After only three months on the job, David Malone has already made major moves toward his mandate to remake the City of St. Petersburg’s approach to procurement.
In mid-March, Mayor Ken Welch announced Malone as his choice for Director of Procurement and Supply Management, a department that oversees City purchases of over $300 million annually (FY2022 budget).
In addition to directing the City’s procurement operations across 36 City departments, Malone is tasked with designing a new Minority & Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) program.
The latter stems from the findings of a “Disparity Study,” commissioned by the City in 2018 and released in 2021. The study was designed to detect whether a statistical disparity exists between the availability of minority- and women-owned businesses, and the rate at which the City purchases from those businesses.
The analysis confirmed a disparity in both prime contracts and subcontracts awarded by the City during the study period (2014 to 2018).
The 260-page report also found that African Americans were the most underutilized by the City’s Small Business Enterprise (SBE) program.
Across all prime contracts in construction, professional services and other goods and services, 88% of City contracts went to white men versus only 1.6% to black-owned firms.
The difference was even more stark among the City’s most highly used vendors. White males won over 99% of the 826 contracts that went to the 57 most used firms. Not a single African American firm was in this group.
The study concluded that “After nearly 31 years in operation, the SBE Program has been ineffective in achieving equitable participation for M/WBE prime contractors based on their availability in the City’s market area.”
Mason Tillman Associates, the California-based firm that conducted the analysis, recommended that the City create a race- and gender-conscious program to remedy the disparity.
St. Petersburg has not had such a program in place since 1999 when its Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) program was disbanded after 17 years in operation.
Malone presented his plans for the new M/WBE program to the St. Petersburg City Council in late May, including a critical path of process steps that will have the program in place by January 2023.
In early June, he appointed a committee to help steer the strategy and process.
“Our goal will be to deliver a program that benefits “ALL” of St Petersburg,” while creating “foundational elements” for more inclusive procurement by the City, Malone shared with the group, which meets for the first time this Thursday.
Foundation blocks will include an ordinance to serve as the legislative underpinning for the program, along with mentor protégé concepts, access to capital, and supplier trainings that build capacity among M/WBE firms.
“We are excited Mr. Malone has joined us and for his leadership advancing our principals for accountable and responsive government,” said Mayor Welch. “[His] experience improving supply chain efficiencies as well as increasing minority and women-owned business enterprises utilization will be key to improving our processes. His experience aligns perfectly with our administration’s commitment to data driven decision-making and innovation.”
About David E. Malone
David Malone has over 30 years of management experience within municipal and Fortune 500 organizations, specializing in procurement, supply chain management and process improvement. His specialties include organizational design, talent acquisition, procurement system implementation, strategic sourcing, purchasing operations, supplier diversity, logistics management and travel management.
Prior to joining the City of St. Petersburg as Director of Procurement & Supply Management in March 2022, David’s most recent role was as Chief Procurement Officer for King County, Washington, with responsibility for approximately $2 billion in annual purchases, including construction, technology, goods and services.
Previously, David served as Chief Procurement Officer for Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Laurel, Maryland, where he was the Commission’s lead contracting officer with responsibility for approximately $1.2 billion in annual purchases.
He has also served as the senior most procurement executive for Avery Dennison and US Cellular Corporations and as the Chief Procurement Officer for the City of Chicago, from 2000 to 2004.
David’s other leadership roles include Director of Worldwide Procurement for R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and Senior Vice President at Mesirow Financials’ real estate division. He has global business experience, having conducted business in multiple countries, and maintains active relationships within the procurement and supply chain community.
Professional Affiliations:
- Member Institute of Supply Management, Corporate Member & Instructor
- Member, Conference Board, Purchasing & Supply Chain Council
- Member, National Institute of Government Purchasing, Inc
- Member, National Forum for Black Public Administrators Budget & Finance Committee
Career Accomplishments (Summary):
- Recently led the effort to establish a Supply Chain management degree at Jackson State University, the first for an HBCU in the state of Mississippi.
- Negotiated Chicago Street Furniture contract yielding more than 3,000 free bus shelters, including perpetual maintenance and a fixed revenue share of $30 million annually of advertising revenues.
- With Washington Sanitary Sewer Commission, built organization structure and hired all senior staff members for Procurement organization, which supports $1.4 billion capital improvement plan and 47 Departments. Served as Chairman of the Supply Chain Management Steering Committee. Implemented strategic sourcing, procurement forecasting, and supplier scorecards.
- In King County, Washington, developed requirements and led implementation of enterprise-wide Procure-to-Pay system, including serving as Chair of the P2P Executive Steering Committee.
- With Washington Sanitary Sewer Commission, implemented Strategic Sourcing across enterprise with successful completion of three sourcing waves generating more than $70 million in savings
- Named 2010 Outstanding Procurement Professional of the Year, Minority Enterprise Development Council & Minority Business Development Agency
Family, Hometown & Education:
- Hometown: Pickens, Mississippi
- Family: Father of 3 (Michael, Devin & John) and one of 9 siblings
- Undergraduate Degree: BS, Finance, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi
- Graduate Degree: MBA, Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School Of Management in Cleveland, Ohio
