Andrew Kitchenman`s is the Statehouse correspondent for NJBIZ, which he joined in May 2009. He previously worked as a reporter at The Times of Trenton and the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Conn., and as an editor for Sun Newspapers (now Sun-Gazette) in Northern Virginia. He has a master`s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor`s degree from St. Mary`s College of Maryland. He grew up in Willingboro and in Bucks County, Pa. 
The Division of Purchase and Property gave notice Tuesday that it intends to enter into another multistate contract for office supplies with the big-box supplier. The decision would keep the contract with Staples a year after the state ended its previous contract with a group of local businesses.
Carl Streko, owner of Supplies-Supplies Inc., of Kenilworth, said the loss of the Staples contract has been devastating.
“Already we’ve laid off three people, we’ve sold a van, we’ve cut back our operation by a third and we may not be here come January,” Streko said, adding that he was hoping his group — which has appealed last year’s decision — would have had a chance to bid for the contract.
The head of the national organization to which the New Jersey businesses belong said the decision continued the legacy of former Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
“Regrettably, it seems the entrenched bureaucracy in the Division of Purchase and Property has yet to embrace [Gov. Chris Christie’s] economic development policies intended to promote New Jersey-based small businesses,” said Chris Bates, president of the National Office Products Alliance.
The contract with Staples, through the National Joint Powers Alliance, runs from Aug. 1 to July 31, 2014, and “has generated substantial savings for the state,” said Treasury spokesman Andrew Pratt.
Before deciding to continue with the contract, the state reviewed costs for its 500 most-used items at Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot, “and found that Staples still provides the best prices,” Pratt said.
The period of time for the public to comment on the contract ends July 28.
Officials shifted the contract to Staples for the first time last year, saying it would save 23 percent on the $9.8 million it spent annually on office supplies. The New Jersey office suppliers protested the move and disputed whether the national contract would lead to savings. They were unsuccessful in a bid to block the change.
Streko said the loss would radiate beyond the office-supply companies to other companies that do business with them, affecting thousands of state residents.
E-mail Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njbiz.com
