Purchasing cooperatives save districts millions

In addition to saving school districts money, cooperatives save time by centralizing many purchases. This reduces the administrative resources districts spend buying goods and services. Cooperatives also provide the advantage of market-savvy purchasing professionals whose experience and knowledge enables them to negotiate the lowest possible prices.

 Let’s take a look at a sampling of these programs to see how they enable school districts to do more with less and, in turn, allow them to increase their focus on student achievement.

Metropolitan Educational Council

The Columbus-based Metropolitan Educational Council (MEC) has been helping schools harness their collective purchasing power since 1972. Its 204 school district members serve nearly 450,000 students. In addition to being a purchasing cooperative, MEC also is the site of one of the more than 20 Information Technology Centers serving districts around Ohio, and a member of the Management Council of the Ohio Educational Computer Network.

“The purpose of the council is to save our members time and money through the economy of scale,” said MEC Purchasing Coordinator Chris Reed. “That makes it possible to really ratchet down prices on a lot of goods and services. The school districts would be spending a lot more if they were making these purchases on their own.”

The council offers everything from buses, food, natural gas and office supplies to science, art and physical education equipment. It also partners with the Ohio Council of Educational Purchasing Consortia (OCEPC) and the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA), which helps bring national purchasing power to its members.

“When you look at a district’s operating budget, 85% is tied up in salaries and benefits, which is fairly typical,” said MEC Executive Director James Grube. “We offer almost everything else the remaining 15% of the budget is used for.”

The MEC Governing Board oversees and approves the council’s programs and services. The board is supported by specialized committees that evaluate proposed offerings. Representatives from MEC member districts comprise both the board and committees.

“All of the decisions are made by committee and sent to the board for approval,” Grube said. “So, if it’s a food service bid, a committee of food service directors studies the bid and makes recommendations. We also have a purchasing committee that is made up of school business managers.”

School districts save a lot of administrative time and effort by coordinating their purchases through MEC. The council provides the expertise to handle everything from bids and advertising to product reviews and legal work. It also intervenes for districts if problems arise.

“If there are issues with a vendor, we go to bat for our districts and try to get things resolved,” Grube said. “So, it’s not just one individual district saying, ‘I’m getting poor service,’ it’s MEC, which might represent a huge volume of that vendor’s business. Vendors realize that if they have to address something with us, it’s serious and they follow through.”

Grube and Reed have been working to spread the word about the benefits of purchasing cooperatives to more school districts. Grube said that despite their widespread popularity, many districts aren’t taking full advantage of cooperatives.

“I think in some cases there’s been a lack of use because folks don’t always know everything we can do for them,” Grube said. “So we are trying to get out and tell them what we’re doing so they can feel confident and trust that we’re going to deliver.

“There’s always going to be a chance that somebody’s going to beat a price on any given day. But if you’re regularly purchasing through our programs you’re going to save money, you’re going to be ahead and we’re going to make sure you’re getting good performance and follow-through from vendors.”

Unified Purchasing Cooperative of the Ohio River Valley

 The Unified Purchasing Cooperative of the Ohio River Valley was launched in 1963 when five Hamilton County school districts joined together to buy classroom and office supplies, audiovisual equipment and other commonly used items, said Director Kenneth Koester. Since then, its membership has grown to 56 public school districts and 48 nonpublic schools in Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties. The districts serve approximately 185,000 students. Based in Cincinnati, it also counts about 50 schools in southeastern Indiana and northern Kentucky among its membership.

“In addition to pooling purchasing power to obtain the best prices for quality products and services, the cooperative serves as a resource on purchasing issues and their relevance to business operations,” Koester said. “It also provides in-service programs on purchasing, product information and government regulations.”

Koester estimates the cooperative’s members make $25 to $30 million in purchases each year. The offerings range from custodial, nursing, office, electrical and classroom supplies to audiovisual equipment, cafeteria food, natural gas, vehicle fuel and more. The cooperative also offers savings through its relationships with OCEPC and AEPA.

“The cooperative is a member-driven organization,” Koester said. “It is the membership that ultimately decides what products and services are made available. To assist in the process, member committees have been established to test products, review and analyze bid responses and make contract award recommendations.”

Southeastern Ohio Voluntary Education Cooperative

Founded in 1972, the Southeastern Ohio Voluntary Education Cooperative (SEOVEC) provides computing services to school districts in Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Meigs, Morgan, Perry and Washington counties. Additional counties participate in its cooperative purchasing program. SEOVEC serves as an Information Technology Center and is a member of MCOECN.

The cooperative serves about 79,000 students in 23 public school districts, four nonpublic districts and two ESCs. It provides a wealth of software and data management services, including systems administration, fiscal, student, library and Education Management Information System services.

Its cooperative purchasing program operates through a partnership with OCEPC and AEPA. The catalog includes audiovisual and library equipment; food; buses; natural gas; and medical, musical, science, paper and janitorial supplies. The cooperative also offers a dental care consortium and consult-a-doctor care.

“By acting as a cooperative, we save school districts money by consolidating group purchases and reducing costs on larger software license purchases,” said Jimmy Battrell, SEOVEC chief executive officer and director. “We can provide better customer service since we are small and know our districts well. We are a one-stop shop and try to provide the most cost-effective service at the highest level of customer satisfaction.”

Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council
Based in Vandalia, the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council serves nearly 280,000 students in 127 school districts in 20 western Ohio counties. Launched in 1968, the council offers savings on goods and services such as audiovisual equipment; drug and alcohol testing; bus driver physicals; cafeteria products; library books; natural gas; buses; furniture; and classroom, transportation and building supplies.

Members spend more than $200 million annually through the cooperative and save an estimated 30% to 40% by pooling their purchasing power to lower prices, according to Ken S. Swink, council executive director.

“We bring tremendous value to our member school districts,” Swink said. “We strive to work closely with the other cooperatives in Ohio through the Ohio Council of Educational Purchasing Consortia and nationally through the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies.

“Our services and supplies programs are run by committees made up of volunteers from our member school districts who determine the needs of their fellow members. Besides tremendous price savings, time is another great savings for each of our member school districts.”

Editor’s note: There are several other Ohio purchasing cooperatives that were not profiled in this article. They include: the Ashtabula/Mahoning/Trumbull County Purchasing Cooperative; Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency; Ohio Schools Council; and Stark County Schools Council of Governments.