| By registering with MASA’s newest partner, U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance, districts can piggyback on government contracts and gain access to thousands of quality products they need every day.
By registering with MASA’s newest partner, U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance, districts can piggyback on government contracts and gain access to thousands of quality products they need every day.
MASA, along with the Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO) and Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) chose U.S. Communities as our partner because of its long history of working with school districts, saving thousands of districts nationwide time and money.
Plus, U.S. Communities/Green is the one-stop source for public agency access to a broad line of environmentally certified products and services. From Energy Star to EcoLogo to Green Seal, U.S. Communities/Green has identified here those items in its contracts that meet third-party environmental certification standards to help public agencies meet their responsible procurement needs.
How does U.S. Communities save me time and money?
All U.S. Communities contracts are competitively solicited by another governmental entity, which allows our school districts to piggyback on the contracts. We have verified with legal counsel that this type of arrangement is permissible under Michigan school purchasing laws.*
Therefore, school districts may enter into contracts with U.S. Communities and save significant time and advertising costs, while also generating bid competitive pricing. Furthermore, the online system is easy to use, and the prices are the lowest that will be offered by participating companies to government entities nationwide.
Registering with U.S. Communitiesgives your district access to thousands of quality products from multiple vendors. Once registered, you can check U.S. Communities pricing against other sources before making your purchase decisions. Registering for the program neither commits you to participate nor binds the district in any manner; your district will still have the ability to make choices outside of U.S. Communities.
Getting started is easy:
- Register with U.S. Communities (no cost – no obligation) so district personnel can access the U.S. Communities Web site where vendors, products and prices are available for review. Registration with U.S. Communities (online at www.uscommunities.org ) is to ensure that your school district is provided the Master Intergovernmental Co-Operative Purchasing Agreement. This is necessary for your records and audit. Registration does not obligate you to purchase through the program, but introduces you to a wide range of quality products at outstanding prices.
- Compare the U.S. Communities contracts with the contracts your district currently has in place.
- Go online to request contact from a U.S. Communities vendor and a representative will contact you to review their offering and bid prices.
- Decide to execute an order with the U.S. Communities supplier of your choice or not.
Benefits:
- Saves time and advertising costs
- Best in class products
- No cost to participants
- No obligation
- Deliveries made to multiple sites –warehousing and district in-house delivery is not needed
Contracts Offered:
- Office and School Supplies-Office Depot
- School Furniture-Virco
- Electrical and Comm/Data- Graybar
- Office Furniture – Haworth, Herman Miller, Knoll, and KI
- Technology Products-Tech Depot
- Technology Solutions-GTSI Corp.
- Janitorial Supplies -ZEP
- Carpet and Flooring-Milliken Carpet
- Office Machines- Savin, Ricoh, Lanier, and Gestetner
- Park and Playground-Gametime, Landscape Structures and Little Tikes
- P.E. Supplies- Sportime
- Homeland Security Solutions- Hagemeyer NA
- Maintenance, Repair and Operations- HD Supply Facilities Maintenance/ The Home Depot
- Roofing Supplies and Services-HCS
- Auto Parts and Accessories-Auto Zone
- New! -- Synthetic Turf- FieldTurf and General Sports Venue
For additional information, go to www.uscommunities.org. For more information, contact Alexis Turner, U.S. Communities Market Manager at aturner@uscommunities.org or Dave Martell at MSBO at 517.327.2581 or dmartell@msbo.org.
* While Michigan law permits participation in purchasing cooperatives such as U.S. Communities, you need to review your board policy to make certain it is consistent with this type approach. In particular, the approach used by U.S. Communities should be summarized in your school district’s purchasing policy with an accompanying statement indicating that the process constitutes a competitive bid for the purposes of board policy and state law. We will have sample policies for adoption by boards available on the MASB, MASA and MSBO Web sites in the near future. |
