(Walnut Creek, CA) August 31, 2010 - County of Los Angeles has awarded a new office supplies contract to Independent Stationers Inc. (is.group), a cooperative network of independent and locally owned office supplies dealers, supported by United Stationers Inc., a leading wholesale distributor of business products.

The contract will be administered by the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance (U.S. Communities), a national government purchasing cooperative, and made available to public agencies across the country. It will replace County of Los Angeles’s existing office supplies contract, which will expire on December 31, 2010.

In addition to offering the same convenience, selection, service and support as the existing County of Los Angeles contract, U.S. Communities program participants will be able to purchase through community based businesses with lower prices than currently available. The contract is fixed-price to facilitate transparency and public agency pricing audits. World class eCommerce capabilities including enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration, electronic billing and payment options, national distribution, next day delivery and no minimum order limits will continue as well.

“By Independent Stationers, Inc. offering lower transparent pricing, local service and continued ease of use, this contract will greatly benefit our program participants,” said Steve Hamill, General Manager of U.S. Communities. “The County of Los Angeles conducted a very thorough bid process and we’re very pleased with the result.”

is.group, founded in 1977, is a leading global organization providing sales, marketing support and purchasing power for the community based independent office products dealer. Collectively, its members produce $2.5 billion in end-user sales, and are supported by United Stationers Inc. for operational infrastructure and IT expertise.

“Our national network of community based independent dealers offer public agencies local service and support coupled with national distribution efficiencies,” said Mike Gentile, President and CEO of is.group. “We are pleased to become a supplier in the U.S. Communities program.”

As a lead public agency in the U.S. Communities program, County of Los Angeles prepared and issued the competitive, national solicitation, which included a vendor protest period after the Intent to Award was announced. The solicitation included language allowing all states, local government agencies and nonprofit organizations to purchase through the contract as part of the U.S. Communities program.

About U.S. Communities

U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance (“U.S. Communities”) is a nonprofit government entity that assists local and state government agencies, school districts (K-12), higher education, and nonprofits in reducing the cost of purchased goods by offering managed access to competitively solicited contracts between suppliers and lead public agencies. U.S. Communities was designed in cooperation with an Advisory Board of local and state government purchasing officials and is jointly sponsored by the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO), the National Association of Counties (NACO), the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP), the National League of Cities (NLC), and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM). Total aggregate purchases in 2009 exceeded $1.4 billion, with $214 million in estimated savings to public agencies that year alone.