IMESD participates in a national non-profit organization, the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA), a cooperative purchasing group. The mission of IMESD’s involvement with AEPA is to cooperatively serve Oregon public agencies through a continuous effort to explore and solve present and future purchasing needs. IMESD is the member agency representing Oregon in AEPA through an IMESD board-approved Memorandum of Understanding between all participating states that are political subdivisions related to K-12 education. All AEPA bids have been advertised by IMESD in Oregon.

IMESD is authorized to offer these contracts to other government entities including school districts, state universities, community colleges, special districts, as well as local and state government. Provisions provided in these bid solicitations ensure compliance with Oregon specific law. IMESD and its legal counsel have carefully examined all aspects of the program and determined that the requirements for joint cooperative procurement are in fact satisfied.

It is also important for you to know that there is no formal membership process, fee or annual dues to utilize AEPA pricing. IMESD’s contract management efforts are funded by a nominal administrative fee paid by the vendor based on sales volume.