A new partnership signed earlier this year authorizes Army installation staff in the U.S. to purchase municipal supplies from Sourcewell, a regional service cooperative that supports local schools in five economically challenged counties in Minnesota.
Sourcewell is a state entity but generates its own funding through cooperative purchasing. Until recently, it sold mostly to state and local governments, including almost 55,000 agencies last year.
Its intergovernmental support agreement with the Army, the first of its kind across DOD, began in April. It helps diversify installations’ procurement choices beyond what can be purchased through the General Services Administration. Now any Army installation in all 50 states and the U.S. territories can turn to Sourcewell as an alternative.
“We’re putting another tool in the tool bag of the Army installations,” Dave Leinberger, chief of Army community partnerships, told On Base. “In almost every situation, because Sourcewell is structured in a very efficient manner and their delivery support services are streamlined, we are getting the same product much cheaper. That’s a good thing for the Army.”
Sourcewell is increasing its staff to meet the demand.
“We run a robust program that’s got almost 800 suppliers under contract and really contains everything that most municipalities would need to operate, from airports to stadium seating to turf to building and construction projects,” Robb Reid, Sourcewell’s chief revenue officer, told ADC. “So it’s a wide portfolio of solutions that our customers and other governments would buy, which aligns us nicely [to support the Army].”
Learn More at ADC Connect
Leinberger and Sourcewell Director of Partnerships Katie Alba are scheduled to speak July 25 at ADC Connect in Washington, D.C. The half-day event will focus on the future of innovative DOD partnerships like the Sourcewell IGSA.
There’s still time to register to join federal officials, community leaders and others to help shape the future of partnerships.
Army photo by Bernardo Fuller
