Washington, DC, October 05, 2019 –(PR.com)– Government Sourcing Solutions announced that it has hired the highly accomplished former Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) of the State of Alaska, Jason Soza, as Vice President, West. Soza joins GSS with 20 years of experience in public procurement, starting as a frontline buyer for Alaska and ascending to CPO in 2013. Active in national procurement organizations, Soza was elected by his peers in 2018 as President of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).
In his role with the State of Alaska, Soza was responsible for the oversight of all goods and services purchases, inventory, and property disposal by all executive branch agencies across a very geographically diverse and challenging state. He also undertook several initiatives to transform Alaska’s procurement function, starting with the formation of a cross-agency procurement officer group to increase communication and idea sharing, breaking down silos, and fostering new inter-agency relationships. These initiatives significantly increased spend under management, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional savings over his tenure.
“Since I started GSS fourteen years ago, we have been so fortunate to have hired some of the most talented and innovative procurement professionals in the country, and Jason is made from the same cloth,” said David Yarkin, President of Government Sourcing Solutions. “It is no wonder that his peers in the fifty states elected him as the President of NASPO in 2018. He is a great leader for our industry, and I am proud to now call him a colleague.”
Soza led several statewide procurement process improvement projects that resulted in $7 million in recurring annual savings. A Six Sigma Black Belt Certification recipient, Soza developed and taught a day-long “Process Improvement for Procurement Professionals” course to arm procurement staff with the knowledge and tools to increase efficiency in their purchasing efforts. These efforts were recognized with the State of Alaska being awarded the Gold George Cronin Award for Procurement Excellence by NASPO, the top award for state procurement innovation.
Also very active in advancing the public procurement profession on the national level, Soza has held numerous leadership positions with NASPO, including Chair of the Emerging Issues Committee, Chair of the Governance & Oversight Committee, Director-at-Large/Research & Innovation Champion, and President-Elect. Additionally, he authored and contributed to several publications, including the third edition of NASPO’s State & Local Government Procurement: A Practical Guide and a research paper published by the Harvard Kennedy School titled “Cooperative Procurement: Today’s Contracting Tool/Tomorrow’s Contracting Strategy.” Soza has been frequently cited in articles about public procurement, including most recently in Governing and Route Fifty.
“I first met the GSS team 6 years ago at a NASPO event and have always been impressed with their insights about public procurement and the respect that our community has for them,” said Soza. “I know firsthand that GSS is deeply invested in the success of the procurement profession and individual procurement leaders across the country, which aligns with my own motivations and passion for this industry. I couldn’t be more excited to join this team and start helping purchasing officials accomplish their incredibly important–and very challenging–missions.”
About Government Sourcing Solutions
Government Sourcing Solutions is the leading consulting firm helping state and local governments implement cooperative sourcing. We have worked with 43 state governments and many of the nation’s largest cities and counties, helping them save tens of millions of dollars and increasing the dollars going to small, minority and women owned businesses – all while significantly reducing staff resource time.
The company, founded by former Pennsylvania chief procurement officer David Yarkin in 2005, is made up of former procurement officials from state and local governments, K-12 and higher education organizations. Altogether the team has nearly 150 years of education, public sector and procurement experience which they bring into every engagement with purchasing officials. GSS is a three-time member of the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the nation.