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RFI 6.1.B. - Page 6 <br /> INTRODUCTION <br /> A. ABOUT NJPA <br /> 1_1 The National Joint Powers Alliance®- (NJPA)-is a public agency serving as a national municipal <br /> contracting agency established under the Service Cooperative statute by Minnesota Legislative Statute <br /> §123A.21 with the authority to develop and offer, among other services, cooperative procurement <br /> services to its membership. Eligible membership includes states, cities, counties, governmental agencies, <br /> both public and non-public educational agencies, colleges,universities and non-profit organizations. This <br /> Minnesota Statute also allows for service to NJPA Member agencies in Minnesota and all other states. <br /> 1.2 To this end,NJPA has established a series of procurement contracts with various Vendors of <br /> products/services which NJPA Members desire to procure. These procurement contracts are created in <br /> compliance with applicable Minnesota Municipal Contracting Laws. A complete listing of NJPA <br /> cooperative procurement contracts can be found at www.njpacoop.org. <br /> 1.3 NJPA's publicly elected Board of Directors calls for all proposals, awards all Contracts, and hosts <br /> those resulting Contracts and offers them for the benefit of its Membership. <br /> 1.3.1 Subject to Approval of the Board: Any award of Contract made by an authorized NJPA <br /> Employee will be subject to such action by the NJPA Board of Directors. <br /> 1_4 NJPA currently serves over 30,000 member agencies. Both membership and utilization of NJPA <br /> Contracts continues to expand at exponential rates. The value of our Contracts driven to our Members is <br /> reflected in our growth. <br /> B. JOINT EXERCISE OF POWERS LAWS <br /> 1.5 NJPA cooperatively shares those contracts with its Members nationwide through various "Joint <br /> Exercise of Powers Laws" established in Minnesota and most other States. The Minnesota"Joint Exercise <br /> of Powers Law" is Minnesota Statute §471.59 which states "Two or more governmental units...may <br /> jointly or cooperatively exercise any power common to the contracting parties..." Similar Joint Exercise <br /> of Powers Laws for each State of the United States can be found on our website at <br /> http://www.njpacoop.org/LEARN/About/Legal.html and clicking on that state at the bottom of the web- <br /> page. <br /> C. WHY RESPOND TO A NATIONAL COOPERATIVE PROCUREMENT CONTRACT <br /> 1.6 National Cooperative Procurement Contracts create value for both Municipal buyers and their <br /> Vendors of products/services in two ways: <br /> 1.6.1 We save the time and effort of many municipal buyers bringing individual procurement <br /> proposals AND the time and effort of the Vendors in responding individually to those <br /> invitations. A single invitation for a cooperatively held contract can replace potentially <br /> thousands of invitations for the same items from individual NJPA Members. <br /> 1.6.2 We earn volume purchasing discounts which are passed on to our Members. A single <br /> awarded Proposal is likewise exposed to thousands of potential Municipal purchasing units <br /> nationwide creating efficiency and savings to the business community as they sell products and <br /> services to government and education agencies. <br /> 1_7 State laws that permit or encourage cooperative purchasing contracts do so with the belief that lower <br /> prices,better overall value and time savings will be the result. <br /> 3 of 47 <br />