Agencies across the country have said the following about the pricing and value they receive from U.S. Communities™ contracts:

“The U.S. Communities Program through Office Depot has enabled The Mt. Lebanon Quality Supply Team to procure quality supplies for the Mt. Lebanon School District, meeting stakeholders’ needs, and exceeding their expectations while achieving 40% savings, generating $15,000 in revenue/free products and approaching zero waste. It has empowered us to pursue continuous improvement principles that are aligned with our organizational goals of constituent satisfaction and fiscal responsibility.

The U.S. Communities Program through Office Depot has enabled The Mt. Lebanon Quality Supply Team to procure for the Mt. Lebanon School District the right supply product at the right price, received it at the right time, and perform as desired or was replaced if necessary. This partnership is user friendly, efficient, provides product variety, and user-support. This results in improved work performance and customer satisfaction.

"Top Ten” reasons why the Mt. Lebanon Quality Supply Team recommends organizations utilize the U.S. Communities Program through Office Depot to procure its organization’s supplies.

The Mt. Lebanon School District-U.S. Communities -Office Depot partnership:

10. Created supply product value. We reduced our poor product performance and supply waste to almost zero in three years.
9. The right supply product was received 98-100% of the time the next business day at our schools.
8. Generated close to $15,000 in cash rebates or free merchandise from parent and supplier partnership programs.
7. One elementary school reduced its supply budget by 46.7% over three years.
6. Our school district reduced its supply budget by 39.6% in three years.
5. District supply budget reductions saved taxpayers $174,941 in three years.
4. Supply budget savings in three years allowed our organization to transfer these funds into investments or to other expenditure needs such as purchasing an equivalent of 218 computers.
3. Improved our stakeholder and customer satisfaction from second class to near world class levels.
2. Empowered our teachers to be more masterful, innovative, and inspiring with their instruction. New instructional techniques could be supported and rolled-out with the appropriate supplies within a few days.
1. Enabled our students to use real-life supply-work tools to enhance their personal learning and create rewarding student performance outcome products. ”

“Pierce County joined NACo in the beginning of 2003. I went to our main office supplier and asked how this would help our purchasing discount rates. The supplier informed me that several of the major product manufacturers offered deeper discounts based on a nationally bid contract for counties through NACo. One order we already placed for some workstations will be reduced by $1500 because of the discount advantage through U.S. Communities . Other big-ticket items will see savings as well. We also can expect an additional $6,000 (10%) savings on our routine supply orders throughout the year.”

Mark Schroeder
Administrative Coordinator
Pierce County, WI.

“We are extremely pleased with the service and savings we have achieved with U.S. Communities. The discounts and the Internet capabilities are excellent.”

Michael Scanlan
Senior Buyer
Hennepin County, MN.

“Detroit Public Schools awarded a contract to Office Depot for office supplies after a competitive/RFP process. In 2003, Detroit Public Schools asked Office Depot to compare its spend for the past 12 months to what its spend would have been if it had been using the U.S. Communities contract during the same period. The comparison showed that Detroit Public Schools would have saved approximately $32,000 if it had been using the U.S. Communities contract during the past 12 months. The Contracting Officer immediately amended its contract with Office Depot to use the U.S. Communities pricing, thereby saving schools money in their future purchase of office supplies.

Also, Detroit Public Schools had previously awarded a contract for custodial chemicals after a competitive bid process. When Zep Manufacturing Company was awarded a U.S. Communities contract for custodial chemicals, it invited Zep to perform a pilot study at 34 schools. Zep provided the products, trained the school staffs on the usage of the products, and proposed a delivery system that would provide superior delivery to the District's schools. The pilot study resulted in an extremely positive evaluation of both the quality and performance of the Zep products, it demonstrated Zep's commitment to prompt and professional support, and it showed that an 18% cost savings could be realized by using this U.S. Communities contract.”

Art Hanby
Interim Deputy Chief Contracting Officer
Detroit Public Schools, MI.

“Last year we used the U.S. Communities furniture contract to supply Steelcase workstations for 430 employees, as well as conference tables, chairs and reception furniture at a new Courthouse Administration Building and saved over $900,000. What a great contract!”

Kathryn Rowe
Purchasing Director
Larimer County, CO.

“Not only have the U.S. Communities contracts afforded us very competitive price points, these contracts have given us the vehicle to obtain better products. Rather than buying a generic brand based on a low bid approach, we are able to get brand name products that offer better quality-a value proposition that is difficult to measure in $$ savings. By utilizing the U.S. Communities contract, we are able to use Office Depot as our "virtual warehouse" for all our office supplies. They are now ordered on-line, using a p-card, delivered to the desktop the next day anywhere in our County, at very competitive pricing. Through the use of the U.S. Communities contracts, we have developed supply chain management partnerships that are invaluable to our Purchasing operation. They are an extension of our service delivery system.”

Bill Schull
Purchasing Agent
Anne Arundel County, MD.

“The U.S. Communities contracts we've used have provided both efficiency and cost savings (especially the Office Depot contract). I would recommend U.S. Communities contracts to any Purchasing Department looking to save time and money.”

Jim McIntyre
Buyer Supervisor
City and County of Denver, CO.

“By contracting with multiple agencies under this agreement, the pooled purchases allow for better quantity pricing."

Rene Thomas
Purchasing Specialist
DeSoto County School Board, FL.