FAQs
About Bespoke Community Cooperatives
Bespoke Community Cooperatives is a Public Benefit Corporation that provides tailored administrative services to form and manage SLED-focused cooperative purchasing groups. Our services are ideal for public agencies that want to procure jointly as well as existing cooperatives that are looking to grow and expand without the need to hire or invest in expensive technologies.
No, Bespoke works with public agencies and existing cooperatives to provide administrative services so entities can create and grow their own customizable, community-driven cooperatives. These cooperatives can prioritize local and social responsibility goals and compliance requirements, offering flexibility and inclusivity.
Your community can be any group that makes sense to jointly procure together:
- Geographical - Is your leadership encouraging you to work together with the city, county, K12 or higher education groups in your local area?
- Agency Type - Are you part of a group that procures unique items and wonder if you could get better pricing by procuring together (airports, parks, water treatment, facilities, etc.)?
- Existing Cooperative - Does your existing cooperative need support to get to the next level?
There is no fee issued to any public agency to utilize the services of Bespoke Community Cooperatives. Using Bespoke contracts does provide community group members with added financial benefits such as educational scholarships. Want to learn more? Get in touch today.
To join or form a Community Cooperative, reach out to Bespoke to begin the process. We will guide you through creating or joining a group that meets your specific needs and objectives.
Bespoke contracts are YOUR contracts. You do the procurements based on the rules and regulations of your “community.” This ensures your terms and conditions are always met and exceeded. If you want to use a contract and aren’t a member of the community that holds that contract, no worries. Make sure you’re a Bespoke member by signing the Bespoke Master Inter-Governmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement (MICPA/IGA) and buy directly from suppliers who hold community contracts.
Yes, as long as the awarded suppliers have agreed to service your area during the procurement process, you can buy from any available Bespoke Community contract. Once you’ve signed our Master Inter-Governmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement (MICPA/IGA) and identified a contract that meets your needs, work directly with suppliers to make your purchases. Just make sure to indicate Bespoke on your purchase order.
Suppliers embrace Bespoke Community Cooperatives as our joint procurement support allows multiple agencies to commit their spend upfront providing suppliers with a more stable and predictable stream of business. Overall, suppliers benefit from enhanced visibility, more business opportunities, and a fairer competitive landscape.
A public benefit corporation is a corporation created to generate social and public good, and to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. Bespoke Community Cooperatives' (PBC) mission is to help public entities procure more easily and efficiently together. Bespoke provides administrative services to make this process easier, helping to bring stronger, more valuable cooperative contracts to the public sector marketplace.
Services and Capabilities of Bespoke Community Cooperatives
Bespoke offers powerful data and reporting tools that provide insights into spending patterns, supplier performance, and contract lifecycle management, enabling data-driven decision-making.
Bespoke Contracts are created by your community and can be any product or service that meets the needs of your agency. If it helps agencies outside your community, that’s an added benefit.
Yes, you can still use other piggyback or cooperative contracts even if you create your own Bespoke Community Cooperative. Our model is designed to complement your existing procurement strategies, offering additional flexibility and opportunities to leverage both cooperative agreements supported by Bespoke and other available contracts to best meet your agency's needs.
Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing
Cooperative purchasing supports multiple public agencies to come together to collectively procure goods and services. This approach increases bargaining power, reduces administrative costs, and often results in better pricing and terms.
Piggybacking offers convenience but lacks the customization, negotiation power, and specific alignment that cooperative purchasing contracts provide. Cooperative contracts ensure better compliance, vendor commitment, and up-to-date market competitiveness, offering broader vendor selection and more robust supplier engagement for improved pricing and terms.
Because community cooperatives encourage group procurement, Bespoke benefits include
- cost savings
- streamlined procurement processes
- access to a wider range of suppliers (including local, regional and national businesses)
- support for service-related contracts
- enhanced contract management and sharing
- powerful data and reporting
All of these benefits come with no additional administrative burdens on the agency.
Bespoke provides tailored support, advanced data and reporting, a robust technology hub for contract sharing and comprehensive contract management services. Bespoke also promotes supplier participation, ensuring a more effective and personalized procurement process.
Because Bespoke contracts are awarded in your community by your members, you get to determine what priorities matter most. Geographical service requirements are dictated by your group, not a national footprint. Plus, the Bespoke team provides education and training to encourage suppliers to respond to your solicitations and give you top notch service once awarded.
Pricing is negotiated collectively by the representatives or agencies that lead the competitive solicitation process for your Community Cooperative. Leveraging the combined purchasing power of the members to secure the best possible terms and prices from suppliers.