Apparel distributor wins cooperative contract

National IPA/TCPN has awarded a national cooperative contract for apparel, uniforms, accessories, products and services for the government, education and non-profit marketplace.

The winning vendor is ServiceWear Apparel. The competitively solicited and publicly awarded agreement by Region 4 Education Service Center is made available through National IPA, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The entire ServiceWear Apparel line is now available through the contract.

National IPA is a cooperative purchasing organization dedicated to serving the following: City/Local Government – County Government – State Government – Public and Private Educational Institutions and Systems – Special Districts – Government-Education Healthcare Entities – Nonprofits.

ServiceWear is a distributor of apparel to government agencies and nonprofits nationwide. The firm has built a service model designed to serve the needs in these varied markets. The contract available through National IPA makes available to these agencies the following brands in workwear, all designed to meet the range of needs of those in public service: Red Kap, Horace Small, Bulwark, Wrangler Workwear, and Chef Designs.  

Region 4 ESC is a large regional education service center. It was founded to assist school districts and charter schools in improving efficiencies and student performance. Region 4 ESC is based in Houston, Texas, and serves a seven-county area composed of 50 public school districts and 41 open-enrollment charter schools, representing more than 1.1 million students, 91,000 educators, and 1,500 campuses.

The National IPA cooperative purchasing organization serves public agencies and educational institutions nationwide. All cooperative agreements have been competitively solicited and publicly awarded by a public agency/governmental entity (e.g. state, city, county, public university or school district), using public procurement practices, processes and procedures. The lead agencies are independent of the cooperative.

The contract was awarded on October 25, 2016. All of ServiceWear Apparel’s current customers will be eligible to “piggyback” off of the contract under the cooperative National IPA.

Contract benefits include:
•    Best supplier overall government pricing to participants
•    No user fees
•    A range of products for agencies and departments
•    Oversight by public purchasing professionals
•    Free benchmarking analysis to determine immediate cost savings
•    Expedited delivery and attentive customer service

•    All contracts are competitively solicited and fully vetted by a lead public agency, making them eligible for “piggybacking”

Through state statute and local regulation, participating public agencies can use the program without having to go through the time and expense of putting out a solicitation. All National IPA contracts have been competitively solicited by lead government agencies in accordance with statutory purchasing rules and regulations.

Each solicitation contains language that advises all suppliers that the contract may be used by agencies throughout the United States. Although each government purchasing organization may have different purchasing procedures to follow, applying these competitive principles satisfies the competitive solicitation requirements of most state and local government agencies.

There are no costs or user fees to the local agency to participate. Nonprofit organizations can use the program in addition to school districts, counties, cities, religious organizations, universities and colleges, hospitals, and state agencies.

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