Sarasota County has hired Melissa Wendel as its new procurement official. Wendel has more than 20 years of experience in procurement, including the past eight years with Manatee County Government, where she has served as purchasing official since 2011. She helped lead Manatee County to its first national recognition of excellence in public procurement, earning the National Procurement Institute's (NPI) Achievement of Excellence award four times in a row. Manatee also earned the Florida Association of Public Procurement Officials' excellence award for the first time in its history under Wendel's leadership. At Sarasota County, Wendel will lead a division that has also been recognized with the NPI's excellence award for the past three years. The accreditation reflects sweeping changes and improvements not only to procurement and the way the county conducts its business, but also to the key areas of contracting, transparency and ethics. Wendel's first day with the county will be Aug. 7.

Sarasota County Government