Overview
The BuyBoard (Local Purchasing Cooperative) was established in 1998 under the Texas Cooperative Statute. The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) brought it together to help support the school districts of Texas’ procurement needs. It soon began supporting all forms of local governments (cities, counties, High Ed). In 2010, because of the success of the program in Texas, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) in conjunction with the TASB formed the National Purchasing Cooperative (BuyBoard). It was established in accordance with Maryland state statues, MD. Code Ann., State Fin. & Proc. §13-110 (West 2009). Its mission is to obtain the benefits and efficiencies that can accrue to members of the cooperative, to comply with state bidding requirements, and to identify qualified vendors of commodities, goods and services. Under Maryland Code § 160A-460, the BuyBoard is considered an agency of local government. The monies collected from the use of the cooperative’s contracts go back into the public education stream either at the state or national level to support and advocate for public education. Here is the BuyBoard in a nutshell -
• 27year history
• Local government agency controlling the life cycle of all contracts
• Gains access to a wide range of vendors with pricing based on national volume levels
• Provides funding to enhance public education
• Outreach to local, regional and MWBE vendors to participate
• Available for EDGAR (CFR) Federal Funding use