Ceremonial Signing Celebrates Sourcewell-Army Partnership

The United States Army is partnering with Sourcewell, a local unit of government, in Staples, Minn., for support in making sure its bases and forts in the contiguous U.S., are getting the supplies and services they need to remain mission ready. Army leadership hosted Sourcewell’s entire board of directors and several staff members at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., for a ceremonial signing of the agreement on April 10, 2024.

“It is a great honor to be here,” said Sourcewell CEO/executive director, Dr. Chad Coauette, during last week's ceremony. “Our commitment to serving public agencies through procurement began in the late 1990s. The approach has always been a simple one: dedication to the needs of those we serve through rigorous process and attention to detail. Local governments and schools across the country have recognized and leveraged our procurement service to meet their needs efficiently and effectively. Our processes, our training, and our resourcing have all led us to this point.”

Sourcewell signed the official Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) with the Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) in September 2023. The Sourcewell-Army IGSA is the largest in the Army’s portfolio and the first to include the entire continental U.S. (CONUS).  It is renewable for up to 10 years and will be reviewed annually.

At a high level, the agreement allows Sourcewell, a local unit of government, to support the Army’s procurement efforts. Appointed installations (bases, forts, or posts) can request Sourcewell’s help in getting the goods and services needed in the categories of operations supplies, equipment, facility sustainment and repairs, and minor construction.

The event was hosted by the Assistant Secretary of the United States Army Installations, Energy, and Environment, Honorable Rachel Jacobson, and her staff. Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen and Army Installation Management Command deputy commanding general Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi also attended the signing ceremony as representatives of the Army commands engaged with the new partnership.

“We’re really excited about this partnership,” said Honorable Jacobson. “It’s really the first of its kind for procurement of base operations, services, and supplies and equipment. Everything you can imagine in a city environment, we have them at our installations. We have a lot of buildings and a lot of municipal needs. For you (Sourcewell) to bring your cooperative purchasing power and your long track record of cooperative purchasing power that you have used to serve so many municipalities and local governments to bring that to us to help our installations focus on mission is a tremendous, tremendous help. We really applaud you for this and we’re very excited to work with you.”

For the Army, the goal of the partnership is to decrease project lead time, ease civilian staff workload, and save the Department of Defense money.

“We’re using these Intergovernmental Support Agreements more and more,” explained Honorable Jacobson. “In the Army, we currently have 165 of these in place, ranging from environmental services, waste management, and all sorts of other procurement. This is really going to give our installations another tool in the toolbox, another option to bring efficient and high-quality management to our installations, which is what our soldiers, families, and civilians who work on our installations really deserve.”

Honorable Jacobson described another recent IGSA between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Army, Air Force, and Navy in which TxDoT will assist with road maintenance services for all military installations in the state. That 10-year partnership is expected to save the Army $40 million dollars.

“We do this because it helps us save money and gives us the purchasing power of those who have more expertise and a lot more leverage,” said Honorable Jacobson.

All Army Installations in the continental U.S., are now authorized to use this IGSA.

“It took a few years of working with a small team of Army IMCOM staff at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) to pilot and refine the processes,” said Dr. Coauette. “We’re honored to support the military with our procurement expertise and nationwide network of awarded supplier contracts.”

With the partnership, Sourcewell earns a service administration fee for each transaction it supports. The organization will use those funds to cover staff the staff and resource expenses it takes to support the agreement, and further fund the organization’s strategic reinvestment in programs and services for education and local government in central Minnesota.

To date, three installations have started to use the IGSA and Sourcewell’s support, including WSMR, Yuma Proving Grounds (Arizona), and Fort Moore (Georgia). Sourcewell has helped WSMR get an excavator, zero-turn lawn mowers, telehandler, tractor, various trailers, safety signs, and supported a shade structure construction project.

“For me and my fellow Sourcewell board members, this ceremony is a celebration of service,” said Greg Zylka, chairman of the Sourcewell board of directors and mayor of Little Falls. “It is a celebration of what is possible when an organization like this is fully committed to a mission of service.”