Comark Deal Lends Hand to Local Governments

By Jennifer Freer, Staff Writer


MAY 5 ? Seven technology companies have won U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance contracts worth $400 million to $500 million to provide hardware, software and other information technology services to local governments.


Winners of the contracts are: Comark Inc., CompUSA Inc., Dell Computer Corp., Gateway Inc., IBM Corp., Micron Electronics Inc. and Software Spectrum Inc. The contracts are for three years, with three one-year options.


The U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance of Walnut Creek, Calif., is a non-profit organization that provides volume discounts to local governments on select products. The contracts allows government organizations to pool their purchasing powers with other agencies nationwide to obtain competitive prices with no additional procurement participation fee.


"In order to purchase name-brand hardware, software and services, local government agencies need an established contract that can help reduce their costs," said Alan Bechara, vice president of Comark Government & Education Sales, which is the public-sector division of Comark Inc. of Bloomingdale, Ill.


Comark Government & Education Sales offers state, local and federal governments and K-12 and other educational institutions solutions ranging from initial consulting, procurement and product delivery to maintenance and support.