The League and the California State Association of Counties launched the California Communities purchasing alliance more than 26 years ago. Now operating under the name U.S. Communities, the alliance provides world-class products, resources and solutions. California cities made purchases through U.S. Communities suppliers in 2014 totaling more than $45.2 million - and saved approximately $4.5 million. Operating as a national program since 1996, U.S. Communities aggregates the potential purchasing power of more than 90,000 public agencies. Using a lead agency model, procurement contracts with national suppliers are publicly solicited by a large public agency on behalf of all local and state governments, school districts, higher education and nonprofits. Each lead public agency takes responsibility for structuring the bid documents, assembling a national team of experts to review responses, documenting the bid tallies and awarding the contract to one or more qualified firms. The process results in a Master Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement that provides the lowest available government pricing to all U.S. Communities participants regardless of the public agency's size or volume of purchases.
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