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From The Cover
Right-of-way and roadside mowing can be accomplished with Land Pride Rotary Cutters from 10 foot to 20 foot. This 10-foot model features a single-wing offset design that allows the tractor to stay on the more level portion of the shoulder.
Cooperative buying for tight budgets By DEE WARREN | Land Pride Marketing Manager
Photos provided by Land Pride
In today’s world of tight budgets and lean staffing, it is imperative that procurement agencies make the most of their grounds maintenance budgets with reliable equipment at reasonable costs. Procurement managers know that requests for proposals (RFP) are time consuming to issue and review, and simply negotiating your best deal is not how government works. That’s where cooperative buying has a place in a grounds or roadside maintenance department. Generally speaking, purchases in these departments are bigger ticket items that can be a budget buster if you’re not mindful of the process. By using cooperative buying, procurement managers for grounds maintenance departments looking to purchase a rotary cutter, a seeder or a wide area mower can spend less time soliciting bids and more time actually doing the tasks associated with grounds maintenance. Many states and many more cities, counties and municipalities see that value and are utilizing a cooperative purchasing agency to maximize their time and their dollars. 10 THE MUNICIPAL | OCTOBER 2021
How does it work? A cooperative purchasing model allows a manufacturer like Land Pride to respond to an RFP that covers a large group of buyers, and it allows a large group of buyers with similar interests to leverage their buying power to get government discounts on products. By using a cooperative model, government agencies save time and effort because the process is simplified for the seller and buyer to their mutual benefit. A prime example of how cooperative purchasing works involved a state department of transportation that worked with Land Pride on a recent purchase. The fleet manager inquired how Land Pride
