“The buying power of a city the size of Seattle can help influence private industry to really consider companies that maybe they would not have looked at to provide a product or service. That’s how they can make a difference in the marketplace.” -WMBE contractor
Facing a fragmented and manual procurement system, the City of Seattle struggled with slow processes for staff and barriers for minority-owned and small businesses to win public contracts. Complex documentation and disparate platforms made it difficult for vendors to compete fairly, leading to procurement cycles that often dragged on for months.
To solve this, Seattle sought and won a $1 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant in 2022 to accelerate procurement transformation and equity-focused reforms. The Procurement Transformation project was a partnership between the Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS), the Innovation and Performance Team, and the Harvard Government Performance Lab. This project led to numerous advancements in the City’s approach to procurement, including the launch of a unified digital procurement portal.
By the Numbers
- Over $900 million spent annually on City purchasing
- Procurement cycles sometimes took over 120 days pre-transformation, slowing critical projects
- $1 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to accelerate procurement transformation
Challenge
The City’s procurement system was fragmented, manual, and difficult for both City staff and vendors to navigate. Barriers included:
- Multiple platforms for bids: public works, consulting, and goods purchasing used different systems, causing confusion for staff and inconsistent vendor experiences
- Opaque processes: City staff and vendors struggled to track procurement status, leading to repetitive inquiries and manual work
- Barriers for BIPOC-owned firms: Complex documentation and confusing processes made it difficult for businesses with less resources and institutional knowledge to compete
Digitizing and Aligning our System
One of the project’s biggest accomplishments was launching a unified digital portal powered by OpenGov in August 2024. This system centralized all public solicitations and vendor registration into one platform. This system vastly simplified onboarding for small and minority-owned businesses and made it easier for vendors to search and apply for contracts.
Other advancements included:
- New internal dashboards for workload management and public dashboards for contract status and equity metrics
- Simplified bid templates and targeted outreach and networking for WMBE vendors
- Shared best practices and lessons learned through storytelling, interdepartmental meetings, and a “Procurement Cookbook” documenting the project
Results
- Average procurement duration dropped by 40% between 2022 and 2025.
- WMBE/BIPOC vendor participation increased by 28% since 2022
- Over 2,800 vendors registered on OpenGov portal
Partners
- Mayor’s Office
- Finance & Administrative Services
- Innovation & Performance
- Bloomberg Philanthropies
- Harvard Kennedy School’s Government Performance Lab
- WMBE/Vendor Outreach Liaisons