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86 TH ANNUAL CONVENTION<br />
LOUISIANA MUNICIPAL ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES<br />
LaMATS Convention Closeup<br />
As summer heat bears down on Louisiana,<br />
the LaMATS team is excited to gather<br />
in air conditioned comfort at Alexandria’s<br />
Randolph Riverfront Center for the<br />
LMA’s 86th Annual Convention, August<br />
3 to 5! Every year we look forward to<br />
seeing old friends, making new ones,<br />
and sharing the many ways LaMATS has<br />
helped local governments save money<br />
and streamline business practices for<br />
the past twenty-five years.<br />
Mark your calendars now for the scheduled<br />
LaMATS breakout session to be<br />
held Saturday, August 5, at 10:45 a.m.<br />
LaMATS Executive Director Cliff Palmer,<br />
and Procurement Consultant Paul<br />
Holmes, will lead this one-hour “lighting<br />
round” introduction to LaMATS services,<br />
highlighting popular revenue-generating<br />
programs like Insurance Premium<br />
Tax collection (IPT), which returns more<br />
than $25 million annually in owed fees<br />
to the three-fourths of Louisiana municipalities<br />
that participate. Also learn how<br />
our partnership with the University of<br />
Louisiana Monroe provides<br />
free, professional<br />
drone (aerial) imaging<br />
to help municipalities<br />
capture progress on<br />
construction projects,<br />
document storm damage,<br />
or share the fun<br />
of local festivals with<br />
future visitors.<br />
Joining us for our program<br />
overview will<br />
be special guest, Angie<br />
Johnson, Major<br />
Accounts Manager in<br />
Office Depot Business<br />
Solutions in New Orleans.<br />
Johnson brings<br />
more than 25 years<br />
of experience to her<br />
continuing role as the LaMATS/LMA<br />
Office Depot account contact, and will<br />
re-cap the benefits of our Office Depot<br />
partnership, deliver insights into how<br />
Angie Johnson,<br />
Major Accounts Manager,<br />
Office Depot Business Solutions.<br />
LMA members<br />
have been taking<br />
advantage of<br />
the program, and<br />
suggest ways local<br />
governments<br />
can maximize the<br />
value of their purchasing<br />
dollars<br />
in various product<br />
categories.<br />
Through this program,<br />
Office Depot<br />
provides LMA<br />
members both<br />
individual accounts for discount purchases<br />
as well as separate tax-exempt<br />
accounts for local government entities.<br />
The value of LaMATS Procurement Services<br />
(LPS) has grown exponentially<br />
in recent years, due largely to our key<br />
partnership with industry leader GovDeals<br />
and several unique programs<br />
overseen by procurement expert Paul<br />
Holmes. For example, our Surplus Property<br />
Program makes<br />
available for purchase<br />
or disposal all manner<br />
of unwanted property<br />
and scrap materials.<br />
Our electronic bidding<br />
platform is another<br />
popular service that<br />
turns decommissioned<br />
vehicles and under-utilized<br />
equipment into<br />
valuable items for<br />
auction, snapped up<br />
quickly by buyers from<br />
across the country. Together<br />
these programs<br />
generated more than<br />
half a million dollars in<br />
local government revenue<br />
last year.<br />
The Louisiana Joint Cooperative Purchasing<br />
Commission (LACPC), a La-<br />
MATS-administered entity established<br />
in 2021 to negotiate joint purchasing<br />
agreements between municipalities<br />
and numerous statewide vendors of<br />
high-demand equipment and materials,<br />
will have its second annual member<br />
meeting at this year’s LMA Convention.<br />
The LACPC will have representatives on<br />
hand at the LaMATS session to fieldf<br />
questions about the commission’s work<br />
and how Louisiana local governments<br />
can join and benefit.<br />
Finally, as every year, we will be proud<br />
to assemble our close-knit “LaMATS Village”<br />
of corporate product and service<br />
providers in the bustling LMA Convention<br />
vendor area. Meet friendly representatives<br />
from trusted names like<br />
Musco Sports Lighting, Kincaid Recreation,<br />
Government Capital Corp., Gov-<br />
Deals, and more. It’s a one-stop-shop<br />
you’ll be glad you made time to visit.<br />
We’ll see you in Alexandria next month!<br />
by Cliff<br />
Palmer<br />
LaMATS Executive<br />
Director<br />
Palmer leads the Louisiana Municipal<br />
Advisory and Technical Services Bureau<br />
(LaMATS) - a subsidiary of LMA. He can<br />
be reached at cpalmer@lamats.net.<br />
<strong>LMR</strong> | JULY <strong>2023</strong> Page 29