Cooperative Purchasing

COG initiated its Cooperative Purchasing Program in 1971 with the basic objective of reducing costs through economies of scale created through volume buying. By taking advantage of the combined purchasing power of participating jurisdictions, volume buying saves jurisdictions and their taxpayers money.

The program also promotes sharing information among area purchasing officials, and encourages continuing education for procurement professionals throughout the region.Through the Chief Purchasing Officers Committee, participating agencies, school boards, authorities, and commissions cooperatively bid on more than 20 different purchases, resulting in larger volume and better unit pricing. 

COG has a partnership with the Baltimore Metropolitan Council and their members called the Mid-Atlantic Purchasing Team (MAPT), which provides additional opportunities to participate in cooperative purchases and to ride on the contracts of these jurisdictions, taking advantage of the buying power of the entire National Capitol Region and the Greater Baltimore Area.

Currently, regional cooperative purchasing opportunities are available for bottled water, water and wastewater treatment chemicals, medical supplies, gasoline and diesel fuel, office furniture, banking services, electrical supplies, public safety equipment, software and training, and more.

Members also have the opportunity to use the the Rider Clause to join existing awards and avoid the need to do in-house bidding. 

COG also manages a Vendor Registration System (VRS) that exposes our member procurements to over 20,000 regional vendors - Vendor Registration System. All COG’s formal bids are done through the VRS Lockbox and require bidders to be registered on the system.  

Contact

For more information about the Cooperative Purchasing Program, please contact purchasing@mwcog.org.