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New Jersey’s School districts, local governments, non-profit agencies, and call centers can now use cooperative purchasing contracts awarded by national programs including the PEPPM Technology Bidding and Purchasing Program and the Keystone Purchasing Network (KPN (News - Alert)).

According to a recent press release, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed P.L.2011, c.139 into law, allowing all government agencies – including school districts and non-profit organizations such as call centers – to use contracts awarded by national cooperative purchasing programs. National purchasing programs such as the PEPPM Technology Bidding and Purchasing Program and the KPN offer cost saving options to the state-mandated purchasing contracts available prior to the new legislation.

Nationally recognized cooperative purchasing program initiatives PEPPM and KPN are within a governmental agency of Pennsylvania called Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU). PEPPM is a national source for technology purchases that solicits sealed competitive bids on brands of computer equipment, software, audio-visual, as well as networking and communication products.

KPN is a national purchasing procurement program with many regional and national contracts such as office supplies, copiers, call center and office furniture, commercial floor covering, commercial food service equipment and supplies, modular classroom and portable buildings, roofing and building restoration services, vehicles and other categories of supplies and services.

Recent legislation in New Jersey will increase the purchasing options, decrease the purchasing costs, and make the procurement process easier for professionals.  The procurement managers for school districts, higher education, and government agencies in New Jersey now have options that save a great deal of time and money for the organizations they represent. The PEPPM and KPN purchasing programs also eliminate the need for procurement managers to conduct a local bidding process, but now the procurement managers can piggyback on the bid contracts already managed by the organizations.

Procurement managers can search for a PEPPM or a KPN contract to fill the request when a requisition request for new equipment or supplies is made. A purchase can then be made immediately, eliminating countless bid management hours from a typically lengthy process.

This change in New Jersey’s cooperative purchasing legislation ensures that the overall lowest price, cost of ownership, shipping costs, and soft costs can be achieved. Since PEPPM and KPN already have contracts already in place with popular vendors, the benefits are will be come immediately.