Zach Polk is the purchasing director for the City of Jackson.
Since before he got his current job, the City – as well as other local municipalities – has had trouble getting a number of bids for different projects going on in the Hub City.
So Polk announced last week that the City is taking a new approach to the problem.
“We’re hoping to bring them to us and point them to who they need to talk to so they can simply put faces with names and things we may be looking for in the near future or past that,” Polk said.
On May 6, the City will be hosting its inaugural Jackson, TN Vendor Expo at the Carl Perkins Civic Center from 9 a.m. until noon.
“It will really be a reverse job fair,” Polk said about the event. “We’ll have representatives of the City available from all departments from around the City – department heads and others involved in purchasing.”
The event will be taking place in the front lobby in the front of the building.
“When a potential vendor comes in, there will be tables scattered throughout the lobby, and they can go around and talk to any and all of them they want to talk to if they think they might need to talk to them in the future,” Polk said. “And if they go to one department thinking they need to talk to them but find out they need to talk to another, the City official can point them in the right direction.
“So while conversations that day may not lead to any specific jobs, hopefully potential vendors will see projects we plan to do in the future and start putting together bids when we begin asking for them.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
