What We Are
PEPPM is a national purchasing cooperative serving education agencies and other public sector government agencies throughout the United States.
The PEPPM cooperative is a program of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU), an educational service agency in Pennsylvania. The CSIU is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, created by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
The CSIU’s legal authorities include the ability to seek bids for products and services and then award shareable purchasing contracts for the benefit of other agencies, including schools, cities, counties, special districts, and universities inside and outside of Pennsylvania. The CSIU has continuously operated the PEPPM program since 1982.
More information about the authority of the CSIU as an educational service and lead agency
PEPPM, pronounced PEP-um, a now-archaic acronym that originally meant “Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program for Microcomputers." Our first bid was for four lines of microcomputers. Today the program serves schools and public agencies across the United States, and our bid awards extend to all types of technology products, supplies, and solutions.
We are public-sector employees like you
As an educational service agency based in Pennsylvania, we are fellow public-sector colleagues who know procurement law and use it to bring best practices in the service of other public sector organizations.
While PEPPM is based in Pennsylvania, we work closely with Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) in California as another lead agency for our bids. The KCSOS Request for Bids (RFB) satisfies California's bidding laws, and the CSIU's RFB satisfies Pennsylvania's bidding laws. Both contracts can be extended nationally.
PEPPM has been the trusted bidding partner for fellow agencies since 1982.
We have never had a known audit exception. In soliciting feedback, we are committed to continuous improvement to our program and our contracts. That is why, for example, we now include Uniform Guidance in our Terms and Conditions, enabling fellow agencies to better use federal funds.
What We Do
Following best practices and strict procurement laws, PEPPM solicits bids from vendors for products and services useful to public sector buyers. PEPPM evaluates bidders for responsibility and their bids for responsiveness.
Then PEPPM uses software to compare competing bids for the lowest price — even if it means reviewing hundreds of thousands of products to get apple-to-apple comparisons.
Using this process, PEPPM has awarded hundreds of purchasing contracts delivering millions of bid-protected products that schools and public agencies can buy with assurance of a legal bid-protected process.
We have Multiple Contract Types to meet all your needs!
PEPPM has hundreds of contracts to share with cities, counties, schools, and other public-sector agencies
When it comes to piggybackable contracts for technology products and solutions, PEPPM has what you need! Most major technology brands are on PEPPM, and those product lines are only the start of the contracts we offer:
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1) PEPPM technology product line contracts for technology brands
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2) Catalog bids for hardware, software, refurbished computers, and ink and toner
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3) Print management contracts for guaranteed, system-wide savings on printing and document management
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4) Marketplace contract with Amazon Business to satisfy local demand for a single-source of supplies
We Request for Bids, not proposals
PEPPM's contracts are all Request for Bids (RFB) with widespread advertising and RFB distribution to thousands of vendors.
Strict rules and best practices distinguish the PEPPM bid process
All PEPPM's contracts are true RFBs, not a request for proposals. There were no subjective award criteria and no negotiations. The bidding process requires the awarding agency to meet the legal standards for advertising notices, sealed competitive bids, reasonable specifications and standards, a public opening, a public reading, and an award to the single lowest, responsive, responsible bidder.
We help Protect All your Purchases: Large & Small!
When using PEPPM, an agency making small purchases under a bid threshold will still get the protections of PEPPM Terms and Conditions, ensuring benefits such as warranties, specified return rights, and the availability of replacement parts, just to name a few.
If an agency purchases less than the required amount for a bid on a given product in one month and later needs to purchase more, the agency may be in jeopardy of violating bids laws by exceeding the required bid threshold.
Sending even small orders through PEPPM ensures continuous bid protection and the added benefits enumerated in the contract Terms and Conditions.
We check Purchase Orders with our PEPPM Clearinghouse
The PEPPM clearinghouse checks pricing on each Purchase Order (PO) to ensure prices are the most up to date and lowest available. When you are ready to purchase, email your Purchase Order to PEPPM along with all attachments. After PEPPM staff review the order, they will forward it to the appropriate vendor.
How to place a PEPPM order and ensure bid protection for your technology purchase
PEPPM's second set of eyes look for potential errors on a PO so that orders can be filled by awarded vendors and authorized resellers without delay. This procedure also prevents returns to the vendor due to ordering errors.
Then we immediately send the purchase order to the named awarded vendor or authorized reseller. Our promised turn-around time is 24 hours, but our average turn-around time is typically less.
Finally, we maintain a database of all purchase orders that go through our system, so we can assist you in case that you are audited and also to provide reports back to ordering agencies.
We look forward to working with YOU!
Whether you are a public entity interested in learning more about our contracts or a vendor who is interested in winning a contract, please register with us below. Registration is free, and gives you access to price lists and contract documentation.
Register as a Buyer to use PEPPM Contracts
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Register as a Vendor to be notified of future PEPPM Contract Bids
The PEPPM staff is a group of experienced public sector employees of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit in Milton, Pennsylvania. They are leaders in educational purchasing and informaton technology. As purchasing agents, the group solicits bids, evaluates responses, and recommends awards to the agency’s board of directors.
