Bettermade Snubbed by Wayne County

[Ravine]

If they made concessions for Bettermade how would this be any different than throwing a contract to someone like Ferguson or taking a bribe to open a strip club?

Really you have to bid this stuff out fairly. As much as I'd love to see a local company get the business, if they threw them the contract with another person putting in a better bid, is it really good business? The county is accountable to all of the taxpayers, not just one company.

Yes, Thank You, DP; that is what I was trying to get at with my initial post, the one at 5:55.
It sucks, it really does, but the "other side of the story," to which you so succinctly referred, cannot be so casually ignored just because we like to be so goddam provincial about everything.

Damn it!!

[old guy]

In this article it says that the company spoke to a rep from the jail system about the decision to end the business relationship, but Better Made said it was told a new contract already had been signed with another snack supplier. And they found out about it Jan. 12 from a letter from the county telling them it was switching vendors due to pricing issues. They won't reveal the name of the company.
Doesn't sound like a bidding operation or a chance for them to offer a better deal. It does make you wonder who the new vendor is.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...-state-company

[Downriviera]

Now I'm going to really have to try hard to stay out of prison.

[Ravine]

See, old guy, that is why we need to know a bit more before we get all steamed up.
If the contract wasn't put up for bids, then we just may have a good reason for being offended over Better Made losing the business.
All of this chip talk is making me want some, of course.
With a Faygo to wash 'em down, I might add, yes.

[Meddle]

Hopefully the media will stay with this and get the answers.

[Route29]

My Bettermade delivery guy told me the contract wasn't put up for bids; that Bettermade learned about it only after the contract had been signed with the company and that Bettermade would have presented a competitive offer.

Have we really come to expect anything better from Wayne County? I wish I were surprised.

And NO, it is not simply about the bottom line. That company employs a majority Wayne County residents and a plurality Detroit residents. These residents pay taxes and put money in the local economy. These contributing factors multiply exponentially over any pennies the county would save outsourcing a local company.

[SteadySky]

Well, if the info that Route29 is true then I have a plan for you.... unfortunatley I am going to make a lot of people mad here, but this is how it can go. If true [[and considering its Wayne County nothing would surprise me). Although let's be honest, same crazy stuff happens everywhere. The next step will be to move.

I'm an environmental consultant by profession and work on a lot of due diligence and redevelopment projects that often involve tax credits and abatements, etc. So a guy like me or other real estate developer type approaches Better Made and then guess what? A tempting cool land deal out in Macomb or Oakland Counties with a better site. A better facility, newer, maybe with better access to roadways, ceiling height, etc., etc. This will not be new from the ground up, but just one of those wonderful commercial/light industrial sites will lots of floor space and other amenitites that are empty and in the hands of either an owner willing to give outstanding rates or a lender who is looking to get it off the books by selling it cheap.

I say let's find a nice brownfield site that open's the door to all sorts of incentivies. Many out there with minimal contamination and easily handled. Just look at it, no Detroit employment taxes, but with nice MBT credits, maybe a sweet brownfield site easily adjusted with some nice local TIF, a local break on taxes as you are bringing in "new" jobs to the community, favorable treatment by the local government on permits and fees, etc., etc.

Plus you have a pissed off owner who has been screwed by the old boy, play to play crowd. So he could be motivated. I say they could easily have quoted on this contract and received favorable terms to supply their product to the county. Further, it is easy to express politically how in these tough times that we want to work as much with local businesses who employ our local residents. Easy to sell the idea that there was no dishonesty in the contractual award, but just the county taking a look at a bigger picture. Hell, how is that any different than some of the minority contracts that I have seen issued to parties not able to do the work in question, but merely being a front for a subcontractor that would be hired by the minority contractor to do the actual work.

Then when all is said and done, the Better Made company will politely say "you can kiss my ---!" Overall, its not a good senario, but this is not an untrue or unheard of scenario.

[Retroit]

Good! Why should the prisoners have the privilege of eating Bettermade? They are supposed to be getting punished. Feed them Lays for all I care. Better yet, give them raw potatoes and let them figure it out.

[SteadySky]

I do agree with Retroit. Why offer a treat like snack food anyway? Well, I guess you need to eat something when you are watching cable TV.....

[Retroit]

...and getting free health care! So why not clog the arteries?

[gopher]

I just bought 1.10$ bag of pretzel rod and got seriously 10 pretzels and AIR ... Wtf bettermade is goin downhill fast

[mauser]

We will all have to chow down on more Bettermade products to take up the slack.

im on it....

[LodgeDodger]

These could be some interesting noms...

[sumas]

Love Bettermade. Remember when my Bettermade supplier caught me when I almost fell off a delivery dock. Super guy, super product!

Sorry to hear a local company gets screwed once again.

[andywire]

Their prices have been going up. I believe I paid 5 bucks for a large bag recently. I'm afraid I won't be making that mistake again. Unfortunately, when times get tough, it's often the consumer who is expected to carry the burden... Not on my dollar, sorry Bettermade. This is why many business fail during recessions. They cannot weather the storm so they raise prices, resulting in less people consuming the product. In the end, the business ends up loosing money no matter what, so why push away consumers who mayy decide not to buy the product again when times do get better?

[firstandten]

If they made concessions for Bettermade how would this be any different than throwing a contract to someone like Ferguson or taking a bribe to open a strip club?

Really you have to bid this stuff out fairly. As much as I'd love to see a local company get the business, if they threw them the contract with another person putting in a better bid, is it really good business? The county is accountable to all of the taxpayers, not just one company.

Don't know if government procurement allows rounds of negotiation, but its quite common in the auto industry. In a situation such as that in the auto industry the incumbent would be told that they are in danger of losing the business and they need to "sharpen there pencils." It would be said to the company in such a manner that they knew the buyer wasn't kidding. At that point its all on the company whether they want to keep the business. The reason for this is that it costs money to change suppliers in the auto industry which may not be the case for governmental contracting.

[ja!mz]

Rumor has it these are the new chips that will be sold:

[Hermod]

Don't know if government procurement allows rounds of negotiation, but its quite common in the auto industry. In a situation such as that in the auto industry the incumbent would be told that they are in danger of losing the business and they need to "sharpen there pencils." It would be said to the company in such a manner that they knew the buyer wasn't kidding. At that point its all on the company whether they want to keep the business. The reason for this is that it costs money to change suppliers in the auto industry which may not be the case for governmental contracting.

A lot of time, government bidding is set up as the bidders get one shot. There are sealed bids which are submitted and go into a lock box. The bids are are all opened at the same time. The low price gets the bid. All of the bidders have to get "pre-qualified" as "responsible bidders" so there is no problem with the award.. This is to assure there are no "back door" arrangements.

Another method allows negotiation after the bid where you can play off one bidder against another.

[xphillipjrx]

BTW, does Bettermade sell outside the state of Michigan? Given their parochial attitude they ought to leave out-of-state sales to that state's local companies.

I haven't found Better Made chips in Michigan any further west than Albion on I-94.

Better Made sells chips in party stores in Chicago. They sell the medium sized bag that's bigger than the Big Grab from Lays and smaller than the grocery store sized bag. I e-mailed Better Made a few years ago and I was told they haven't been able to sign on with Dominick's or Jewel. Chicago is Jays territory.

I live in Hyde Park and I keep a supply of Better Mades. Three weeks ago I ran out of the bags I bought when I was home for Christmas. My wife ordered a big plastic bucket of chips from the BM website last week for my birthday. Eating them right now .

[Gistok]

See, old guy, that is why we need to know a bit more before we get all steamed up.
If the contract wasn't put up for bids, then we just may have a good reason for being offended over Better Made losing the business.

I wonder just how much of the MacNamara machine and its' stink is still left in Wayne County government!

When things AREN'T put out for bid... it leaves that unpleasant oder of possible kickbacks....

[Meddle]

Is anybody looking into this?

[southen]

well, wayne county jails will no longer get my business...

[REL]

This frustrates me. You are all correct, saving a few pennies can cost us more in the end.

Kinda reminds me of when I went to Wehying Bros [[SP?) on Gratiot to research a piece of jewelry they made in the 1930's. I went in, to find tons beautiful, hand-engraved police badges gleaming under the countertop. I asked how many badges they make for the police per year, and the owner of this 100+ year old business dryly responded, "None, since the DPD decided to give the work to an out of state firm." This decision was made in the last few years and will eventually put this historic firm [[and dying handcraft) out of business.

[Bearinabox]

well, wayne county jails will no longer get my business...

I audibly snorted.

[Corn.Bot]

I haven't found Better Made chips in Michigan any further west than Albion on I-94.

For almost all of the past 20 years, Better Made's were a treat only available when we came 'home' to Detroit for a visit.... in the last few years, however, I could usually find Better Made products in the Meijer's that is near my Kalamazoo office. Not always, though - and never at a second Meijer's store that is closer to where I live. Spartan stores used to carry 'em but for some reason don't anymore. Maybe the price hike mentioned elsewhere in this thread...? Interesting, as Better Made chips are consistently less expensive than any of the typical national brands' on-sale prices, at least around here.

In any case, when I do find Better Made snacks in a local store, I buy them.