Pueblo County commissioners on July 15 heard a presentation on centralizing the county’s Amazon purchasing under a single Amazon Business account and asked staff to begin outreach with departments to implement the change.

The proposal, presented by Amazon Business representative Manny Coia and explained in operational detail by Purchasing Manager Terry Robinson, aims to reduce duplicate retail purchases, shrink tax and shipping charges and increase visibility into departmental procurement.

Amazon’s account review found eight separate Amazon accounts, about 228 users and roughly $310,000 in historical spend. Coia said roughly $38,000 of that was retail (amazon.com) purchases, which carried a roughly $3,000 tax liability, and historic shipping costs of about $4,000. He told the board that consolidating accounts and moving purchases into Amazon Business could produce immediate savings: “We create a 6% cost savings just by consolidating the account,” Coia said, and additional savings can come from Business Prime and curated vendor catalogs.

Why it matters: county staff said the current decentralized purchasing reduced visibility and allowed retail purchases and duplicate Prime memberships that increase costs. Consolidation would let the county apply guided‑buying policies (for example, surfacing local or minority‑owned vendors), use curated catalogs with fixed pricing, and enroll in a rebate program Amazon is offering for relaunching customers.

Details of the proposal and staff comments

Coia outlined a three‑phase approach: structure a single Amazon Business account to mirror departmental workflows; add Business Prime (Amazon offered to waive the first‑year Prime fee for the county); and enroll the county in curated catalogs and rebate tiers designed to lower commodity prices. Coia said Amazon would waive the Business Prime fee for the first year (the presentation referenced an annual Prime subscription fee of about $779) and recommended quarterly data reviews to measure return on investment.

Robinson told the board that many existing state‑level and cooperative contracts already deliver low prices for items such as office supplies, and that Amazon’s program would be “an additional cost savings above and beyond those prices.” He said state contract pricing often can be piggybacked without a separate contract, and that Omnia‑certified catalogs are available to support compliance.

Coia also described an Amazon rebate program and said the county’s historical spend would likely have qualified it for a rebate in the relaunch year. He described the company’s ability to surface local vendors by ZIP code so that when county staff search for items (for example, “mop heads”), preferred local sellers will appear prominently in search results with an “organization preferred” marker.

Board reaction and next steps

County Manager Carrie Genesio told the board she heard “unanimous support” for the proposal and asked Robinson to begin introductory conversations with departments and elected officials and to answer outstanding questions in advance of implementation. Genesio said staff would coordinate onboarding and training, including an in‑person training session to be recorded for future users.

No formal ordinance or contract was approved during the work session. The board directed staff to proceed with planning and department outreach so they could return with implementation details and timelines.

Sources and attribution

Quoted material in this article is taken from statements in the July 15 BOCC work session by Manny Coia (Amazon Business representative), Terry Robinson (Purchasing Manager, Pueblo County) and Carrie Genesio (County Manager). Other commissioners asked questions and expressed support; those remarks were not attributed to a specific named speaker in the transcript and are summarized without direct attribution.

What’s next: purchasing staff will work with departments on migration plans, training and data reports; the county will continue to evaluate Prime and catalog enrollments and report back on projected savings and rebate outcomes.