Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            Shawnee State University recently hosted a Purchasing Partner Roundtable with area schools and government agencies to discuss ways to potentially save money by combining purchasing power.
            “Individually, we all have purchasing agreements with vendors and unique supplies that we buy,” Dr. Rita Rice Morris, said. “We wanted to come together, though, to discuss items that we may all be purchasing. If we buy these items together, we may see some economies of scale. We also wanted to talk to our local partners about purchasing agreements we already have in place that may benefit them.”
            Susan Warsaw, SSU assistant to the president in charge of strategic collaborations, is leading SSU’s partnership efforts.
            “We are part of several collaborative agreements that allow us to save money on the purchase of supplies and equipment,” Warsaw explained. “Whenever we enter an agreement, we always try to include language that would allow us to extend our negotiated prices to our local partners. Our meeting was the first of hopefully many to find ways to save money for all of us while meeting our individual needs.”
            In addition to representatives from Shawnee State, representatives from Portsmouth City Schools, Scioto County Career and Technical Center, Scioto County Commissioners, South Central Ohio Educational Service Center, the City of Portsmouth, and the Village of New Boston were present.


Shawnee State University and local agencies came together to discuss potential ways to save money through purchasing partnerships. Present were, front, seated, Tom Reiser, County Commissioner and Don Armstrong, Portsmouth City Schools Superintendent. In back, left to right are Rita Rice Morris, SSU President; Stan Jennings, Scioto County Career and Technical Center Superintendent; Brett Justice, South Central Ohio Educational Service Center; James Kalb, Portsmouth Mayor; and Jim Warren, New Boston Mayor.