The United States Conference of Mayors, with the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities and the Association of School Business Officials International, sponsors the largest national purchasing cooperative for local governments. Since its inception in 1996, the program has saved cities and other public entities hundreds of millions of dollars through its cooperative purchasing contracts.

Current product lines:

Key Advantages of the U.S. Communities GPA contracts include:

• Office and School Supplies-Office Depot
• School Furniture-Virco
• Electrical and Comm/Data-Graybar
• Office Furniture-Haworth, Herman Miller, Knoll and KI
• Technology Products-Tech Depot
• Technology Solutions-GTSI Corp.
• Janitorial Supplies-ZEP
• Carpet and Flooring-Milliken Carpet
• Office Machines-Savin, Ricoh, Lanier, and Gestetner
• Park and Playground-Gametime, Landscape Structures and Little Tikes
• P.E. Supplies-Sportime
• Homeland Security Solutions-Hagemeyer NA
• Maintenance, Repair and Operations-HD Supply/ The Home Depot
• Roofing Supplies and Services-HCS
• Auto Parts and Accessories-Auto Zone

Cost Savings: Cities receive the best available government pricing with no user fees. Use of the contracts saves time and money; and, frees resources for other public priorities, programs and services.

Time Savings: You can avoid all the unnecessary time and expense of recreating bid specs by simply piggy-backing on other contracts.

Competitively Solicited: All contracts are competitively solicited, meeting most government agency "piggybacking" requirements.

Oversight is provided by Public Purchasing Professionals: The Advisory Board consists of public purchasers from cities, counties and schools across the country.

Non-Exclusive Contracts: Cities retain the option to purchase from other sources.

Aggregate Purchasing Power: Currently, over 21,000 public agencies in fifty states participate.

Register On-Line: Registration is easy! Any city may access the contracts by logging onto www.uscommunities.org and clicking on the "Register Now" button.

For more information on U.S. Communities, visit the United States Conference of Mayors website at www.usmayors.org/gpa and click on "U.S. Communities." You may also contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or email her at kweyland@usmayors.org. U.S. Communities is on the web at www.uscommunities.org.