Why the City of Denton is hosting its cooperative contracts on Civic Marketplace

The City of Denton, Texas, recently partnered with Civic Marketplace and the Alliance for Innovation (AFI) to make more than 220 of its cooperative contracts available for entities nationwide.

With a population of more than 165,000 and two major public universities, Denton is a dynamic and fast-growing community. It’s also uniquely positioned as a largely self-sustaining city, with its own electric utility, municipal airport, and landfill.

Denton’s Purchasing Manager, Lori Hewell, explains why they’ve taken the step to share their cooperative contracts with the nation.

Q: What prompted the city to decide to host its cooperative contracts on Civic Marketplace? 

Lori: With growing demand on procurement teams to move faster while remaining transparent and compliant, we saw this as the ideal time to make its cooperative contracts more accessible to other entities.

‍

Q: How does cooperative contracting help cities move faster while staying compliant?

Lori: Cooperative contracts are competitively solicited and awarded in compliance with public sector procurement rules, enabling agencies to “piggyback” without issuing their own solicitations, which can reduce the procurement timeline for entities. 

By ensuring transparency and auditability through documented processes, this combination of speed and compliance has made cooperative purchasing a standard tool for procurement teams.

‍

Q: What goals are the city hoping to achieve by making these contracts available for piggybacking?

Lori: We’re aiming to extend the impact of our procurement efforts by helping other entities save time and resources. At the same time, the city is increasing the visibility and utilization of existing contracts, benefitting both entities and suppliers. 

These efforts aim to foster stronger regional and national collaboration among public entities, while promoting greater standardization and adoption of best practices in public purchasing.

‍

Q: What types of entities do you expect will benefit most from access to these contracts?

Lori: Primarily, smaller entities can see the greatest benefit, particularly those with limited procurement capacity. 

At the same time, any sized public entity looking to accelerate purchasing processes while maintaining full compliance can leverage these agreements.

‍

Q: Which contract categories are included?

Lori: Our procurement team manages solicitations across a broad range of contract categories, covering commodities and services that support operations such as fleet management, facilities, parks and recreation, public safety, library services, technology, airport operations, streets and traffic management, water and wastewater utilities, landfill operations, and electric services.

‍

Q: What does this mean for local, small, or specialized businesses?

Lori: This initiative creates additional opportunities for local and small businesses by increasing their visibility to other entities, driving greater contract utilization without additional bidding cycles.

It also provides them with a competitive edge through a vetted, cooperative-ready contract. 

‍

Q: How does this partnership with AFI support the city’s broader goals around efficiency, collaboration, or innovation?

Lori: At Denton, we’re committed to open and collaborative government. Hosting our cooperative contracts on Civic Marketplace reflects that commitment and makes it easier for other cities to access proven purchasing solutions. Sharing what we’ve already worked on will reduce duplication of effort in other cities and accelerate access to innovative suppliers.