Thomas Harvey

Thomas Harvey serves as Director of Purchasing for the County of Ontario, overseeing the strategic acquisition of goods and services aligned with the agency’s mission to support vulnerable populations and enhance local educational capacity. In this primary leadership role, he directs the full lifecycle of procurement activities, from needs assessment and solicitation to contract award and performance monitoring, with a singular focus on postsecondary education and workforce development initiatives. His acquisitions primarily support institutional partnerships with colleges and universities, ensuring the procurement of curriculum development tools, workforce training infrastructure, and educational technology solutions that align with state and federal compliance standards. Harvey maintains collaborative relationships with a broad spectrum of higher education service providers, including institutional contractors specializing in academic program design, workforce training platforms, and student support systems. While no single vendor dominates his portfolio, he consistently engages firms with demonstrated expertise in delivering scalable, outcomes-based educational services. His contracting approach emphasizes long-term partnerships grounded in performance metrics and accountability, fostering vendor alignment with the agency’s goals of expanding access and improving educational equity across the region. Harvey’s procurement strategy reflects a firm commitment to open competition, with 100% of awards issued under the No Set-Aside category. He does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, instead favoring full and open competition to ensure the highest quality and most cost-effective solutions for public education and community-based services. This approach underscores his focus on merit-based selection and operational efficiency over socioeconomic targeting. His primary NAICS focus is 611310—Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools—reflecting deep expertise in procuring academic services, institutional support systems, and workforce development infrastructure. He specializes in contracts for curriculum design, faculty training, student success technologies, and partnerships with postsecondary institutions to build regional talent pipelines, ensuring public investments directly enhance educational capacity and aging-in-place support systems.