More than 800,000 products covered by piggybackable bid contract awarded to Amazon Business by PEPPM

MILTON, Pa., Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PEPPM, a national public-sector purchasing cooperative, has posted more than 800,000 products from the Amazon Business store that public agencies can buy without having to solicit their own local bids.

In conjunction with the award of a purchasing contract based on competitive sealed bids, the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU) — the education agency in Pennsylvania that created and runs PEPPM — has curated 878,251 products that qualify for sale to school districts, cities, and local governments without the usual red tape and waiting period.

And more products — for a total of 1 million, thanks to reciprocity laws and PEPPM's strict bidding practices — will be published on the buying cooperative's website for registered public sector users in the weeks to come at www.PEPPM.org.

"These represent the most common products purchased by school districts and other local governments in a dynamic marketplace setting," said Thomas Caruso, director of cooperative purchasing for the CSIU. "Once registered with PEPPM, public-sector users who also sign up for an Amazon Business account can purchase any of the curated products while enjoying the protections of a competitively bid contract."

Most public agencies across U.S. communities can buy these PEPPM-contracted products on the Amazon Business store immediately without further bidding and still legally comply with bid laws.

In a process known as "piggybacking," PEPPM's procedures created a competitive umbrella purchasing contract that satisfies the contracting requirements of most local governments across the United States.

In its request for bids, sent to 3,450 potential bidders, the PEPPM co-op narrowed desired products into categories of breakroom supplies; first aid and safety products; instruction, art, and craft materials; maintenance, repair, and operations products; and office supplies, as well as other product categories popular with government buyers.

Founded in 1982, PEPPM is a longstanding program of the CSIU, a regional education service agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The program also hosts 774 other bid-protected purchasing contracts on its website at www.PEPPM.org.

Contact:
Amber Lind
Cooperative Purchasing Programs Manager
alind@csiu.org
(570) 246-5937

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SOURCE Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit