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Who can buy off Sourcewell and other cooperative contracts, and how does a vendor get on one?

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  • State and local government entities, educational institutions, and non-profits can use cooperative contracts like Sourcewell; a vendor gets on one by responding to a cooperative purchasing organization's solicitation and being awarded a contract through their process.
  • My firm works mostly with county and school districts.
  • They use these contracts for supplies and services all the time because it s
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We sell playground equipment and outdoor fitness gear, NAICS 423910. We keep running into school districts and even some county parks and recreation departments that are buying off cooperative contracts like Sourcewell. We lost a big school district sale in Loudoun County, VA, to a competitor because they were on a Sourcewell contract and the district just used that instead of putting out an IFB. I've heard this called cooperative purchasing or piggybacking. It feels like we're always behind the curve. Who exactly is allowed to use these cooperative contracts, and what do we need to do to get our products on one of them?

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asked Priya S. Verified vendorCapture manager, IT services · Herndon, VA · 276 rep

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State and local government entities, educational institutions, and non-profits can use cooperative contracts like Sourcewell; a vendor gets on one by responding to a cooperative purchasing organization's solicitation and being awarded a contract through their process. My firm works mostly with county and school districts. They use these contracts for supplies and services all the time because it saves them the time and cost of running their own IFB process. Each cooperative organization has its own rules for who can buy from their contracts. Getting on one of these contracts means you have to bid on their solicitations. These solicitations are often very detailed, covering pricing, terms, and conditions for a wide range of products or services. It is similar to responding to a federal RFP, but the buying entity is the cooperative itself, not a specific government agency. Once you have a cooperative contract, the individual government entities can buy directly from you without having to run their own full competitive procurement. It is a good way to get business if you can get through their process.

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answered Marcus T. Verified vendorOwner, janitorial and facilities firm · Columbus, OH · 427 rep
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Marcus is right, but cooperative purchasing is enabled by state procurement codes, not federal regulations. These state and local government agencies can use cooperative contracts because their state or local purchasing rules allow it, often to streamline their procurement process. Federal agencies, however, must follow the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which means they generally cannot "piggyback" on these state and local cooperative contracts. Each state or even large local government can have different rules for what contracts they can use. You need to read their specific procurement codes. A vendor gets on a cooperative contract by responding to the cooperative purchasing organization's solicitation, which will detail the terms and conditions for becoming an awarded vendor.

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answered Tom B. Construction estimator, public works · Phoenix, AZ · 261 rep

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Sign up to answerCite the FAR clause or procurement code where you can.

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