Page 24 - spaces4learning, July/August 2020

spaces4learning PROCUREMENT
TRENDS IN
COOPERATIVE
PURCHASING
School districts see value in using cooperative purchasing entities as they get a steady, predictable pricing structure and supplier source.
By Sarat Pratapchandran
SCHOOL SAFETY, VIOLENCE PREVENTION PRODUCTS and sustainability are trending in the cooperative purchasing space, say industry experts.
“School districts continue to leverage cooperative purchasing as part of their overall sourcing strategy,” said Sue Peters, Executive Director,K–12MarketDevelopmentatE&ICooperativeServices.
According to Peters, the K–12 sector is expanding ties with local and regional government entities in areas relating to school safety and security, disaster preparedness and in some cases health and social services.
This makes cooperatives like E&I help members take a strategic approach to school security needs that vary from IT and cyber security to campus policing, background checks, and emergency response readiness.
Another trend is the way school purchasing teams have trans- formed their operations. Their traditional roles as buyers have evolved into directing cost management, ensuring quality, supplier evaluation and other areas, said Rob Amundson, K–12 Membership Development Administrator at Sourcewell, a service cooperative.
School districts are adding cooperative language to their RFP processes and asking suppliers to respond to national pur- chasing contracts. They also use e-procurement and utilize on- line catalogs and other systems to integrate their purchasing decisions.
“We assist our members in reduc- ing costs, improving operational effi- ciencies and maximizing effectiveness by providing high quality, cost-effec- tive contracts, services and strategic solutions for education and related communities,” Peters said.
K–12 is a fast growing market
K–12 is the fastest growing member category for E&I, founded in 1934. With 5,100 institutional members today, the organization was founded as the “purchasing organization for education.”
More than 99 percent of the company’s contracts have been awarded in a competitive solicitation process that has been vali- dated by NIGP: The Institute of Public Procurement.
Meanwhile, Sourcewell, a member-focused public coopera- tive, has been in existence for over 40 years and has provided contract purchasing services for more than 20 years serving more than 50,000 member institutions nationwide.
“Sourcewell is averaging 25 percent growth in member utilization of contracts each year for most of the last decade,” Amundson said.
Besides cooperative purchasing entities, large online retail-
24 JUL/AUG 2020