FAQs for Suppliers

NASPO ValuePoint is the contracting arm of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and is a unified, nationally focused cooperative alliance aggregating the demand of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Territories, working together to pursue cooperative contracting opportunities and conduct competitive solicitations using our Lead State Model® and through the development of Multistate Sourcing Teams® following the procurement laws of the state chosen to lead the procurement.

The sourcing teams develop the request for proposals, evaluate responses, and recommend awards to the NASPO ValuePoint Executive Council. Once awarded, Master Agreements are available to all states, their political subdivisions, and other eligible entities.

NASPO ValuePoint provides the highest standard of excellence in public cooperative contracting. By leveraging the leadership and expertise of all states with the purchasing power of their public entities, NASPO ValuePoint delivers best value, reliable, competitively sourced contracts that offer public entities outstanding pricing and value adds.  Since 1993, NASPO ValuePoint has been NASPO’s cooperative purchasing arm , encouraging, fostering, and guiding the nation’s most significant public contract cooperative.

There are many benefits to NASPO ValuePoint cooperative contracting. Suppliers benefit considerably by avoiding the repetitive bid preparation expenses of bidding time and again on the same solicitations for different public entities throughout the country. Suppliers also factor in greater volumes for multiple jurisdictions when determining their pricing. These savings are then passed along to end users.

All NASPO ValuePoint solicitations are determined based on the needs expressed by member states and other resources. Typically, a state or region of states will suggest an idea to the NASPO ValuePoint Executive Council, which will authorize a survey to be conducted. If there is sufficient interest among the states, a solicitation will be authorized.

NASPO ValuePoint determines which state leads a particular cooperative procurement based on interest and capability.

NASPO ValuePoint does not have a vendor registration process or an approved vendor list.

Suppliers who would like to become a NASPO ValuePoint supplier should respond to and compete for a Master Agreement as a result of the competitive solicitation process.  Solicitations are published through the Lead State’s eProcurement system and advertised on the www.naspovaluepoint.org Solicitation page.

Since NASPO ValuePoint is the purchasing cooperative of the state Chief Procurement Officers of all 50 states, Washington D.C., and the US Territories, all contracts are awarded following competitive solicitations led by our member states in accordance with state procurement statutes. In order to become a contractor for the cooperative, you must respond to a competitively bid solicitation and be awarded a contract. Visit our website at www.naspovaluepoint.org and use the “Solicitations” dropdown menu at the top of the page to select “Current Solicitations,” to view the current listing of advertised solicitations.

If the Master Agreement provides for the contractor to use authorized distributors or resellers, or representatives to service the contract, your company may be able to provide goods and services on behalf of the Master Agreement holder.

You may need to work with the Master Agreement holder to ensure your company is named as an authorized representative in accordance with the requirements of the Master Agreement and Lead State.  Once you are listed as an authorized representative, you are subject to the requirements of the Master Agreement.

The Master Agreement is the contractual agreement executed between the awarded supplier(s) and the Lead State that conducted the competitive solicitation on behalf of NASPO ValuePoint.

States and local entities execute Participating Addendums (PAs) against the Master Agreement.

A Participating Addendum is a bilateral agreement executed by a contractor (the supplier awarded a NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement) and a Participating Entity (such as a state or other eligible public entity).

The Participating Addendum incorporates the terms and conditions of the executed Master Agreement while allowing the Participating Entity to add state-specific requirements such as ordering procedures, compliance procedures, or other terms and conditions unique to the Participating Entity.

Why is the PA Required?

• It authorizes participation under the NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement. States must formally “opt in” to use any NASPO ValuePoint portfolio and Master Agreement. The PA serves as the official mechanism giving the state or entity the right to purchase under the Master Agreements’ pricing and terms.
• It incorporates state-specific legal or procedural requirements. Each state may need unique terms such as ordering processes, state reporting requirements, or other local statutory conditions. The PA is where those additions are negotiated and documented.
• It enables the supplier to sell through NASPO ValuePoint. Without a signed PA, the supplier cannot use the NASPO ValuePoint cooperative contract as a sales vehicle.

Negotiation of the Participating Addendum is between the Participating Entity and the contractor.  The Lead State and NASPO ValuePoint are generally not involved in these negotiations. Once a Participating Addendum is executed, a signed PDF copy must be sent to [email protected].

Yes, NASPO ValuePoint collects an administrative fee from suppliers based on portfolio sales. These fees are the lowest in the industry. Please refer to the Master Agreement and solicitation for information on the specific portfolio administrative fee.

The Emerging Markets Initiative (EMI) aims to facilitate high-level dialogue between public procurement professionals and suppliers by providing a framework for considering innovative ideas. The initiative’s overarching goal is to broaden the perspective of public procurement professionals by actively exploring ideas from private sector suppliers. This platform provides insight to NASPO and its membership of new solutions that could benefit from a new portfolio.

NASPO ValuePoint’s standard administrative fees are consistently the lowest on average of any cooperative procurement organization.