Cooperative Purchasing

What is Cooperative Purchasing?

The Interlocal Cooperation Act, Gov. Code §791.001 et seq., and § 271.102 of the Local Government Code allows cities to contract with other governmental entities, including state agencies, districts, counties, and municipalities.  The City of Grand Prairie promotes the utilization of cooperative purchasing agreements. Cooperative procurement efforts may result when two or more entities combine their requirements to obtain advantages of volume purchases from the same supplier or multiple suppliers using a single IFB (Invitation for Bid) or RFP (Request for Proposal). Suppliers willing to extend to the City existing price agreements with other governmental entities or cooperatives are encouraged to share this information with the City’s Procurement Division.

How It Works

1. The City of Grand Prairie partners with national and regional purchasing cooperatives.
2. Suppliers are selected through competitive bidding processes conducted by the respective purchasing cooperatives.
3. Participating entities such as the City of Grand Prairie can purchase directly from awarded contracts via the purchasing cooperatives.

Current Purchasing Cooperatives

The City of Grand Prairie is a member of the following cooperatives:

• 1GPA

  National non-profit governmental purchasing cooperative which allows public entities to take advantage of existing contracts to purchase the goods and services they need from local and national vendors, which are  competitively bid and awarded in compliance with state statutes, procurement laws and regulations. 

• 791Cooperative

  Interlocal government purchasing cooperative established in 2019 in accordance with Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code. Every contract in their portfolio has been competitively solicited in compliance with applicable state procurement requirements.

• Allied States

  National governmental purchasing cooperative which competitively bids and awards contracts to local, regional, and national vendors in compliance with local, state, and federal procurement laws and regulations.

• BuyBoard
  A cooperative purchasing network that streamlines the procurement process for public entities by offering competitively awarded contracts from trusted Suppliers.
• Choice Partners
  A national cooperative purchasing organization providing quality, legally procured contracts and vendor solutions to meet public sector purchasing needs.
• DIR

  The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) delivers technology solutions to state and local government entities. Specifically, DIR is here to offer purchasing support and policy insights so organizations across all levels of Texas government can find and securely implement modern technology. 

• GoodBuy

  National governmental purchasing cooperative which competitively bids and awards contracts to local, regional, and national vendors in compliance with local, state, and federal procurement laws and regulations. 

• HGAC
  The Houston-Galveston Area Council offers cooperative purchasing services through HGACBuy, supporting governments with competitively bid contracts across a range of products and services.
• Omnia
  A leading public sector cooperative purchasing organization that connects agencies with a robust portfolio of competitively solicited contracts from industry-leading suppliers.
• PACE

  The Purchasing Association of Cooperative Entities (PACE) is designed to give its members additional awarded contract tools to assist their entities in meeting bidding requirements, saving valuable staff resources.

• Sourcewell
  A government agency offering cooperative purchasing solutions to help agencies access pre-vetted contracts and save time, effort, and money on procurement.
• State of Texas
  The Texas Comptroller’s Statewide Procurement Division offers centralized purchasing resources and contracts for public entities across the state.
• TIPS
  The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) provides competitively procured purchasing contracts to simplify procurement for public and nonprofit agencies.
• TXShare
  A cooperative purchasing program administered by the Texas Association of Regional Councils, offering member agencies streamlined access to competitively procured goods and services.

Local Suppliers are encouraged to apply for cooperative bids. Suppliers must contact the purchasing cooperative directly to view potential opportunities. The City of Grand Prairie has no control on when or what type of bid the purchasing cooperatives will have available.