PI Window on Business: May 14, 2009 Interview with CFIB VP Corinne Pohlmann Now Available On-Demand (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jon-Hansen)

Does government procurement policy shut out SMEs?

Here are the highlights from today’s PI Window on Business interview with CFIB VP Corinne Pohlmann “Government Procurement Policy: A Question of Synchronization Versus Compression”:

* Government claims of increased engagement with SMEs does not compute (CFIB surveys indicate a drop from 30% to 20% of total membership now actively engaged in pursuing government business ).

* Despite PWGSC Minister’s May 7 Press Release stating that “this government is committed to working” with SMEs to ensure that “they continue to be key providers to the federal government,” the CFIB was not invited to participate in the Acquisition and Material Management Strategy Development Council series of meetings.

* SMEs make up 98% of all businesses in Canada, employ 60% of the entire Canadian workforce and account for 50% of Canada’s entire economic output.

* Government of Canada current “bundling” policies are the antithesis of emerging public sector practice.

Based on these as well as the other points that were discussed in today’s interview, what are your thoughts?  Provide your comments here on Procurement Insights, or join the new Public Sector Supplier Forum on LinkedIn.

PI Window on Business Special (For Want of a Nail: The Pandemic Effect)

Be sure to mark Tuesday, May 26^th on your calendars so that you will remember to tune in to the first of four PI Window on Business 90-minute Specials.  In this initial Special titled “For Want of a Nail: The Pandemic Effect,” I will be joined by Nick Kelley, a researcher from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, and the lead author of the November 2008 white paper “Pandemic Influenza, Electricity, and the Coal Supply Chain (Addressing Crucial Preparedness Gaps in the United States), to discuss the true nature of the latest swine flu crisis in terms of its potential impact on supply chains.  It is a show you will not want to miss!

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