Headquartered in Amarillo, Region 16 Education Service Center serves 61 school districts in the Texas Panhandle. Helping them spend less on supplies is a crucial part of their mission.
“We pride ourselves on finding ways to save our schools money,” says Director of Purchasing and Operations Andrew Pickens. “One way we were able to do that recently was by buying 14 truckloads of Domtar paper from Quill.”
Placing an order of 11,760 cases of paper to supply dozens of school districts for the year, all while saving money, is no easy task. In planning the order, Andrew found an offer from Office Depot for $49.99 per case of 94 bright paper*, the paper stock he prefers.
That’s when Andrew turned to his Quill account manager, Chris Denton.
“Chris is such a stand-up guy,” says Andrew, who’s worked with Chris for a decade. “He doesn’t pull any punches and helps you at every turn.”
Chris received Andrew’s request and went to work in partnership with TexBuy, the Texas branch of the Association of Educational Purchase Agencies (AEPA). Since Region 16 has an existing relationship with TexBuy and Quill is an approved AEPA vendor, he was able to successfully leverage their purchase power to negotiate a low price-per-carton of $38.99 compared to the $49.99 per-carton price Andrew had found elsewhere.
If Region 16 purchased each carton for $48.99, they would have paid $576,122.40. With the discounted $38.99 Quill price, they paid $458,522.40.
“It’s fairly substantial what we’re saving our districts,“ remarks Andrew. “That (other) deal would have cost us $576,122.40. We saved $117,600.”
Those substantial savings help Region 16 schools stay within budget and ensure they can allocate funds to other critical areas, such as teacher salaries and student programs.
“In today’s economic climate, saving money is more important than ever for schools,” continues Andrew. “Region 16 Education Service Center is leading the way in this area.”
Chris sees the value of cooperatives, especially for schools. They help districts in every part of the country consolidate their purchasing power to secure better pricing.
“That’s the beauty of being part of the co-op,” he adds. “97% of my schools are part of one.”
For those that aren’t, Quill has a dedicated team to help schools join co-ops in their area to obtain better pricing on supplies.
While low prices and considerable savings are significant benefits of working with Quill, Andrew sees other benefits, like help sourcing the exact paper he needs and coordinating delivery.
“I prefer the 94 bright which is a little harder to get,” notes Andrew.
Because it’s challenging to procure, Chris worked directly with Domtar to acquire the volume of 94 bright paper Region 16 required. Then, the Quill facilities team worked with Domtar to coordinate delivery to participating school districts.
When reflecting on his relationship with Quill, Andrew emphasizes that price is only part of the story.
“I don’t sell our partnership with Quill down the river for just a buck,” he concludes. “I’ve never, ever had anybody at Quill say, ‘Well, we don’t carry that.’ They say, ‘We don’t carry that, but let me find it for you.’ That’s the extra step.”
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Talk to a Quill education specialist about new ways to save your school money. For a free savings consultation, email Brenda Young at Brenda.Young@quill.com.
*Based on an OfficeDepot email on 01/17/2023.