“You can’t make a sandwich without going to the grocery store,” says Latanya Figueroa. And if you want it to be especially delicious, you need to know where to find the best ingredients. That’s something procurement professionals do really well. And while sandwiches may be low on their priority list, collectively, public procurement teams source hundreds of thousands of goods and services for their communities. Finding solutions that deliver the best value for taxpayers takes a special set of skills — and chief among them is relationship building. In this episode, Latanya, who is the Purchasing Manager at Clover Park School District, joins Bonfire host Tuong La to share her philosophy on vendor partnerships — why they matter and how to build stronger relationships with the businesses that help keep your organization running. Drawing on 25 years of experience in procurement, Latanya dives into these topics and more: Why strong partnerships matter How getting aligned on mission helps both sides be successful Strategies for staying open and improving communication The impact of vendor relationships on risk management, pricing, quality, support and transparency Connect with Latanya on LinkedIn. You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Inside Public Procurement on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or gobonfire.com/podcast. Listening on a desktop and can’t see the links? Just search for Inside Public Procurement in your favorite podcast player.