All organizations rely heavily on their procurement departments to help meet their organizational needs while reducing cost and increasing efficiency.

And that goes double for procurement officers working for state, local or educational (SLEd) organizations. These dedicated professionals must work with very specific budget allocations, act according to stringent rules, and somehow manage to do more with less year after year.

Fortunately, public sector procurement officers can take advantage of an option that makes them more efficient while maintaining the integrity of tax payer dollars—cooperative procurement.

Endorsed by the American Bar Association, this purchasing model allows multiple agencies or government buyers to make purchases off a single contract. The widely accepted practice of “piggybacking” occurs when a cooperative organization solicits on behalf of its members, with the resulting contract used by multiple agencies.