Established more than 30 years ago, the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Purchasing Cooperatives extend into 24 counties throughout Texas. Over 300 members, including independent school districts, counties, community colleges and education services centers, benefit from the leverage of the Cooperatives' volume purchasing, negotiating skills, and other business services.

A recent example of the Cooperatives' ability to maximize return on education dollars is the addition of Schoolwires, Inc.to the approved vendor list. The company's core product is Centricity™, which brings together website management, community management and web 2.0/social network capabilities in a single solution. Other products include Schoolwires Synergy™, a digital file sharing solution, Schoolwires Assist™, a service request solution, and Schoolwires Share, an online client community and support center.

Centricity and Schoolwires implementation, training and webhosting services are now available to cooperative members at a discounted price. This cooperative agreement also enables members to avoid the competitive bid and RFP process.

"Cooperative members will benefit from our solutions because they will enable them to more effectively communicate and engage with their broader communities. Research shows that a district that operates under the support of their community members achieves greater success. Student success is our number one goal at Schoolwires," said Edward S. Marflak, founder and CEO of Schoolwires.