Increasingly, state, local and education institutions (SLED) have been taking advantage of buying products and services at preferred rates from favored vendors through the GSA schedule program.
What is a SLED agency?
A SLED agency includes any;
- State government,
- Local government,
- County government,
- Regional authority,
- tribal government,
- any local educational agency
- public institution of higher education
Cooperative Purchasing
One GSA program known as Cooperative Purchasing enables state and local governments to purchase from Schedule 70 for information technology and Schedule 84 for law enforcement and security products and services, at any time, for any reason, using any funds available.
It is important to emphasize that SLED’ss can buy off the these two GSA schedules
at any time!
for any reason!
GSA Schedule 70 allows agencies to buy:
- IT Professional services.
- PC’s
- Monitors
- ADP equipment
- software,
- IT supplies,
- Any product or service related to information technology.
GSA Schedule 84 has thousands of:
- firefighting and rescue equipment,
- law enforcement and security equipment,
- alarm and signal systems,
- facility management systems,
- marine craft and related equipment,
- special emergency response clothing,
- and disaster response and training services.
State and local governments need to comply with their own state and local acquisition regulations for competition requirements when buying through a GSA Schedule, but incorporate GSA terms and conditions when they identify the GSA Schedule contract number on the order.
State and Local Disaster Purchasing
There are 38 other GSA schedules that SLEDs cannot buy off of GSA schedules at anytime for any reason, except if the purchase pertains to disaster preparedness and recovery.
GSA’s Disaster Purchasing Program enables SLEDS to buy supplies and services directly from all GSA Schedules to ease recovery from major disaster or facilitate disaster preparation and response pertaining to any disaster such as terrorism,, tornado, hurricane or other major weather event, or nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack.
SLEDs are allowed to use GSA’s eTools such as GSA advantage to purchase good and services. For example, agencies can use the GSA eBuy system to issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ). This eTool enables an agency to
- issue a request for information,
- find vendors to address their needs
- request quotations under GSA Cooperative Purchasing program
By using eBuy, state and local government agencies can benefit from the federal government’s buying power to increase vendor participation and obtain the best deals.
Interested in getting a GSA contract to take advantage of this SLED benefit? read this eBook:
