End of year spending totals may surprise!

The state spends large amounts on picture frames, business cards, signs, blueprints, mailing labels, fulfillment services and reproductions. For printing and reproduction alone last year, $74 million was spent. Another huge spending category for the state is fleet maintenance. Most of this spending is done by three agencies: the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Last year, $31 million was spent on maintenance and repair of vehicles and $10 million for rental vehicles. These totals do not include new vehicle purchases, insurance or gasoline.

Other purchases, such as $141 million for advertising services, $33 million for cleaning services and $36 million for computer maintenance and repair may not be as surprising.

With numerous health science centers, state universities and mental health facilities, Texas state agencies bought $750 million in medical supplies last year. The state also paid out $457,000 for veterinary services. Services are big categories when it comes to procurement totals. In 2007, the state spent $27 million for legal services and $23 million for investment counseling services. Communications services cost the state $67 million while $7 million was spent on computer consulting services. Education and training services, most of which were for the state's various health science centers, totaled $24 million.

The take away message is that opportunities for vendors abound in state government. Firms that sell automotive services, cameras, landscaping services, printing or anything else government purchases should take a serious look at the end-of-year spending totals for those categories. Chances are, once that is done, the next move will be to become a part of the government procurement process and begin capturing some of the business opportunities.