Convenient, Competitive & Cooperative
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING CONNECTION & EQUALIS GROUP PARTNER TO CREATE EFFICIENCIES & LOWER YOUR COSTS
Cooperative Purchasing Connection (CPC) and Equalis Group (Equalis) are excited to announce a newly formed partnership that enables CPC’s growing public sector and nonprofit membership in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to access a select catalog of Equalis competitively solicited contracts.
What are the Benefits of this Partnership for CPC’s members?
This partnership provides CPC members with numerous additional benefits, including:
- More choices for you: access to even more competitively solicited, already-procured contracts
- Harness the power of cooperative purchasing: greater purchasing power in partnership with a
national cooperative - Ongoing support from CPC staff
- Ongoing support from the Equalis Group Member Engagement Team
- Compliance with applicable public sector procurement guidelines and a legal exemption from the
tradition bid/RFP process
Stay tuned for additional developments as we implement this partnership and bring key Equalis supplier
partners to you.
Who is Cooperative Purchasing Connection?
Eight Minnesota service cooperatives created CPC to provide an easy, efficient, and wide-ranging solution for its education, government, and non-profit members navigating the procurement process. A member focused organization, CPC serves members in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. CPC representatives communicate regularly with their membership to educate and encourage members to use CPC vendor partners to consistently fill their needs across the organization.

Public Sector Business Opportunities Grow as Equalis Group Acquires Sourcing Alliance
Acquisition will integrate two growing cooperative purchasing organizations to drive expansion in public sector procurement offerings.
Plano, Texas – Equalis Group announces that it has acquired Sourcing Alliance, an Ohio-based cooperative purchasing organization serving public sector entities, private sector businesses, and non-profit organizations.
The acquisition will provide additional public sector business opportunities to suppliers nationwide as Equalis Group expands its portfolio of cooperative purchasing contracts available to municipalities, K-12 school districts, counties, higher education institutions, special districts, and state and federal agencies across the country.
Both Equalis Group and Sourcing Alliance bring 15+ years of industry experience to the new partnership and are driven by growing the value cooperative purchasing provides to both suppliers and customers.
“It has always been our belief that when you work together you achieve more,” began Stephen Hull, CEO of Equalis Group. “Adding Sourcing Alliance into the fold has allowed us to broaden our capabilities to better serve the public sector while providing an expanded portfolio to our collective customers. We’re convinced that our combined organization can make a meaningful difference to the customers we serve through the industry’s best supply partners.”
About Sourcing Alliance
Founded in 2004, Sourcing Alliance is an Ohio-based cooperative purchasing organization that develops and administers a select portfolio of cooperative purchasing programs covering a wide range of essential products and services. Each Sourcing Alliance program provides public sector contracting compliance and gives suppliers the ability to configure the solution that best meets each customer’s individual needs while delivering the lowest Total Cost of Ownership to Sourcing Alliance members.
Region 10, Equalis Group Form New Purchasing Cooperative
Region 10 ESC has entered into an agreement with Equalis Group to serve as the Primary Lead Agency in a new purchasing cooperative designed to deliver best-available pricing to the Center’s K-12 partners.
“We’re excited to be moving forward with a relationship we know will be of great value to our districts,” says Jim Newhouse, Assistant Director at Region 10. “Saving them time and money while providing the effective solutions that they want is at the heart of our mission and motto.”

Equalis is an innovative cooperative purchasing organization that believes in the power of partnership. Its leadership team has decades of experience within the public and private procurement environments with specific experience in cooperative purchasing, supply chain improvement, and relationships that extend throughout the procurement channel.
“At Equalis Group, we strive to deliver cost savings and unmatched efficiencies to the purchasing process,” says Stephen Hull, CEO. “Beyond that, we know how important compliance is for our members so we offer contracts that are competitively bid to fully satisfy public sector procurement standards. By working closely with Region 10, we know we’ll be able to extend our reach to new clients who will benefit from our supplier relationships and our expertise.”
Equalis Groups’ utilization of the lead agency model for competitively bid contracts provides its clients and partners the savings they expect and the efficiencies and peace of mind they deserve within the procurement process.
About Region 10 ESC
Region 10 is one of 20 regional service centers established by the Texas State Legislature in 1967 for the purpose of providing school services. Based in Richardson, the Center and its consultants impact over 865,000 students and 106,000 school staff, of which 56,000 are teachers in over 130 ISDs, charters and private schools across ten north Texas counties.