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VML sponsors U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance
Virginia Municipal League has become a sponsor of the largest national buying cooperative for local governments, in conjunction with the National League of Cities, United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. This cooperative, called the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance, provides contracts for office supplies, furniture, computers and peripherals, electrical and general supplies. Each contract is bid by a large local government on behalf of all local and state governments in the nation.
The pricing discounts, delivery and service conditions, and the contract terms are available to any local government that is allowed to piggyback on a national contract. Since all contracts are discretionary, local governments determine how much they want to use the program. The program has no membership fees or charges to the local government.
Since 1997, the Government Purchasing Alliance has saved more than $100 million for local governments. More than 7,000 cities, towns, counties, schools and special districts use the program on a regular basis, saving from 15-70 percent on goods and services. The program steering committee is comprised of city, county and school purchasing agents from across the nation and the program is managed by US Communities, an instrumentality of government formed for the purpose of supplying these services.
So, how much can your entity save? In 2001, Fairfax County reported savings in excess of $1.5 million over a three-year period on office supplies. Large and small entities report significant savings on computers, software and office products. The program offers products at best local government pricing from the following companies: Office Depot (office supplies); Gateway, IBM, Dell, Micron, Wareforce, CompUSA, Comark and Software Spectrum (computers and software); Haworth, Herman Miller, Knoll and Steelcase (office furniture systems); Graybar (electrical and communications supplies) and Grainger (general supplies). The program adds new product lines each year and the advisory committee members take responsibility for bidding the items on behalf of all local governments.
Cooperative purchasing, which combines the buying power of distinct groups of purchasers, is not a new concept. Local governments have been joining buying cooperatives for decades. Usually, these cooperatives take the form of a regional buying group or a product-specific buying group. Regional groups often buy fuel, automobiles or regional services together. Product-specific groups might include hospitals or health clinics. A few groups offer local governments the opportunity to piggyback on national contracts for office supplies, computers, furniture, general and electrical supplies and other common consumable items used by all governments.
Cooperative purchasing groups provide a number of advantages for most local governments. Because a bid is completed by one agency on behalf of many agencies, the time and cost of bidding is substantially reduced for the group members. Significant pricing discounts can be achieved through this group effort, as manufacturers and suppliers recognize the volume sales the group represents. Since the vendors do not have to re-bid the contract in each jurisdiction, they can factor in savings on the product offers that would have gone into staff resources used to respond to bids.
A cooperative can demand more than pricing considerations. For example, enhancements like free delivery, guaranteed fill rates, performance requirements and volume incentives can be included in the contract. To the extent that vendors are capable of providing electronic ordering and fulfillment systems, counties can receive incentives for using electronic ordering. Local governments may also be able to reduce or eliminate their warehousing systems, as just-in-time buying assures that the vendor is providing the warehousing function and the guaranteed delivery of products.
For more information on the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance, visit the U.S. Communities web site at www.uscommunities.org. or call them at 1-800/635-3993.
