More than $40 billion spent in '09 with private sector contractors!
by Mary Scott Nabers
CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.
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Rounding out the top 10 agencies with the highest contract dollar amounts were the following agencies:
- Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) with $5.9 billion;
- Teacher Retirement System (TRS)with $5.5 billion;
- Texas Department of Information Resources with $1.586 billion;
- Department of State Health Services (DSHS) with $1.926 billion;
- Texas Lottery Commission at $1.055 billion; and
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice with more than $570.7 million.
Of the more than 18,000 contracts issued by state agencies and higher education institutions, 78.3 percent – or 14,124 contracts – were issued by 10 agencies. DADS ranked first with 5,486 contracts, followed by TxDOT with 2,988 and DSHS with 2,523.
The two contracts with the largest dollar value were both insurance contracts. One was at the Teacher Retirement System ($2.3 billion) and the other was at the Employees Retirement System ($1.5 billion). Of course, not all state contracts were multi-million or multi-billion-dollar contracts. State agencies, colleges and universities issued contracts for thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars as well.
For instance, two of the various consulting contracts issued by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, were valued at $42,575 and $23,000. Five contracts for rental of copy machines were issued by the State Comptroller’s Office – ranging from $89,451 to $254,341.
Other smaller contracts that point out the diverse nature of what is purchased by the state would include the following:
- Lamar University - $14,895 for fencing a football practice field;
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio - $95,000 for installing a revolving door to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements;
- Texas Department of Public Safety - $14,272 for mold remediation at the Jasper driver’s license office;
- Texas Youth Commission - $168,285 for a phone replacement system for a facility in Giddings;
- Texas General Land Office – $200,000 for dune restoration at Seagent Beach;
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - $32,060 for new park house roofs at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Park;
- Texas Railroad Commission - $316,332 for heavy duty computer notebooks; and
- Texas Lottery Commission – $93,432 for promotional items.
The public sector is a lucrative marketplace with contracting opportunities for businesses of all sizes. And, while state agencies spend billions with private sector contractors, even more is spent by cities, counties, school districts, community colleges, public universities and hospitals. Hard to understand why any company would not find the Texas public sector marketplace extremely attractive!
