Montgomery Township Can Shop Tech With PEPPM
The state bidding and purchasing program will be one of three sources of cooperative purchasing
Montgomery Township now has a third alternative when it comes to cooperative purchasing of technology items in the future.
Supervisors Monday unanimously approved participation in the Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program for Microcomputers, also known as PEPPM.
According to finance director Shannon Drosnock, PEPPM is a technology bidding and purchasing program created in accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Procurement Code.
Drosnock said the program is coordinated by the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit. Local governments are eligible to participate in the program.
Drosnock said participation in PEPPM provides the following benefits to Montgomery Township:
- Awards are made only to top-performing technology manufacturers and resellers
- PEPPM staff verifies product prices are within bid price structure. An independent accounting firm ensures that awarded vendors are posting and quoting prices in conformance with their bids
- PEPPM provides support to buyers through expediting orders and replacing discontinued products
- Shipping charges at more than $500 are waived
- Pricing terms that assure PEPPM prices always meet or beat similar statewide contract prices from a PEPPM vendor
- All awards are made using a competitive sealed bid process
"Staff did contact other townships, and both Lower Merion and Upper Merion participated and had positive things to say about the program," Drosnock said.
Supervisor Mike Fox did not totally understand the purpose of PEPPM.
"This is a program where we would buy all our technology products through? It's a COSTARS version for technology?" he said.
"That's correct," said Drosnock. "It doesn't necessarily mean we would have to buy all technology items through it. We would go there to see if they have a better price than COSTARS or a state contract."
COSTARS is the state’s cooperative purchasing program under the Department of General Services’ Bureau of Procurement.
The program provides local procurement units and state-affiliated entities and suppliers a tool to find and do business together through a DGS contract, according to its website.
The Commonwealth contracts provide competitive pricing.
Only registered COSTARS members can purchase from the contract.
Read more about COSTARS and municipal purchases in these related stories:
