Gregory K. Spearman, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, MPH
Gregory K. Spearman is a native of Glenwood, GA and received his B. S. Degree from Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia, a Master’s Degree from Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia and his M.P.H. Degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, TX. He worked for the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments as a Health Care Consultant and then as a Purchasing Planner for the Agency’s Cooperative Purchasing Program where he served as Program Administrator for the Cooperative Purchasing Program for four years. He served as Director of Purchasing for the City of Savannah, Georgia from 1986 to 1991. While serving as Purchasing Director for the City of Savannah, he was instrumental in organizing local public purchasing officials to determine their interest in starting a local Purchasing Chapter. As a result of his efforts, there was tremendous support to start a chapter and he led the effort to petition NIGP for which later became known as the Coastal GA Chapter of NIGP, where he became President of the Chapter as a Charter Member. The Coastal GA Chapter continues to exist as a functioning, vibrant NIGP Chapter. In the latter part of 1991, he became the Director of Purchasing for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Purchasing Department, a consolidated City-County Purchasing operation. In 2000, he went to work in the private sector for DemandStar by Onvia (now Bonfire DemandStar), a company that developed a Web Based Purchasing Software for public agencies. He helped to develop purchasing solutions for agencies needing to improve their purchasing process via automation. Mr. Spearman is a Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO) and has also obtained NIGP-CPP certification. He has been active in the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) for several years as a seminar presenter, instructor, member of the Talent Council and mentor. In August of 2023, he received the “Distinguished Service Award from NIGP for his many years of public service as a Purchasing Director. He also served for many years as a Chief Examiner for NIGP for candidates who were seeking to become CPPO certified. He is retired as Director of Purchasing for the City of Tampa where he managed a staff of 29 and was responsible for the day-to-day operation for the acquisition of $630M Dollars of various goods and services, disposal of surplus property and Inventory Management for the City. As an incentive to motive his Buying Staff to become certified, he created a Buyer’s Incentive Program (BIP) in 2016 which reimburses individuals for the cost of training courses leading towards certification and reimbursement of the cost of the certification exams fees, including a job classification upgrade to a “Certified” status and a step increase in pay after verification of passing the certification exam. In addition to the CPPO and CPPB exams, he obtained City Administration approval to upgrade the BIP to include the NIGP-CPP and the Certified Procurement Card (CPCP) professional certifications to the policy. He is an active member of the Tampa Bay Chapter of NIGP and served as Chair of the Planning and Development Committee on the Community Action Board of Hillsborough County for thirteen (13) years, a Community Action Agency whose mission is to help low-income citizens to become self sufficient. He also served as a member of the City’s Emergency Management Steering Committee which plays a critical role during pre-storm and post-storm recovery activities. He is an active member of the Carmel Friendship Church where he served in the Prayer Ministry, Pandemic Response Task Force, Men’s Ministry and Growth Track Facilitator. He also served as a Trustee on the City of Tampa’s Police and Fire Pension Board. He has three adult children and one granddaughter.