Collaborent.org
History and pilot project

David J. Akers and Eddie Taylor, Jr. initially teamed up in 2004 as consultants to conduct a pilot project testing whether Northeast Ohio governments could collaborate to purchase multiple goods and services.  During the project, the team formed the Collaborent Group as a management company. 

Collaborent ran the pilot project and ultimately created the Northeast Ohio Sourcing Office (NEO|SO).  NEO|SO (now Sourcing Office) is a council of governments that offers pooled purchasing and shared services to its members in order to help them contain operating costs and increase staff capacity. 

To conduct the pilot project, Collaborent partnered with the First Suburbs Development Council (FSDC).  FSDC is a 501 (c) (3) agency in Cuyahoga County with 14 member communities, primarily Cleveland’s inner-ring suburbs.  The Cleveland Foundation funded the pilot project with a $195,000 grant to FSDC.  Additionally, experts from the private sector contributed about $200,000 in services. 

The pilot project began September 1, 2004 and concluded May 31, 2005 with outstanding results:
     •   Thirteen of the fourteen FSDC communities participated.
     •   Collaborent identified at least $2.2 million in near-term savings opportunities for all 14 communities.

THE PILOT PROJECT: OBJECTIVES
The Pilot Project launched with the following key objectives:

     1. Engaging at least five FSDC communities to work together in the procurement of two goods and/or services (e.g. information technology services and road repair improvements).

     2. Identifying and capturing measurable savings and/or improvements in service for each participating community.

     3. Developing a sustainable methodology and process through which multiple goods and services can be procured and combined over time on behalf of participating communities.

PILOT PROJECT: OFFERINGS
Following an extensive interviewing and research phase, Collaborent presented eleven different opportunities to the FSDC communities, including three procurements, six assessments of potential shared service business processes, and two discounted business process assessments. Collaborent developed the legal entity of NEO|SO as a mechanism to achieve cost reduction and enable cost avoidance in the operations of local governments.

PILOT PROJECT: PARTICIPATION
The FSDC communities responded to the opportunities overwhelmingly. Fully 13 of the 14 communities (93%) signed up for at least one opportunity. Seventy-four percent (74%) of the communities signed up for the combined procurement opportunities, with an average of over 10 sign-ups for each of the three alternatives. FSDC members also signed up for 76% of the available slots in the assessments of potential shared service business processes.

PILOT PROJECT: FINDINGS
In total, the pilot project produced readily achievable savings of at least $2,216,500. The pilot project identified substantial savings opportunities, which are summarized in the pilot project Executive Summary. Contact us to receive a summary of the pilot results.

The communities that participated in the pilot project committed to continue the work of the pilot project by joining NEO|SO. Collaborent pledged to launch NEO|SO as an ongoing operation, expanding the geographic platform to 13 counties.  Collaborent then returned to the foundation community to secure additional operating support for NEO|SO.