Purchasing Cooperative: Pavilion
Purchasing cooperatives can be used to piggyback on the competitive bidding process that other government entities have completed, and can be used in lieu of bidding (both formal RFB/RFP and informal solicitation).
One particularly user-friendly purchasing cooperative platform is Pavilion.
Other government entities have competitively bid goods/services and shared their RPB/RFP/contracts on this platform. The City of Madison can piggyback on those RFB/RFP/contracts to get the same pricing. It’s similar to piggybacking on State of WI contracts posted on VendorNet, but on a nationwide scale. Pavilion has a pretty neat interface that allows easy searching. Please check out the user guide linked above.
Using Pavilion to make a purchase would look something like this:
- Log in/register at https://www.withpavilion.com/
- Search Pavilion for the good/service you are purchasing
- Find a contract that fits your needs. RFB/RFP and contract docs are attached to each search result.
- Reach out to the contract admin through Pavilion (there is a button to contact them).
- Inquire about their ability to provide the goods/services you need, your timelines, any specifics about your project, etc.
- For services, ask if they would be able to execute a contract with the City of Madison and provide the link to our contract: https://www.cityofmadison.com/attorney/documents/posContract.doc DOC
- Make the purchase
- For goods, get a quote or proposal from the vendor based on the cooperative pricing and we can issue a PO.
- For services, put together a Purchase of Services contract and have the vendor sign and then we can issue a PO with the POS contract.
Pavilion only replaces the City’s bidding process as it fulfills the competitive bidding requirement. It does not bypass any of the other purchasing rules (i.e. contracts/terms and conditions, common council approval of large contracts, etc.). Using Pavilion is not necessary, and using the City’s standard solicitation processes (formal and informal bids) is always an option. This cooperative purchasing platform is just another tool in the purchasing repertoire.
For questions about using Pavilion, please contact our representative Ryan (ryan@withpavilion.com; phone 415-704-7288). For questions related to City purchasing policies, you can contact Chase O’Brien (cobrien@cityofmadison.com).