U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance Public agencies purchase billions of dollars per year in goods and services and are continually looking for new solutions to help them meet their purchasing requirements and needs. Government agencies - as keepers of taxpayers' hard-earned dollars - also want a good return on investment for the goods they purchase. During this time of diminishing local government resources and federal and state deficits, local agencies need programs that help save precious taxpayer resources.   One such program is known as the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance. U.S. Communities is a non-profit instrumentality of government established by public agencies to reduce the cost of purchased goods and to streamline the purchasing process. This program is sponsored by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and is nationally sponsored by the National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, the Association of School Business Officials International, National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and U.S. Conference of Mayors.   Through U.S. Communities, counties, cities and public agencies such as schools and special districts can piggyback on competitively solicited contracts, thus taking advantage of the enormous collective purchasing power of thousands of U.S. local government agencies.   Designed in cooperation with an Advisory Board of local government purchasing officials, U.S. Communities pools the purchasing power of public agencies, achieves bulk volume discounts on behalf of public agencies, competitively solicits quality products through a lead public agency and provides a purchasing forum for public agencies nationwide. Today over 7,000 public agencies are participating in the program.   U.S. Communities helps provide public agencies options with regard to the purchase of the most commonly purchased goods.   PRODUCTS   The US Communities program offers a variety of commodity lines, as well as services, on their contracts. The chart below shows the commodity line or service, the lead public agency that executed the solicitation and the supplier or suppliers awarded under the contract.   US Communities Contracts As of April 2003     Commodity Suppliers Lead Agency Office Supplies Office Depot Los Angeles County, CA Office Furniture - Knoll - Haworth - Herman Miller - Steelcase Los Angeles County, CA School Classroom Furniture - Virco - School Specialty - Wichita Public Schools, KS - Harford County Public Schools, MD Electrical Supplies Graybar Los Angeles County, CA Communications/Data Graybar Los Angeles County, CA Janitorial Supplies ZEP Allegheny County, PA Tools & Material Handling Hughes Supply Los Angeles County, PA Carpet & Flooring Carpet: Interface, Milliken Los Angeles County, PA Purchase Cards American Express Maricopa County, AZ Computers & Peripherals GTSI Fairfax County, VA   ADVANTAGES OF PROGRAM   What are the advantages of participating in U.S. Communities? The key advantage is cost savings for public agencies. Public agencies gain access to the national purchasing power of all local government public agencies through U.S. Communities. Public agencies secure the following key advantages:   Competitively solicited contracts by a lead public agency Most favorable public agency pricing No cost to the public agency to participate Nationally sponsored by leading associations and purchasing organizations Broad range of high quality products Aggregated purchasing power of public agencies nationwide Managed by public purchasing professionals Available to all counties, cities, schools, special districts, townships, villages, boroughs, other local governments and state agencies, as well as non-profit agencies that support local and state governments. In addition, U.S. Communities works closely with public agencies to understand their buying needs and the needs of thousands of other public purchasing agents, purchasing managers, purchasing directors, and procurement officers. U.S. Communities is constantly expanding its product offering to public agencies. The purchasing function plays a critical role in helping local governments save money on the goods purchased by these agencies each year. For more information send an email to info@uscommunities.org or visit www.uscommunities.org.     League of Arizona Cities and Towns 1820 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ  85007 Phone: 602-258-5786 Fax: 602-253-3874 http://www.azleague.org