March 21, 2025
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GSA’s Procurement Shake-Up: Lessons from Pennsylvania
The General Services Administration (GSA) is moving forward with a major procurement reform effort, consolidating federal
purchasing under one agency. This move, mandated by a new executive order, is designed to save money and increase efficiency. But former Pennsylvania Chief Procurement Officer David Yarkin, now CEO of Procurated, warns that while the benefits of strategic sourcing are real, the road to implementation is filled with challenges.
Yarkin shares his experience leading a similar effort in Pennsylvania two decades ago. At the time, the state faced a $2 billion deficit, forcing leaders to find ways to cut costs without reducing essential services. Strategic sourcing quickly emerged as a solution. “Rather than having every agency with their own office supplies contract, we had General Services create one contract, often with just one supplier, to maximize volume and get better pricing,” he explains.
The impact was immediate and significant. Pennsylvania saved $140 million on procurement costs during Yarkin’s tenure, with recurring annual savings on everything from asphalt to computers. While these figures may seem small compared to the federal budget, the percentage savings were substantial—sometimes up to 35% on specific contracts.
However, Yarkin emphasizes that these savings came at a cost—not financial, but political and operational. “We were met with very fierce opposition by agencies,” he recalls. “For decades, they had controlled their own procurement, and suddenly, a key operational part of their business was being handled by us.” Employees who had been making procurement decisions for years felt sidelined, and the transition required strong leadership to push forward.
Beyond internal resistance, Pennsylvania’s experience also highlights the operational risks of large-scale procurement changes. One of the state’s most challenging moments came when it attempted to centralize food procurement for prisons, hospitals, and veterans' homes. The contract, expected to save $14 million, seemed to be working well at first. But months in, the supplier informed the state it could no longer meet its obligations—giving just one week's notice before halting deliveries.
“It was brutal,” Yarkin admits. “We had to scramble to make sure all those facilities got the food they needed, and we paid through the nose for emergency contracts.” More damaging than the immediate crisis was the lack of visibility. Agencies had reported small issues early on—one prison one week, a hospital the next—but because the information wasn’t centralized, procurement officials didn’t recognize the pattern until it was too late.
Yarkin believes that today’s technology could prevent similar failures. Fourteen states now use tools to survey end users and monitor vendor performance in real time, allowing them to detect problems before they escalate. His company, Procurated, provides one such solution. “If we had that technology back then, we could have seen the issue in the second week and fixed it before it became a crisis,” he says.
As GSA moves forward with its consolidation effort, Yarkin sees the same challenges ahead. He acknowledges that agencies like NASA and NIH, which run their own large procurement programs, may resist losing control. However, he argues that centralization can work if GSA has the right resources and expertise. “GSA is a procurement agency. This is what they do,” he says. “Give them the tools and the people they need, and they can deliver.”
Ultimately, Yarkin believes success will come down to measurable results. “Procurement’s effectiveness is easy to track,” he says. “If we used to spend $2,000 on a laptop and now we spend $1,700, we saved $300. Those savings can be redirected to things that really matter to the American people.”
As the federal government embarks on its own strategic sourcing journey, Yarkin’s experience offers a roadmap—one that highlights both the opportunities and the pitfalls of procurement reform.
You can read David’s full piece here
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