October was a busy (and exciting!) month for CPA Co-op, hosting annual meetings in both Massachusetts and the DMV! Co-op members, purchasers, vendors, and partners gathered in each city to share the latest co-op news, connect with others from the community, and celebrate our members making an impact. 

For many, our annual meetings are one of the only times members and participants are able to talk in person, which is often a reason many enjoy attending.

As we move through another busy and productive year, we're excited to share updates from across the CPA community. From strong spring purchasing results and growing participation in our programs to new leadership, upcoming events, and expansion efforts in Richmond, there's a lot happening across the co-op.

As the Community Purchasing Alliance has grown throughout Northern Virginia and the greater DMV region, we've often wondered whether our cooperative model could create similar opportunities for institutions to collaborate and save on their facility costs elsewhere in Virginia. Located along the I-95 corridor and serving as Virginia's capital city, Richmond is one of the state's largest metropolitan areas. Many of the vendors that already serve our DMV programs have the capacity to work in Richmond, making it a logical next step for expansion.

A purchasing cooperative is a collection of various businesses and organizations that pool their purchasing demand to receive better prices from suppliers and/or service providers. For example, a group of organizations get together and notice that all of their copier bills are increasingly higher than normal. None of them are happy with their current rate, so they decide to negotiate directly with their supplier for better pricing and terms. What they negotiate collectively  provides more benefits than if those organizations procured services on their own.