Omnitrans has selected Art Torres as the new director of procurement.
Torres brings more than 20 years of procurement management experience and was most recently employed as a senior manager in contracts administration at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where he gained experience working within the Federal Transit Administration’s guidelines.
“Omnitrans will benefit from Art’s vast experience in the government sector including his work on purchased transportation and construction contracts,” said Omnitrans CEO/General Manager P. Scott Graham.
At Omnitrans, Torres will lead a department of 20 employees. The Procurement Department oversees the purchase of all goods and services for the agency including preparation of bid documents, proposal evaluation, price negotiation, contract award and contractor compliance. The department also maintains and manages an extensive parts warehouse to support maintenance of the agency’s fleet of 178 buses.
“In this profession, we are called upon to ensure that public funds are spent properly. It is a balancing act between getting the task done and doing it within the process,” said Torres. “As procurement professionals we are focused on the process, but we can’t lose sight that we are an internal service group supporting the rest of the organization to ensure we collectively achieve desired results.”
Prior to working in the public transportation industry, Torres held procurement management positions at the cities of San Bernardino, Calif., and Riverside as well as at California State University, San Marcos.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Business Management Certificate in Purchasing and Materials Management from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Torres is a prior board member of California Association of Public Procurement Officials and was awarded a lifetime professional designation as Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) by the Institute for Supply Management.
