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U.S. Communities
U.S. Communities is a nonprofit instrumentality of government that helps public agencies reduce the cost of purchased goods by combining the purchasing power of public agencies nationwide. Competitively soliciting quality products by a single lead public agency and making the resulting contract available to other public agencies nationwide accomplishes this objective. U.S. Communities’ Founding Co-Sponsors include the Association of School Business Officials, the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities and the United States Conference of Mayors. These Founding Co-Sponsors also serve on the Governing Board.
Procurement Professional Oversight
U.S. Communities is managed and operated in cooperation with nationally recognized public procurement professionals representing the following public agencies:
Allegheny County, PA; Baltimore, MD; City of Charlotte / Mecklenburg County, NC; City of Columbus, OH; Cobb County, GA; Dallas County, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit Public Schools, MI; Elk Grove USD, CA; Fairfax County, VA; Harford County Public Schools, MD; Hennepin County, MN; Houston, TX; Los Angeles County, CA; Maricopa County, AZ; Miami-Dade County, FL; Naperville, IL; San Antonio, TX; San Diego County, CA; Seattle, WA; Wichita Public Schools, KS
Products Available
Carpet and Flooring
Comm/Data
Electrical
Janitorial Supplies
Office/School Supplies
Office Furniture
School Furniture
Tools & Material Handling
Computers
Coming Soon
Computers
Office Machines
Procurement Cards
Who Can Use?
Counties
Cities
School Districts
Universities
Colleges
Special Districts
States
Towns
Villages
Burroughs
Non-Profit Agencies
How to Use
Public agencies register to participate at www.uscommunities.org. The registration includes consent to a master intergovernmental cooperative purchasing agreement with the various lead public agencies and is intended to meet the legal formalities of participation in the program. A single registrat ion allows participation in all lead agency contracts. There are no restrictions on the amount or size of a public agency order.
Authority to Use
Generally, a public body may participate in, sponsor, conduct or administer a cooperative procurement agreement with one or more other public bodies, or agencies of the United States, for the purpose of combining requirements to increase efficiency or reduce administrative expenses. In some limited states, this power is not passed on to localities. Each state’s authorizing statute is shown on the "authorizing statutes" tab at www.uscommunities.org.
All U.S. Communities contracts have been competitively solicited by a lead public agency in accordance with their public purchasing rules and regulations. Each solicitation contains language that advises all suppliers the subsequent contract may be used by other government agencies throughout the United States. This language is based on the lead jurisdiction "Joint Powers Authority or "Cooperative Procurement" program. Although each government may have different purchasing procedures to follow, applying these competitive principles satisfies the competitive bid requirements for most state and local government agencies.
State statutes and, if applicable, local ordinances generally allow one government agency to purchase from contracts competitively solicited by another government agency ("Lead Public Agency"). This, of course, would require the consent of all parties including the supplier, the Lead Public Agency and government agency purchasing from the Lead Public Agency contract. U.S. Communities contracts are established to meet both the competitive solicitation and consent requirements. Public agencies accessing U.S. Communities consent to a Master Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement (MICPA) with the various Lead Public Agencies that have competitively solicited and awarded available contracts.
Cost to Use
There are no costs or fees to participate. The suppliers, who pay a minimum 1% administrative fee to participate, fund U.S. Communities. Thi s pays f or oper at i ng expenses and of f set s cost s i ncur r ed b y nat i onal and state sponsors.
Next Step
Go to www.uscommunities.org to Register to Participate and obtain documentation on each competitive solicitation and product available.
To download these FAQ's, click here.
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