NASCA Press Release: Washington Bidder Contract Guide Announced as 2026 Innovation in State Government: Procurement Modernization Award Recipient
For Immediate Release
October 9, 2026
Contact: Elizabeth Whitehouse, Executive Director, executivedirector@nasca.org
NASCA Press Release: Washington Bidder Contract Guide Announced as 2026 Innovation in State Government: Procurement Modernization Award Recipient
Olympia, WA – The National Association of State Chief Administrators is proud to announce Washington’s Bidder Contract Guide as the 2026 NASCA Innovation in State Government: Procurement Modernization Award recipient.
The Innovation in State Government Awards recognize state administration department programs, projects, and initiatives that exemplify leading practices in the industry.
The Washington Department of Enterprise Services’ Contracts & Procurement Division (DES) functions as Washington’s central procurement authority and develops and implements enterprise procurement solution contracts that all Washington state agencies may use to purchase goods and services.
After identifying key issues, DES collaborated with the Washington Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to create a solution to end challenging practices without negatively impacting its procurement processes. Although a ‘copy and paste’ solution did not exist, DES was able to use its team-wide Contracts and Procurement Division’s experience and solution-oriented mindset to develop and implement a novel, innovative, common-sense solution.
The Bidder Contracting guide addresses a foundational procurement integrity issue shared by all state procurement authorities, benefits key stakeholders including, the public, vendors and bidders, purchasing agencies, the procurement authority and its procurement professionals, and state decision-makers, and has been welcomed in Washington’s vendor community and has resulted in meaningful procurement efficiencies and cost savings. The guide provides a potential solution framework that any procurement authority easily and inexpensively may adjust to replicate and implement.
In the approximately eighteen months since DES implemented its innovative and a commonsense Bidder Contracting Guide, DES has improved procurement integrity, reduced administrative and transactional procurement costs significantly, and created a more competitive marketplace for public procurement that, ultimately, benefits citizens, vendors, purchasing agencies, and procurement authorities and their procurement professionals.
NASCA celebrates their selection, and we look forward to their continued work advancing excellence in state government operations.
Founded in 1976, NASCA is the nation’s only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization serving chief administrative officers or CAOs. NASCA provides a forum for state chief administrative officers to exchange information and learn new ideas from each other and private sector partners. NASCA engages states in transforming government operations through shared knowledge, operational excellence, and thought leadership.
For more information on NASCA, please visit NASCA.org.
