Winter Maintenance Products and Water Treatment Salt for Indiana School Districts

The Educational Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (ECPA), a collaborative of eight Indiana education service centers, is requesting proposals to establish a statewide, multi-district cooperative purchasing contract for sidewalk de-icing salt and water softener salt serving K-12 schools across Indiana, with proposals due September 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Vendors may bid on one or both product categories and may propose regional or statewide delivery. All de-icing salt must meet AASHTO M 143 for sodium chloride; all water softener salt must meet ANSI/AWWA B200. Pricing is structured as FOB Destination to the receiving facility, excluding state sales tax and federal excise tax, with the vendor responsible for all transportation, freight, delivery, insurance, and risk of loss. Vendors must maintain quarterly reporting of quantities sold and sales dollars and pay ECPA a 1 percent administrative fee on all sales, which cannot be charged to or recovered from participating school districts. No commitment regarding actual quantities is guaranteed.

The initial contract term is two years, with ECPA holding the right to renew for three additional one-year terms subject to mutual vendor agreement and price adjustments tied to the Producer Price Index or a mutually agreed industry index with 60-day advance notice notice.

ECPA will evaluate proposals on Cost & Pricing Structure (40 points), Delivery Capabilities, Lead Times & Logistics (25 points), Product Quality and Specifications (20 points), and Vendor Reliability, Supply Chain, and References (15 points). ECPA reserves the right to award to one or multiple suppliers, by geographic region, or by category. The evaluation period runs September 24 through October 2, 2026, with Board approval scheduled for October 14, 2026. Written questions are due September 4, 2026; responses will be issued by September 9, 2026. Pricing must be submitted on a provided Excel workbook with per-unit costs for Indiana's three geographic regions (Northern, Central, and Southern). All vendors must comply with Indiana state law, federal regulations including EDGAR and 2 CFR Part 200, non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity requirements, E-Verify verification, debarment certifications, and minimum insurance coverage (workers' compensation, professional liability of $1 million, and commercial general liability of $1 million).