June 13, 2011

There are many purchasing cooperatives out there these days, but The U.S. Conference of Mayors co-founded only one — U.S.Communities. What differentiates U.S.Communities from other regional and national programs? The answer lies in key differentiators.

The Conference of Mayors joined with the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO), National Association of Counties (NACo), National League of Cities (NLC), and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) as a co-owning, co-founding sponsor of the first national purchasing cooperative, U.S. Communities.

From the beginning, U.S. Communities established a number of innovative practices that would later be adopted by existing and new cooperative purchasing organizations. Concepts like lead public agency, procurement-led advisory board, pan-agency procurement review panels, no user entity fees, and best-pricing guarantees ensured that RFPs/RFBs were structured and awarded in a manner that achieved actual labor- and materials savings for the user entity.

Today, the value proposition of cooperative contracting is familiar to the vast majority of procurement professionals. Succinctly stated, utilizing a qualified cooperative contract provides the user entity competitively secured pricing, time savings and increased capacity to focus on more complex or unique solicitations. In short, cooperative purchasing is a procurement best practice.

Given the many cooperative contract options across product and service types, understanding what differentiates one program’s offerings from another is the first step toward identifying only those contracts that fulfill all requirements of your entity.

Consider how these unique practices and qualities collectively distinguish U.S. Communities:

1) Co-ownership and governance leadership. The U.S. Communities board is comprised of chief executives from the five co-owning, co-founding national sponsors plus the senior officials from California Communities, California State Association of Counties, California State Association of Counties Finance Corp., and League of California Cities. These leaders of professional associations representing school business officials, procurement professionals, city and county administrators, and elected officials ensure that the U.S. Communities program upholds the highest ethical principles and professional practices that realize substantial public value and strengthen the public trust.

2) Public agency oversight. U.S. Communities’ Advisory Board of 22 procurement leaders from school districts, higher education, and state, city and county agencies across the United States provide contracting oversight and compliance with best practices in public procurement.

3) Lead public agency. U.S. Communities introduced this innovative and now emulated practice in 1998. Each contract has been publicly solicited by a large lead public agency on behalf of all other local and state agencies. Through a Master Intergovernmental Agreement governments and not-for-profit institutions may utilize these contracts.

4) Program audits. Each year, approximately one-third of U.S. Communities’ contracts are audited by a third party independent auditing firm for compliance with contract pricing, terms and conditions.

5) Contract benchmarking. To ensure its “lowest cost to government commitment,” U.S. Communities benchmarks its contracts by comparing pricing and terms against a contract held by a competitor of a U.S. Communities supplier, against results of a bid process, and against retail pricing in the marketplace.

6) No contract user fees. All U.S. Communities contracts are offered without fees or costs to participating public agencies and non-profit organizations.

7) Lowest Cost to Government Commitment. Prior to the award of a contract to a supplier, the supplier must agree to specific terms and conditions. A key commitment is that the offering is the lowest-priced offering the supplier provides to the government sector.

Since 2001, the program has documented public agency savings of more than $1.5 billion. There are currently more than 45,000 public agencies registered for the program and more than 24,000 agencies use one or more contracts every quarter.

Thousands of products and brands are available in the following categories:

• Food Distribution, Supplies and Services

• Office furniture

• Electrical products

• Telecommunications supplies

• Technology products and solutions

• Janitorial supplies

• Education furniture

• Office machines

• Uniforms and work apparel

• Park and playground equipment

• Office Supplies

• Art, Classroom & School Supplies

• Athletic Equipment and P.E. Supplies

• Homeland security and public safety

• Maintenance and hardware supplies

• Auto parts and accessories

• Synthetic turf and other athletic surfaces

• Science and lab supplies

• Elevator maintenance and service

• Equipment and tool rental services

• Paint solutions

• Roofing supplies and services

Along with the five national sponsors, there are over 70 other associations of cities, counties, schools and purchasing groups who endorse or sponsor the program in various states. This sponsorship by professional government associations strengthens the value of the program and assures significant oversight for program participants.

For more information, contact Kathryn Kretschmer Weyland at 301-460-5251 or send an e-mail to kweyland@usmayors.org, or Jeannie Fanning at 240-393-9672 or send an e-mail to jfanning@usmayors.org, and go online to www.uscommunities.org to begin saving money for your city.