Strategically Procuring City Services to Improve Resident Outcomes in Memphis, Tennessee

The Challenge

Like many cities across the country, Memphis procures a number of essential services that directly impact the city’s residents, including custodial services, technology systems, and fire safety equipment. Previously, procurement had been viewed as an administrative, back-office function rather than a strategic priority. The city had not allocated resources to planning for high-priority procurements, and resulting contracts often lacked clearly defined goals or standardized performance metrics. This sometimes led to subpar service delivery.

The Project

With help from the GPL, the city of Memphis developed a new system to improve procurement processes and the performance of priority contracts. This system included a monthly review process by which staff would review procurement data with city leadership to address key contracting challenges and improve city-wide procurement processes. Additionally, the system included a process to identify and improve upcoming high-priority procurements across city divisions. The project also included drafting two results-driven requests for quotations (RFQs) to improve service delivery on key janitorial and landscape services.

The Innovation

Through their efforts to improve the results of Memphis’ high-priority contracts, the jurisdiction was able to improve and streamline two key city procurements, which were expected to yield cleaner libraries and better-maintained parks. The project also yielded a long-term strategy for using procurement to accomplish city goals and improve the resident experience in Memphis.

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