Saving Money ­— the U.S. Communities Way

U.S. Communities is a cooperative purchasing alliance that has provided goods and services to NACo’s members for 20 years. The process is simple. Essentially, one county goes out to bid for a product such as specialty vehicles, computer software or auto parts. Once the bid is awarded, every other county can access the same savings that the lead county negotiated, saving them the time and money of duplicating the bid. 

When counties stand together, they can obtain better pricing and save taxpayer money. A county needs to register to use U.S. Communities, but registration is free and fast. Currently, there are over 60,000 registered government agencies, education institutions and nonprofits using the program to save.

What Products and Services Are Available?

U.S. Communities works with approximately 40 suppliers that provide access to a wide variety of offerings. Counties can purchase items for HVAC systems (Trane), carpet and flooring (Home Depot and HD Supply), and roofing products (Garland/DBS), for example. U.S. Communities also offers services along with goods, including energy management and consulting (Graybar), temporary staffing solutions (Acro and Kronos) and public sector consulting (Alvarez & Marsal).

In 2016, U.S. Communities focused on innovation and technology. Counties can now purchase electronic balloting services with DemocracyLive, translation services with Language Select and technology hardware, software and services from big names such as Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Apple. 

U.S. Communities is different from any other cooperative purchasing agency because it uses lead public agencies to competitively bid products and services in a process that promotes transparency, competition and integrity.

The lead public agency model creates a win-win cost-saving opportunity for counties nationwide.

What Is a Lead Public Agency?

The lead public agency model uses the strength of a selected county, along with the collective power of all of the counties in the nation, to secure money-saving contracts that can be used by every county in the nation. When a need is identified, U.S. Communities designates a lead public agency to bid for a product to address that need. The competitive bidding process on behalf of all counties saves time and money for every county and promotes a carefully structured, legal, transparent process.

The lead public agency implements the competitive solicitation process, including the release of an RFP, evaluation of received proposals, selection of a supplier and award of contract.

Maricopa County, Ariz., for example, has served as the lead public agency on several of U.S. Communities’ most successful contracts. It is currently managing three ongoing solicitations as a lead public agency for the program and also piggybacks off other contracts.

“Maricopa County regularly uses contracts available through U.S. Communities because the procurement processes of the lead agencies meet or exceed our standards. The program provides great value, and it also reduces our administrative burden,” said James Foley, deputy chief procurement officer  with the county.

Fairfax County, Va. has also served as a lead public agency for U.S. Communities. It executed the solicitation process for one of U.S. Communities’ newest suppliers, Experian, which provides public sector data, analytics and fraud-protection services. Prince William County, Va. and Miami-Dade County, Fla. are also in the midst of collecting proposals for online marketplace purchasing, and waste and recycling carts.

The lead public agency model ensures that participating counties receive the highest quality products and services at the lowest possible prices. As a founding and national sponsor of the program, NACo stands behind U.S. Communities as a transparent, innovative program that helps counties save money.

For more information, contact Sharon Russell, srussell@naco.org or Kelly Boggs, kboggs@naco.org.