Texas buying site goes national
- By Brian Robinson
- Sep 10, 2001
A 28-year-old Texas procurement program, boosted by revenues generated through
a new online site, went national at the beginning of this month.
State and local governments outside of Texas can now buy heavy equipment
and maintenance-related products from the Houston-Galveston Area Council
(H-GAC) Cooperative Purchasing Program.
The program, which began in 1973, was a relatively small effort until
the beginning of the 1990s, according to David Malloch, the H-GAC's cooperative
purchasing manager. Sales mushroomed as it expanded into capital-intensive
and high-dollar markets, and governments throughout Texas realized the value
of using the H-GAC's prefabricated contract.
Program revenues were just more than $50 million in 1995. This year,
Malloch said, they are expected to be more than $204 million, with future
increases of $50 million a year through 2004.
"The e-procurement site will be tremendously important to this future
growth," he said, having booked close to $70 million just in the six-month
period prior to the Sept. 1 expansion date. "It's already generated a large
number of inquiries from other governments, particularly foreign governments
such as the [United Kingdom] which are looking to use similar technology
in their own [e-government] operations."
Texas law previously prevented the H-GAC program from selling directly
to governments outside of the state, Malloch said, although the program
had supplied them with bid specifications and award details "as a goodwill
gesture." Now other governments will be able to participate as viable partners,
he said.
The online purchasing site ({http://www.hgacbuy.com} www.hgacbuy.com)
was developed through a partnership that includes H-GAC, Bank of America
Corp. and NIC Commerce, which manages the site. It features an online catalog
of more than 1,400 items from about 85 vendors, including such heavyweights
as Deere & Co., Ingersoll-Rand Co. and Mack Trucks I
About the Author
Brian Robinson is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore.