Could this approach save the state millions, if not billions?
Ralph E. Wilbur is the successful president of an
11-employee, 51-year-old print company
in Lawrence, Mass. He is also a graduate of MIT, having studied business and
engineering administration. He is, by any standard, an educated and able person.
But despite his considerable experience and knowledge, there’s
one thing Wilbur has a hard time wrapping his capable mind around: the state’s
complex and mazelike procurement system when it comes to working with small
business vendors.
For nearly 20 years, he says, his business helped the state
print materials, until 1991, when the State Print Office folded. Since then, he
backfilled his workload with private sector business.
In 2009, amid the Great Recession, Wilbur turned back to the
state government as a way to stabilize his business. Then, he met an avalanche
of confusing and necessary paperwork.
Now, he’s contacted Gov. Charlie Baker to try to make it easier
for the state to do business with small businesses such as his.
“In Massachusetts, however, the process is a paperwork
nightmare and entirely ineffective in encouraging and providing opportunities for Massachusetts
companies to do business with the state,” Wilbur says. “Additionally, the process
severely limits competitive bidding while at the same time encourages
burgeoning and outrageous administrative costs compared with other states.
In an April 16 letter to the governor, Wilbur offered to serve
on a newly formed gubernatorial commission examining the state’s labyrinthine
regulatory climate.
“I find that there is a maze of do’s and don’ts involved in
doing state work, so much so, that the state has had to set up multiple
training sessions to assist bidders to understand the requirements,” Wilbur wrote. “I wonder what these training sessions cost
the taxpayers, and why is the procurement process in Massachusetts so complex
that such training is necessary at all?”
Wilbur says the state needs a systematic review of its
procurement system.
“There may be opportunities to save taxpayers not just
millions, but billions,” he says. “The people who are presently creating this
nightmare paper jungle have a mindset that is inimical to simplicity and
cost-effectiveness.”
