Montgomery County’s Office of Procurement is one of five teams from local governments across the country participating in a “Green RFP (request for proposals) Bootcamp,” hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL).  The bootcamp is helping teams learn and use innovative procurement strategies that will help them achieve their climate goals. The program began in March and will run through April. 

Participating teams were competitively selected based on the potential for the bootcamp to impact the jurisdiction’s sustainable purchasing practices. Other participating teams came from jurisdictions in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Hampshire.

Participants will learn strategies for advancing RFPs focused on either “greening” a traditional good or service procured by local government or launching a major purchase, project or initiative that will have positive environmental impacts. The Montgomery County team is designing an RFP that will reduce the associated environmental impact of its printing and mailing services for the County’s property tax notifications. 

“We are committed to making sustainability an integral part of procurement,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “I appreciate our Office of Procurement enthusiastically trying to learn new strategies to build a more environmentally responsible and resilient community.” 

In group sessions and one-on-one meetings with a coach from the GPL, the Montgomery County team, which is composed of five staff members from Finance and Procurement, will learn best practices for sustainable purchasing and practical techniques for writing inviting and results-driven RFPs. The team will exchange ideas with peer jurisdictions that are expanding their sustainable purchasing practices.   

The County’s participation in the Green RFP Bootcamp will strengthen the County’s sustainable purchasing practices, reduce the environmental impact from future purchases and support the County’s vision to make its purchasing more sustainable.  

The Green RFP Bootcamp is a program of the GPL’s Procurement Excellence Network , a free online hub to support public sector leaders as they drive procurement reforms and innovations, including sustainable purchasing practices. Learnings from the bootcamp will be shared through PEN’s Resource Library.  

The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab  is based in the school’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government. It supports state and local governments across the country in designing and implementing solutions to pressing social problems. The GPL has conducted more than 240 projects in more than 100 jurisdictions, helping innovative state and local government leaders improve their results. An important part of the GPL’s research model involves capturing the insights, tools and practices that are gained through hands-on projects and sharing them with government leaders across the country. 

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