Welcome to the Spring 2018 edition of CPO News! There are lots of stories to cover today, so grab yourself a cup of coffee and ease into the week with us. Got any procurement news to share? Drop us a line at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!

Valley Metro Names Brad Cummings as Chief Procurement Officer

The Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority of greater Phoenix, more commonly known as the Valley Metro, recently named Brad Cummings as its newest Chief Procurement Officers. In this role, Cummings now overseas Valley Metro’s procurement and contracts departments, and is responsible for planning, scheduling, and monitoring these activities for the entire transit authority. Prior to joining Valley Metro, Cummings served as the Director of Procurement for the Utah State Board of Education, a State Contracts Analyst for the State of Utah, a legal consulting for a private law firm, and a law clerk during his time in law school. Cummings earned a Juris Doctorate from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law from Arizona State University after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Government from the University of Utah. Congratulations, Brad!

Mayor of Los Angeles Appoints City’s First Chief Procurement Officer

Earlier this year, Michael Owh left the East Coast for the West Coast to become the City of Los Angeles’s first CPO.  In his new role, Owh will draw upon his professional and personal experience and work to increase transparency in contracts and spend, reduce costs and contracting times, and promote small and minority-owned businesses to contract with the City. The son of Korean immigrants, Owh is an attorney with a career in public administration, contracting, and procurement who previously served as the Director and City CPO for the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, and in various General Counsel roles for the City of New York. Owh earned his Juris Doctorate from the St. John’s University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkley. Congrats, Michael!

Robert Vislosky Named CPO at Honeywell

Also earlier this month, New Jersey-based Honeywell named Robert Vislosky as its newest CPO, effective immediately. Vislosky replaces outgoing CPO, Mike Slomke, who retired after 23 years in the role. With Honeywell, Vislosky will oversea the company’s global sourcing and procurement strategy and operations. This is not Vislosky’s first rodeo. Before joining Honeywell, he served as CPO at XPO Logistics and three other firms, in addition to increasingly challenging manager, director, and VP roles. Vilosky earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Congratulations, Robert!

Tim Fiore Returns to Ryder, Takes the Wheel as CPO

Early last month, Ardent Partners learned that Tim Fiore, long-time procurement professional, has returned to Ryder System, Inc. to take the wheel as Chief Procurement Officer. Under his new administration, Fiore will oversee the sourcing and procurement operations for all three of Ryder’s business divisions: Fleet Management Solutions, Dedicated Transportation Solutions, and Supply Chain Solutions. Before accepting the offer to return to Ryder, Fiore had been serving as Chairman of the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, and was a member of ISM’s Board of Directors from 2010 to 2014. During a part of that time he also served as CPO for ThyssenKrup NA, and SVP of Supply Management for Terex Corporation, Celanese, and Ryder System. Fiore began his career with United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Optical Systems as a Manager and progressed to Director-level positions at several other UTC subsidiaries. He earned Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Congratulations, Tim, and welcome back!

#MeToo Hits Procurement in L.A. School System

In a bit of troubling news, two executives within the procurement division of L.A.’s Unified School District have resigned amid allegations that they tolerated a culture of sexual harassment in the division, and that women in the workforce were made to feel uncomfortable. Following an investigation by the District’s Inspector General (IG) that found that sexual harassment allegations were not reaching senior executives and decision makers inside the school district, Chief Procurement Officer, George Silva, and his Deputy, Quinton Dean, were given an ultimatum: resign, or possibly be fired. The sources did not identify who gave Silva and Dean the ultimatum. Dean resigned on January 11, while Silva resigned the following day, calling it a “retirement” after 35 years or service to the District. Neither men provided comment, and the District did not issue comment or documents pertaining to the investigation or the resignations. But anonymous, internal sources said that the matter was serious, particularly at a time of national reckoning over sexual harassment and abuse in all facets of society. Readers may note that Ardent Partners predicted that the #MeToo movement would hit the procurement world in 2018 (click to read more about it).

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