After a months-long evaluation process, the City of Penticton has decided to award its advertising contract to the Western News, starting July 16.
Purchasing manager Cathy Ingram said the decision was made to end a previous practice of splitting advertising between the two local papers in order to be in compliance with the city’s purchasing policy.
“And to make sure we were getting the best value for our taxpayers as well as the best circulation to get the word out to the people,” said Ingram. “The city expects to save approximately $10,000 per year on our advertising budget.”
Penticton spent about $80,000 on advertising last year, according to communications officer Simone Blais. The city issued a request for proposals on Jan. 20, asking for bids on both its primary advertising — the regular “City Page” with items of interest to Penticton taxpayers — and its secondary advertising, consisting of display, classified and legal ads. The RFP closed on March 18, and the committee spent nearly three months evaluating the proposals before directing staff to open negotiations with the Western News on June 9. The contract was signed June 22.
“The committee weighed the Penticton Western News proposal as having a slightly higher score as a supplier for primary advertising and over a 10 point advantage on the secondary advertising,” said Ingram.
“The evaluation committee determined that this was the best way to get our best value for the advertising dollar.”