Paul Irby
Manager, SLED Market Analysis
Paul Irby is Manager of Deltek’s GovWin SLED Market Analysis team which provides research and thought leadership around contracting trends in the state, local and education marketplace. He is an award-winning researcher with a graduate degree emphasizing public policy and economics and has been studying the SLED market since 2014 where he served as the lead market analyst for Onvia before it was acquired by Deltek. His quarterly and annual reports have been downloaded and used by hundreds of the leading contractors, vendors and suppliers. He’s been frequently interviewed or cited in the media and has authored guest articles. Paul’s research has been featured in such outlets as CNBC, American City & County, Institutional Investor, Washington Technology, Route Fifty and the Smart Cities Council. His work at Deltek was recently cited in a report published by Harvard. He’s been a guest presenter at NIGP Forum, Deltek’s ProjectCon, and the annual event of one of the top national cooperative purchasing organizations. Paul has over 25 years of professional research experience, including time spent with two market research agencies and with Russell Investments, a leading global investment firm. He not only has years of experience competing for and winning government contracts at the city, county and state levels in projects such as voter satisfaction and economic development but also has prior experience working in city government.
Paul in the News
- “How K-12 Education Governments are Spending on EdTech and Infrastructure” Smart Cities Council, Sept 15, 2022
- “Trends in Cooperative Purchasing” (Interview Q&A with Paul Irby) as part of series by David Yarkin of Procurated “Decisions That Matter: A Public Procurement Podcast,” May 10, 2022
- “Is fleet procurement headed for a post-pandemic rebound?” Government Fleet Magazine June 3, 2021
- "Report sees continued strength in the government market" American City & County, August 7, 2017
- "Contractors Are Confident Amid Uncertain Political Environment" Route Fifty, July 11, 2017
- "State & Local Contractors Expect Growth in 2015" Washington Technology, April 22, 2015
- "Companies cash in on Common Core despite controversy" CNBC, March 12, 2015
- "States leveraging group purchasing for procurement efficiency" GCN, December 1, 2014