIT EXHIBITS |
11:00 – 12:00 | Concurrent Sessions IV PROCUREMENT UNDER FEMA GRANTS Christopher Simone, Program Specialist, Procurement Disaster Assistance Team, Grant Programs Directorate, FEMA |
| NJSTART - ADVANCED SEARCH STRATEGIES Nicholas Susi, General Manager NJSTART Bill Hnatiuk, Local Government Manager NJSTART, Periscope Holdings
|
| DOL UPDATE Ashleigh Chamberlain, Bureau Chief Joseph Kostecki, Public Entity Liaison, Wage, Hour & Contract Compliance, NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development
|
| Commodity Codes Rick Thomas, Purchasing Manager, Atlantic County Utilities Authority Michele Bado, Purchasing Agent, Hamilton Township
|
| Basics of Specification Writing and Research. Working with vendors. Using AI and Technology. Gordon Ball, Executive Director, Southern New Jersey Chapter NIGP Madeline Caterinicchio, Director of Purchasing and Inventory, Middlesex Couty College Jim Jorgensen, city of Clifton (retired) |
12:00 - 1:00 | LUNCH/VISIT EXHIBITS
|
1:00 – 2:00 | Concurrent Sessions IV Repeated concurrent sessions IV
|
2:00- 3:00 | PLENARY SESSION OSC’S TOP PROCUREMENT UPDATES OF 2023-2024. OSC’S ROADMAP TO COMPLIANCE WITH COOPERATIVE CONTRACTING Alysia Walsh, Esq., Deputy Director Geoffrey LeGrand, Staff Attorney, Procurement, NJ Office of the State Comptroller
|
For approved CEUs click HERE
Michele Bado, Purchasing Agent, Hamilton Township
Gordon H. Ball, Jr., RPPO, CPPO, QPA - Executive Director, Southern New Jersey Chapter NIGP
David Brown, Township Manager, Township of Ocean
Madeline Caterinicchio, Director of Purchasing and Inventory, Middlesex Couty College
Olga Chaban, Ed.D. - Sr. Program Coordinator, Center for Government Services, Rutgers University
Joseph Clark, QPA, RPPO, CPPB - Purchasing Manager, Ocean City
Melissa Kosenski, RPPO, QPA, Purchasing Agent, County of Somerset
Mary “Trish” Mooney, QPA, RPPO - Purchasing Agent, Atlantic City (Retired)
Nicola Reid, QPA, RPPO - Purchasing Agent, Stafford Township
Gerald Reiner, Purchasing Manager, Bergen County Utilities Authority
Apryl Roach, QPA, RPPS, Administrative Manager, Franklin Township Sewerage Authority
Laura M. Scutari, MPA, QPA, CCPO, RPPO - Director of Purchasing, Union County
Ann Marie B. Spagnola, MPA, QPA, RPPS - Administrative Specialist 4 - Procurement,
State of NJ, Judiciary, Purchase & Property (Retired)
Rick Thomas, Purchasing Agent, Atlantic County Utilities Authority
You can download Forum handouts HERE. If a session does not have any handouts, we have not received them from the presenter yet.