September 3, 2014 at 3:00 PM - Coop Committee Meeting

Discussion:  Staff: David Ludwig, Kip Schneider, Priscilla Quintana, and Deb Hericks. Visitors: Karen Haase, Steve Williams

Discussion:  We are currently asking ESM to expedite the catalog creation for our shop page. We currently have access to the Staples and CDW-G catalog for all schools. About half of the ESU’s have access to School Specialty. Gov Connection & Amsan are available only in one ESU each. We are working on a number of agreements that we hope to be able to have ESM start development on shortly to have a more robust offering.

Discussion:  There are no current changes being made to these segments. We have defined processes that allow ESU’s to elect their in house process of facilitation. However, we have created a list of enhancements to the system that might ease some billing work on both the consumer and supplier end. The schools are getting an invoice for each person that order versus one per building. Can this process be aggregated? Companies are invoicing for orders and schools do not want to pay invoice until all is received. There are 45 day net for payment on orders.

Discussion:  In the event you have a district that wasn’t listed in the original implementation please contact a member of the Coop staff and we will work with ESM to provide availability. COOP built every district they were given so if a school was not on original list given to them, they are not included.

Discussion:  ESM has a new reporting tool that was just placed in our training environment. It is very difficult to use. We have requested some template reports that would make a more simplistic approach to requesting reports. Need to send a letter advising of issues, give them appropriate time to fix, then we can decide if there is a breach of contract. Any verbal conversations need to be followed up with email to have proper documentation.

Discussion:  Currently the delivery piece needs to be evaluated to insure a more expeditious delivery process. We are looking to utilize information from all stakeholders to help with this process. It was noted that many deliveries were made early. There is concern about receiving product too early, some may note want larger deliveries in April or May. It was noted that communication between schools and venders was not great. There were issues with when and how deliveries were made.

Discussion:  Future efforts are being focused around adopting a systematic approach that will create transparency and operational guidelines. In addition we are seeking legal opinion for the allowance of large-scale contracts (ie. Tracks, courts, and roofs). Also, we would like to explore the idea of having a traveling supplier show focused around face-to-face interaction with school administration. This would require input from ESU Administrators on how to best realize this process.

Discussion:  The Annual Buy started off extremely well. However, our largest supplier Brown & Saenger was not able to meet the shipment dates as hoped. They are to have all items out by the end of the month. This being the first year we realize that there need to be revisions and changes in process. Thus, we are looking to utilize a statewide advisory group comprised of the schools to assist us in process change to insure the desired result.

Discussion:  The Food Program is going well. Membership is about even from last year. We are currently working with Sysco to provide schools with informational tools to assist them in food service management. Additionally we are looking towards spring dates to host meetings where we will blend professional development with mini food shows. Sysco is in the works for ESM catalogs. Their development has been slowed by Sysco’s current operation of two different procurement platforms.

Discussion:  Amsan is currently in development for the ESM application. With more visibility this contract should have great growth potential. We are currently working with Amsan in hopes to develop some professional development opportunities.

Discussion:  The year round catalogs are slow to develop as discussed in the ESM Update section. We recently had a meeting with ESM in hopes to push quicker development and deployment of these catalogs.

Discussion:  We are currently working on contracts with the following: BSN Sports, Dick Blick, Demco, The Library Store, and Really Good Stuff. We are hopeful that these offerings would fill gaps in between our current offerings. However, we need to develop a process in which we elect to enter into agreements with interested parties.

Discussion:  We were able to get an extension signed with World Book for another year. However, World Book would like to receive an aggregate purchase order. We will work to accomplish this for the 2014-15 school year. However, given that this is the only contract that Coop doesn’t charge an administrative fee on, this contract might be best suited to be held by IMAT.

Discussion:  Changes in ERATE could result in purchases, which may be of interest to the Coop program.