Procurement highlighted at event

Businesses got the chance to learn about the City of Lloydminster’s procurement process over breakfast.

Businesspeople, councillors and community members alike gathered at the Lloyd Ex on Dec. 17 for a presentation and networking opportunity put on by the city.

Members of the economic development team as well as Lloydminster’s procurement officer, Mika Wangler, were on hand. 

Wangler gave a presentation breaking down the various kinds of procurement the city takes part in. It’s broken up into three categories, public procurement, limited procurement and sole/single sourcing. 

“Public procurement or what we call open competition, is a procurement option to any and all vendors to bid,” said Wangler. “We also engage in limited procurement or invitational, when a number of vendors are invited to submit in a bid quote on procurement.”

“And sole or single sourcing is when a single vendor is invited to bid,” she said.

She says sole or single-source procurement is often not used because it does not promote best competition. 

Wangler says important strides have been made for the city’s procurement.

“The city, we have made important strides in policy and procedural improvements and transparency and education have been key initiatives,” she said.

Katlin Ducherer, Lloydminster’s economic development officer, spoke to the importance of business licensing. 

“From our perspective, we use business licensing as a directory, as a master document for the businesses and the diversification we have in our community, it’s very important to register yourself as a business,” said Ducherer. “It really helps us in understanding the local ecosystem, that diversification and how we can help you expand as well as attract new business.”

Some metrics were also provided regarding income and workforce in Lloyd. The median age in Lloydminster is 35.5, boasting a workforce of 20,250, an average economic household income of $128,600. The average residential price in the city is $308,968.

Read more: Synergy highlights economic breakfast

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Christian Apostolovski
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