Cooperative Purchasing

The Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) was formed in 2000 and the Colorado BOCES Association (CBA) joined AEPA in 2001. The AEPA current membership of 31 states represents a total student enrollment of over 26 million students. The purpose of AEPA is to combine purchasing power to allow all school districts, large and small, the best educational prices available on products and services There are no membership requirements or fees required to utilize the Colorado BOCES cooperative purchasing contracts.

All biding laws of the 31 member states are covered in the bids issued by the AEPA and the bids have been advertised in at least one major publication in each member state. AEPA meets two times per year, spring and winter. The categories for the upcoming bids are decided at the Spring meeting, the bids are then prepared, advertised and published and the AEPA reviews and approves the bid responses at the December meeting. Each individual state then reviews the approved bids and issues contracts to the appropriate vendors, making those contract available through their state cooperatives.

Each bid is valid for one year with three one year extensions available upon review. At the end of the fourth year the category may or may not be re-bid.