Association of Educational Service Agencies

What Association of Educational Service Agencies does

Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) is a multi-state nonprofit cooperative purchasing organization founded in 2000 by purchasing professionals from 10 member states and now comprising 31 state educational service agencies organized through Memoranda of Understanding. The cooperative aggregates buying power across member states representing approximately 25 million students to solicit competitive national bids from vendors, with each member state's educational service agency locally awarding and managing the resulting contracts to ensure compliance with state-specific procurement laws. K-12 schools are the primary customer base, but many member agencies extend contract access to higher education institutions, municipalities, counties, and nonprofit organizations.

The cooperative runs a web-based eProcurement platform provided by Euna Procurement (formerly Bonfire), which handles bid solicitation, automated vendor notifications, electronic bid submission, and addenda management, supplemented by an additional bid notification channel on Public Purchase. AEPA's procurement catalog spans roughly two dozen categories, including technology (CDW-G), cybersecurity (ActZero, Bluebird), athletic equipment and surfaces (AstroTurf, Hellas Construction), student transportation (First Student with a fleet exceeding 44,000 buses), furniture (AmTab Manufacturing), digital resources (Barnes & Noble's &CLASSWORK portal covering nearly 2 million K-12 titles), facilities management, security solutions (Centegix wearable badges protecting over 15 million people across 15,000+ locations), vehicles, and emerging categories such as EV charging (Blink Charging) and PreK-12 AI Solutions launched in the 2026 bid cycle.

AEPA generates revenue through transaction fees paid by awarded vendors as a cost of doing business, with member states additionally retaining a percentage off each sale to fund their own local marketing and administration. End customers (schools, agencies, municipalities) do not pay membership fees and work directly with vendors for pricing and ordering; vendors register for free to receive bid notifications matched by NIGP commodity code. Demand generation relies on a multi-channel marketing stack — monthly webinars, blog content, email newsletter via Mailchimp, and an active social presence on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn — anchored by an annual Spring Meeting (April 27-29, 2026 in Omaha) that convenes member agencies, board members, and vendor partners and produces the cooperative's annual bid cycle (Bid 2026, 2027, etc.) with contracts typically awarded for a one-year base term plus up to three annual renewals.

Name

Association of Educational Service Agencies

Legal name

The Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies

Website

https://aepacoop.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) is a multi-state nonprofit cooperative that aggregates purchasing volume across 31 state educational service agencies to award nationally-bid, locally-awarded vendor contracts serving K-12 schools, higher education, municipalities, counties, and nonprofits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cooperative Purchasing Services

akta.pro primary industry

Procurement, Vendor & Contract Administration (EDADAKAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Catalog & eProcurement Enablement (Punchout, Item Master) (BPAAAJAI), Enterprise Application License Advisory, Vendor Management & Optimization (BPAEAGAO)

Keywords

• Cooperative purchasing
• Educational procurement
• K-12 purchasing contracts
• Government cooperative buying
• Multi-state purchasing cooperative

Headquarters

HQ city

Katy

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Vendor Transaction Fees: Co-ops support their bidding services and day-to-day administration based on a business model that includes a transaction fee paid by awarded vendors as a cost of doing business. Vendors must demonstrate clear marketing plans and resulting sales, with annual sales reports collected from members and vendors for accuracy verification.
2. Administrative Fees: Member states earn a percentage off of each sale made through AEPA to help support their efforts. The marketing committee has developed marketing pieces for members to use and incorporate their own agency information into.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AEPA is a multi-state cooperative purchasing organization that aggregates demand from 31 state Educational Service Agencies to negotiate nationally bid, locally awarded purchasing contracts across more than 30 categories (technology, custodial, MRO, athletic, transportation, furniture, digital resources, facilities, security, vehicles, EV charging). Vendors are selected through a competitive bidding process run on the Euna Procurement platform; schools, municipalities, counties, higher education institutions, and non-profits then purchase from awarded vendors under those contracts at volume-based pricing. AEPA sustains operations via transaction fees paid by awarded vendors.

Product overview

AEPA (Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies) is a multi-state non-profit cooperative purchasing organization that operates as a platform connecting schools, educational agencies, and public institutions with nationally bid vendor contracts. The organization does not offer a single unified product but rather serves as a purchasing cooperative providing access to vendor contracts across 33 procurement categories including technology (through CDW-G and ActZero), cybersecurity, athletic equipment and surfaces (AstroTurf, Hellas), student transportation (First Student), furniture, digital resources (Barnes & Noble), facilities management, security solutions (Centegix, Bluebird), and vehicles. AEPA's core platform consists of the Euna Procurement web-based bidding system, vendor registration portal, and monthly webinar program. Member agencies in 31 states facilitate local contract awards while AEPA manages the national competitive bidding process. In 2023, AEPA's purchasing volume exceeded $1 billion serving approximately 25 million students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cooperative Purchasing Contracts Nationally bid, locally awarded multi-state volume purchasing contracts across 30+ procurement categories (technology, athletic, custodial, MRO, furniture, transportation, digital resources, facilities, security, vehicles, EV charging, AI solutions) available free of charge to K-12 schools, higher education institutions, municipalities, counties, and non-profit organizations across 31 member states and via piggyback contracts in non-member states.
• Euna Procurement Platform (formerly Bonfire) Web-based eProcurement and eBidding platform used by AEPA to run national competitive solicitations; provides vendors with automatic solicitations notifications, electronic bid submission, NIGP commodity-code matching, and centralized document management.
• Vendor Registration & Solicitations Portal Free vendor onboarding portal where vendors register on the Euna Procurement Hub to receive automatic notifications of open AEPA bid opportunities matching their NIGP commodity codes and to electronically submit responses.
• Monthly Educational Webinars Free monthly webinars for AEPA members and vendors covering topics such as cooperative purchasing basics, emergency preparedness, building better community facilities through cooperative purchasing, Children's Internet Protection Act compliance, budget management, and athletic facility funding.
• Annual Spring Meeting & Conference Annual multi-day member/vendor conference featuring general sessions, roundtables, keynote speakers, networking, and the MVP Awards dinner; open to AEPA member agencies, vendors, and guests.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1 billion in purchasing volume in 2023
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAESA proudly supports over 500 regional educational service agencies (ESAs) in 45 states. ESAs and their staff support school districts in their regions with services such as staffing, professional development, and various other resources. AEPA has formed an alliance with AESA to further promote cooperative purchasing opportunities in states.
• Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASBO helps school business officials become the leaders their districts need by connecting them with a global network of school business leaders and providing industry resources. They are a professional association dedicated to equipping members with tools, resources, and services that promote effective use of educational resources and best practices in school business management.
• Euna Procurement (formerly Bonfire)coreTechnology or IntegrationEuna Procurement provides AEPA with a comprehensive and easy-to-use web-based eBidding system. The platform provides automatic notification of open solicitations, automatic notification of answered questions and issued addenda, and allows vendors to electronically submit bid solicitation responses. All services provided at no charge.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sourcewell: Minnesota-based cooperative that awards competitively solicited contracts accessible to education, government, and non-profit members across the U.S. Directly comparable cooperative purchasing model with national contract awards similar to AEPA's approach.
• The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS): National cooperative purchasing system serving schools, government agencies, and non-profits with competitively procured contracts. Operates a near-identical member-driven cooperative model with multi-state contract awards, directly competing with AEPA for vendor and member participation.
• National Cooperative Purchasing Partners (NCPP): Cooperative purchasing organization offering publicly solicited contracts to government, education, and non-profit members. Directly comparable member-cooperative model competing for the same vendor contracts and member agencies as AEPA.
• E&I Cooperative Services: Member-owned cooperative exclusively serving K-12 and higher education institutions through competitively bid contracts. Operates the same cooperative purchasing model as AEPA but with a primarily higher-ed anchor; directly comparable on procurement aggregation mechanics.
• BuyBoard: Texas-based cooperative purchasing organization serving K-12 schools, municipalities, and public agencies through competitively bid contracts. Closest direct competitor to AEPA, with overlapping vendor roster, similar cooperative structure, and comparable public-sector focus.
• Equalis Group: Public-sector cooperative purchasing organization that delivers contract solutions to schools, municipalities, counties, and non-profits. Comparable member-based cooperative model with shared national contracting and local utilization, directly competing for vendor and member participation.

Broad incumbents

• OMNIA Partners: Largest U.S. cooperative purchasing organization formed by merging National IPA and U.S. Communities. Operates a broader public-sector cooperative model overlapping with AEPA, but at significantly larger scale and with deeper vendor catalog across more spend categories.

Others

• Public Purchase: Web-based eBidding platform used by government and education agencies (including AEPA as an integration partner) to post solicitations and collect vendor responses. Adjacent technology provider rather than a direct competitor, but shapes AEPA's procurement workflow.

Regional players

• Mohawk Educational Cooperative / Mohasco: Regional education service cooperative supporting school districts with cooperative purchasing, professional development, and shared services. Comparable on member-driven K-12 procurement aggregation, though narrower geographic reach than AEPA's 31-state footprint.

Emerging players

• School Specialty: Major K-12 supplies distributor that participates as a vendor in cooperative contracts but also sells direct to districts. Comparable on K-12 procurement category focus, but represents a vendor-side relationship to AEPA rather than a competing cooperative platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AEPAcoop
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLIQb_1_SRAyeFv47l9nbXztnjzH-vLgoR
• Facebookfacebook.com/AEPAcoop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aepacoop
• Instagraminstagram.com/aepacoop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Association of Educational Service Agencies