By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
November 11, 2008

Cooperative purchasing is not a new concept. For centuries, businesses have aggregated their demand in order to get lower prices, better quality and service improvements on the goods and services they need. Local governments also banded together to procure commodities that they commonly used, however most of these cooperatives were regionally based and offered a limited number of items.

In 1999, recognizing the need for a broader offering for local governments that still met state procurement laws across the country, the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities collaborated with the National Association of Counties (NACo), the National League of Cities (NLC), the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO), the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) to establish the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance.

Borne out of a need to have large'scale commodities contracts to offer local and state agencies on a national basis, U.S. Communities was designed to provide a program that was completely voluntary, had no minimum purchase requirements, and had no cost to participate. The goal was to make it accessible to the 87,250 units of U.S. local and state governments. The program initially launched with one contract for office supplies.

Nearly a decade later, the U.S. Communities program offers local and state governments with 16 product lines and more than 20 suppliers. Each contract has been competitively bid and each supplier committed to offer its most competitive pricing to all participating agencies.

The success of the program is probably best measured in its acceptance by local and state governments. Over 33,000 local, school (k-12), higher education, state and nonprofit agencies are registered and use the program. In 2007 the estimated savings to public agencies through the use of these contracts was $200 million, on purchases exceeding $1.3 billion.

The program operates as a nonprofit instrumentality of government. A board of directors, composed of its founding members, and an advisory committee of professional public purchasing officials from local, state, school and university agencies oversee the program and its policies. They recommend new product lines and act as lead public agencies on solicitations and re'solicitations.

Many public agencies have concerns about how they can use the program and still be in compliance with local laws or policy directives, including those regarding utilization of local businesses and/or requirements for the use of minority, women-owned, veteran-owned, and small businesses. U.S. Communities is extremely sensitive to such policies. The program addresses these concerns by requiring no minimum spend and by working with suppliers to identify their suppliers and subcontractors who may meet local requirements.

Cooperative purchasing is just one tool in the procurement officials “tool belt.” Commitment to meeting the needs of local and state governments makes U.S. Communities an extremely valuable resource. For more information on U.S. Communities, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or kweyland@usmayors.org or go to the U.S. Communities website at www.uscommunities.org.