In This Section
Legal Authority
Sourcewell is a local government unit, public corporation and public agency under the laws of the state of Minnesota.
Sourcewell was created by state law as a service cooperative to provide programs and services to education and government. Sourcewell was established with the statutory purpose to assist public agencies in meeting specific needs which are more efficiently delivered cooperatively than by an entity individually.
As a service cooperative, Sourcewell is a local government unit, public corporation and public agency pursuant to the Minnesota Constitution and enabling law Minn. Stat. § 123A.21. All Sourcewell employees are government employees. Sourcewell is governed by an eight-member board made up of local elected officials including county commissioners, city council members, mayors, and school board members.
Sourcewell is authorized to establish competitively awarded cooperative purchasing contracts on behalf of itself and its participating agencies. Sourcewell follows the competitive contracting law process to solicit, evaluate, and award cooperative purchasing contracts for goods and services. Sourcewell cooperative purchasing contracts are made available through the joint exercise of powers law Minn. Stat. § 471.59 to participating agencies.
Sourcewell clients are able to utilize cooperative purchasing contracts through similar joint powers, intergovernmental cooperation, or cooperative purchasing laws in their respective jurisdiction. Participating agencies include all eligible government and education agencies.
Additional Resources:
Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Program
Organizational Bylaws
Sourcewell Procurement Policy
Legal Statutes
Select a state to view additional information on regulation of cooperative purchasing in your area.
Eligible Agencies
Participation in Sourcewell is available at no-cost, no obligation, and no liability to public agencies, school districts, state colleges and universities, and local governments.
Participating agencies realize timely access to competitively awarded nationally leveraged cooperative purchasing contracts through Joint Powers Agreements.
Common Questions
Yes! Sourcewell is a service cooperative created by the Minnesota legislature as a local unit of government. Minn. Const. art. XII, sec. 3. As a public corporation and agency, Sourcewell is governed by local elected municipal officials and school board members. Minn. Stat. § 123A.21 Subd. 4 (2017).
Under its enabling statute, Sourcewell is explicitly authorized to provide cooperative purchasing services. Id. at Subd. 7(23). Sourcewell follows the competitive contracting law process to solicit, evaluate, and award cooperative purchasing contracts for goods and services. Sourcewell cooperative purchasing contracts are made available through the joint exercise of powers law to participating agencies. Minn. Stat. § 471.59 (2017).
Participation in Sourcewell is available for all eligible government and education entities across North America. § 123A.21 at Subd. 3.
We streamline the procurement process for agencies by developing RFPs and submitting them for competitive solicitations. For details on our rigorous process, please visit our page on how cooperative purchasing works.
Sourcewell clients’ ability to use cooperative purchasing contracts depends upon joint powers, intergovernmental cooperation, or cooperative purchasing laws in their respective jurisdiction.
Participating agencies have the ability to propose new or additional terms and conditions which do not interfere with the general purpose or intent established in the current contract. By reviewing your procurement documentation and local requirements, you may find there are specific requirements by your agency that are not included in the Sourcewell terms and conditions.
Suppliers realize substantial efficiencies through their ability to respond to a single Sourcewell solicitation and Request for Proposal (RFP) that will potentially earn thousands of sales opportunities that might otherwise require unique proposal responses. From these efficiencies, suppliers pay a small administrative fee to Sourcewell calculated as a percentage of sales processed through the competitively solicited procurement contracts awarded and held by the supplier.
Administrative fees are not an additional cost to participating agencies.
This administrative fee covers the costs of contract marketing and facilitation, and it offsets operating expenses incurred by Sourcewell. Funds collected from these fees may also be used for other purposes as allowed by Minnesota statute.
Sourcewell does not receive state or federal aid and does not collect fees for participation. With respect to cooperative contract purchasing, Sourcewell is a self-funded governmental unit. The organization also shares these fees with certain agencies, partner cooperatives, or associations as they demonstrate the desire and ability to help facilitate and market Sourcewell awarded contracts.