Colin Kelsey recently joined the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section as an investigator and began working as a speaker for the Partnership for Competitive Purchasing.
Q: How long have you participated in the Partnership for Competitive Purchasing?
A: I was assigned to take part in the Partnership for Competitive Purchasing when I began my employment with the office’s Antitrust Section in July 2018.
Q: How important do you feel the program is and why?
A: I feel the program is extremely important. Our presentations are a great avenue to explain who we are and what we do. Educating public purchasers on red flags of collusion and other anti-competitive activity not only leads to meaningful referrals to our section, but it can also save taxpayers money by preventing collusion.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: In relation to the Partnership for Competitive Purchasing, my favorite part of the job so far has been doing my first on-site review. The partnership offers public entities an opportunity to have members of the Antitrust Section perform an on-site preliminary review of bids and purchasing records; scan the records; perform an in-depth review of the records back in our office; and inform the entity of whether we found any signs of vendor collusion. It is another way to help public entities protect taxpayer dollars.
The majority of our record review as investigators in this section occurs in electronic format, so the on-site review was also a great learning experience because it taught me how to handle and analyze hard-copy records.
Q: How can you assist Ohio public purchasers?
A: I can continue to assist Ohio public purchasers by taking part in the Partnership for Competitive Purchasing presentations and offering on-site reviews. I would also like to point out that the Antitrust Bid-Rigging Web Tip Form is available for Ohio public purchasers to bring matters to our attention. Ohio public purchasers — or anyone, for that matter — can submit referrals through that interface and the referrals can be submitted anonymously. However, if you wish to remain anonymous we ask that you provide as much information as possible. When we receive a promising tip, it’s important that we receive enough information to proceed with an investigation or follow up with the complainant.
Ohio public purchasers can also file a complaint by calling our main office at 614-466-4328.