As a California Association of Public Procurement Officials (CAPPO) Platinum Partner, the Public Purchasing Exchange was privileged to sponsor a Cooperative Purchasing educational session during the conference. Below is a summary of the challenges, limitations and ideas for improving Cooperative Purchasing to better meet the needs of Public Agencies.

Discussion based on National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Case Study Available on NIGP Website: https://www.nigp.org/our-profession/research-and-reports#research

Challenges & Limitations of Cooperative Purchasing (CP)

• Underperformance-CP represents < 3% of SLED annual spend on products & services.
• Each agency category-K-12, higher ed, cities, counties-subject to different state & local rules.
• Proliferation of cooperatives complicates procurement due diligence to determine best value.
• Cooperative services-furniture, cubicles, roofing-difficult & can be subject to public works statutes.
• Disparate or nonexistent agency written guidelines on accessing & using CP.
• Legal-Terms & Conditions (Ts&Cs) of CP contracts inconsistent with agency standard Ts&Cs.

Powerful Ideas for CP to Accommodate Needs of Public Agency Customer-Anything is Possible!

• Support Co-locating Cooperatives, Suppliers & CP contracts to improve access, convenience and use.
• Leverage technology and AI to facilitate agency search parameters such as agency type, lead agency state, et al.
• Agency proactive participation with lead agency prior to solicitation to ensure requirements are met.
• Streamline CP process-internal handcuffs remove, external handcuffs joint effort to pursue legislation.
• Joint effort by agencies & agency categories to share written CP guidelines and establish standards as practical.
• CP solicitation language to require awardees to meet agency standard terms, conditions and initiatives.
• Potential for follow up CAPPO webinar to chart progress on powerful ideas.