Little Rock adds national cooperatives to procurement list; officials say aim is faster contracting and vendor access

City procurement staff asked the board to add four cooperative purchasing organizations to the city’s procurement roster so departments can more quickly purchase goods and services from pre-vetted vendors. The proposed additions include TechShare, Lines for Innovation, CoreWeave and CoreTech, which would bring the city’s cooperative total to about 21 nationwide. Procurement staff said cooperatives shorten procurement timelines because participating vendors respond to cooperative bids and are already vetted; departments can then buy from that vendor list without repeating a full RFP. "We're happy to add them to the list if they're cooperatives that we're able to join under our laws," the procurement presenter said. Board members asked about local vendor opportunity and noted the city is completing a disparity study that could shape future local preference policy. Staff said cooperatives include a mix of national and local vendors and that procurement will continue to assist local companies in connecting with cooperatives and competitive processes. The board did not remove cooperative approvals from the consent agenda but asked staff to provide the membership list and local-vendor outreach steps.