ADVISORY/National Association of Counties to Unveil New Program That Will Cut the Cost of Technology.Business Editors ADVISORY ... for Thursday (Aug. 24) WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2000 The National Association of Counties (NACo), in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP NIGP National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, Inc. ), will introduce at a news conference on August 24 a new government purchasing program that will save counties and cities millions of dollars on computer purchases. This partnership, called the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance (GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted ), already offers an office supply program through Office Depot Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is one of the world's leading suppliers of office products and services. The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, that has saved local governments over $35 million in 1999. The launch of GPA's new high-tech government contracts represents the Alliance's next significant phase. The program will allow local governments to buy computers and other high-tech equipment directly from such industry leaders as IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Dell, Gateway, Micron Electronics, CompUSA, Comark, and Software Spectrum. Local governments represent a large and lucrative market, with expenditures of approximately $800 billion each year (according to 1992 Census figures). The U.S. Communities GPA presently has over 10,000 standing accounts in 5,500 public jurisdictions. WHO: Jane Hague, NACo President; Gerald Hyland, Vice Chair of the Fairfax County (Va.) Board of Supervisors; Steve Firestone, Regional Vice President of Office Depot; NACo Executive Committee members; representatives of the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and representatives of the computer industry (including IBM, Gateway, Dell, Micron Electronics, Comark, CompUSA, and Software Spectrum). WHAT: News Conference WHERE: The Edward Murrow Room, National Press Club (13th Floor, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC) WHEN: August 24, 10 a.m. Members of the media also are invited to join the participants of the press conference for lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill, 675 15th Street, NW, 11:30 a.m. Please RSVP (ReSerVation Protocol) A communications protocol that signals a router to reserve bandwidth for real time transmission. RSVP is designed to clear a path for audio and video traffic, eliminating annoying skips and hesitations. to Liz Galewski (202/942-4220 or LGalewsk@naco.org) if you plan to attend the luncheon. The National Association of Counties is the only national organization representing county governments in the country. www.naco.org The U.S. Communities Purchasing and Finance Agency is a non-profit instrumentality Instrumentality Notes issued by a federal agency whose obligations are guaranteed by the full-faith-and-credit of the government, even though the agency's responsibilities are not necessarily those of the US government. of government which organizes the collective purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. of government agencies nationwide. www.uscommunities.org |
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