Joint Purchasing Program

The AIU's Joint Purchasing Program saves school districts more than $7 million every year.  The goal of the program is to obtain quality products and services at the lowest price.  Participating school districts purchase materials and supplies while eliminating the costs of the bid procedure.  The program assists school districts by preparing specifications, advertising and analyzing bids, conducting bid openings, evaluating samples, recommending bid awards, and notifying successful and unsuccessful bidders.  In addition, participants save money because of volume-buying.  

Major items in the program include:

• Custodial Supplies
• Electricity
• Gasoline & Diesel Fuel
• General School Supplies
• Medical Supplies
• Natural Gas
• Paper

Joint purchasing programs are funded through management partnership fees paid by energy suppliers.

For more information on how intermediate units help districts save money, read the PSBA Bulletin article "Cost Savings Through IU Shared Services".