CHILD NUTRITION COOPERATIVE
This agreement is to define the cooperative purchasing group referred to as the Child Nutrition Cooperative. Montana Cooperative Services (MCS) shall be the sponsoring organization.
The name of this purchasing group shall be the Child Nutrition Cooperative, hereinafter referred to as the "CNC.” The member districts, private schools, institutions, or childcare centers hereby agree to cooperatively purchase upon the following terms and conditions:
1. The
members of the CNC are duly constituted school districts, private schools,
institutions, or child care centers, within the state of
2. The members of the CNC have joined together for the purpose of letting bids for the purchase of selected food, supplies, chemicals, paper, and equipment.
3. The CNC member shall be represented by an Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will consist of one representative from each member school district, private school, institution, or child care center.
4. Duties of the Advisory Board will be to:
5. All bids and awards materials and services supplied under this contract shall comply with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations. The contractor shall maintain all applicable licenses and permits. The members of the CNC agree to establish such contract to the extent permitted by law and to the extent agreed by the parties.
6. No member of the CNC will accept responsibility for the performance of any purchasing contract by the vendor or the payment of the purchases of any other member.
7. Each member
agrees to “Buy American” as outlined in the Commodity Distribution Reform Act
and WIC Amendments of 1987 and Section 250.23 of the Federal Food Distribution
Program regulations.
8. The award
shall be a prime vendor agreement. The Advisory Board shall receive, review,
and develop a recommendation for the bid award.
9. The final
approval of the bid award will be the sole responsibility of the governing body
of the sponsoring organization – MCS.
10. Members
agree to purchase all products they estimated from the awarded vendor. Members
are responsible to notify the vendor if their award purchases differ from the
estimates by plus or minus 15%.
11. This agreement shall be in full force and effect from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Any member may cancel this agreement at any time upon written notice to the Executive Director of Montana Cooperative Services. The effective date of termination of the terms and conditions of this agreement shall be thirty (30) days from the date of the receipt of notice of cancellation. The individual member withdrawing from the CNC will not receive a refund of their membership fee.
12. MCS members
will not pay a fee.
13. Members
agree to attend an annual training and information session each year.
14. Members
agree to comply with all reasonable vendor time lines and minimum and maximum
order quantities. The minimum order for
each drop will be $500.00.
15. Montana Cooperative Services agrees to serve as the fiscal agent for the CNC Purchasing Program and to administer Cooperative Purchasing according to the terms herein stated.
16. The following duties shall be the responsibility of MCS to each entity entering into this cooperative purchasing agreement:
a. amalgamate all statistical data
relevant to cooperative purchasing in order to promulgate a valid basis upon
which to solicit bids.
b. coordinate those activities
commensurate with updating and perpetuating proper specifications inherent
within the bidding process.
c. prepare and print the official bid
document and send said bid document to suppliers of merchandise.
d. prepare and cause to be published the
official legal notice of the Bid Opening.
e. conduct the public Bid Opening and
resulting Bid Review in accordance with
f. compile and prepare bid awards,
notices, and provide same to each member.
g. assist any respective member with any
problems related to the processing and delivery of orders from the supplier.
h. participate in an annual audit of
cooperative purchasing accounts and records.
i. Periodically
conduct audits of the prime vendors pricing to determine adherence to the
contract.
j. Obtain
certifications of vendor compliance with provisions of the following Acts: Fair
Labor Standards; Occupational Safety and Health; Energy Policy and Conservation
Act; Equal Employment Opportunity; Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Executive
Order’s 11375, 117389, and 12549; and Environmental Protection Agency
Regulations, and any others which may be required.
17. Any
penalties assessed against any participating companies for late deliveries or
for any default by any company shall be credited to the accounts of the
individual members and said penalties, if any, shall be the responsibility of
Montana Cooperative Services to properly collect.
18. Each member agrees to make a good faith estimate of the quantity of products that they expect to purchase for the next year and for each year in which a bid is solicited. During the first year of participation in this bid, when estimating this number please take into consideration such things as declining enrollment, prior commitments, or large inventory that will be reduced. These estimates shall be consolidated and vendors will be requested to quote prices based on this total volume. Estimates are due to MCS before any purchases are made.
19. Members agree to provide a total of the dollars annually expended and to purchase not less than 65% of the total dollars they annually expend on food and food service related supplies through the CNC selected prime vendor. Members are allowed to purchase up to 35% of their total dollars expended from other vendors at their sole discretion.
20. Failure to uphold purchasing commitments or to follow CNC agreements may result in the vendor(s) refusing to sell product to members at the agreed upon price.
21. The
estimated 65% of the dollars expended for food for the following year is:
$___________________________
(This is 65% of last years food expenditures --- does not include
wages. See # 19.)
Dated this _______________ day of ________________________, 2009.
In Witness Whereof, the said parties
have hereunto subscribed their names on the date above written.
________________________________________
________________________________________
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Return the signed original agreement to:
Frank Loehding, MCS
Phone: 406-488-6247
Fax: 406-488-6246