City Council today approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment of Shannon Andrews as the new Chief Procurement Officer (CPO). Andrews, who is currently the Cook County CPO, will replace Jamie Rhee, who has been appointed by the Mayor to lead the Chicago Department of Aviation.

“Shannon’s procurement experience in both Cook County and the City of Chicago will enable her to hit the ground running and ensure a seamless transition,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I look forward to working with her to build on Jamie’s successes to ensure that Chicago’s procurement processes continue to be transparent, efficient and cost effective while providing opportunities and incentives for small, minority and women-owned businesses to participate in City contracts.”

Andrews has served as the CPO of Cook County since 2012, where she is responsible for purchasing more than $1 billion in goods and services for more than 30 user agencies. In her role as CPO, she helped to create the Cook County annual buying plan and implemented strategies to streamline, standardize and improve procurement cycle times by more than 30 percent. Andrews was also responsible for leading efforts to strengthen opportunities for local and small businesses, creating workshops to provide tools and resources to vendors interested in doing business with Cook County and establishing and enhancing incentive and earned credit programs to support local vendors. She also served as the Director of Cook County Contract Compliance, where she managed certification of minority and women-owned firms and compliance related to County contracts.

The City and County procurement departments routinely work together, most notably through the Government Procurement Compliance (GPC) Forum, a strategic partnership of more than 30 government agencies and non-profit assist agencies created by Mayor Emanuel to drive bold, cross-agency improvements on procurement, certification and compliance processes. The appointment as Chicago’s CPO will mark Andrews’ return to city government, as she previously served in various roles at the Chicago DPS from 2007 to 2012.

“It is an honor to be chosen to lead the Department of Procurement Services, which has been a national leader in procurement reform,” said Andrews. “I look forward to furthering the Mayor’s commitment to level the playing field so that small businesses as well as women, minority and veteran-owned businesses can compete for and win City contracts.”

Andrews received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampton University, and lives in the Edgewater
neighborhood with her husband.

Andrews will begin serving in her new role on August 1.

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