St. John Fisher University Joins the Empire State Purchasing Group

St. John Fisher University has joined the Empire State Purchasing Group and will be publishing and distributing upcoming bid opportunities on the system.

Empire State Purchasing Group, which is under the umbrella of BidNet Direct, connects nearly 350 participating agencies from across New York. The purchasing group provides a transparent bid process through which the bid is available to all vendors at the same time. Fisher invites all vendors to register online.

The University joined the purchasing group in October following a collaborative RFP process involving the Office of Residence Life, Facilities, and Procurement. Fisher will utilize the system to streamline the purchasing process including bid distribution, bid management, and vendor relations. The Empire State Purchasing Group is a single, online location for managing and sourcing information and activities, creating a transparent bid process while minimizing costs and saving time.

“We strive to be as transparent as possible and to give all the information we have about the bid opportunity and the procurement process to all our vendors,” said Marcie Nicastro, director of procurement at Fisher. “By becoming a part of the Empire State Purchasing Group, we can provide all important and necessary information instantly to our vendors; they can just log in and view everything in real time. This has allowed us to create a more seamless bid process and has resulted in more participation from vendors across the state.”

As a participating agency of the Empire State Purchasing Group, Fisher can expand the vendor pool and enhance vendor competition without increasing distribution costs.

Registered vendors can access open bids, related documents and files, and available award information from all participating agencies. In addition, the Empire State Purchasing Group offers a value-added service to notify vendors of new bids targeted to their business, including all addenda and advance notification of expiring term contracts.

With one click, Fisher’s team can now see how many vendors match a specific opportunity, how many have downloaded documents, responded, and more. The University also has its own branded page on the public side of the Empire State Purchasing Group in which users can view all closed bids and any awarded information.

For questions about the purchasing and procurement process, email mnicastro@sjf.edu.