The Need for a Cooperative Resource Center

This week’s topic is about creating a Cooperative Resource Center for state and local governments.  During the earlier part of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that we needed a better way for governments to acquire critical resources such as PPE, medical equipment and tests.  Historically, FEMA has been a great resource to help states in times of crisis.  I always thought highly of their capabilities.  However, due to our current federal government leadership and the size of this crisis, FEMA wasn’t able to provide adequate support during this pandemic.  

This proposed Cooperative Resource Center would address the following problems that occurred during the initial stages of the pandemic:

1.  Thousands of organizations were simultaneously trying to gather information on critical supplies such as who had products to sell, at what price, when available, etc. This created a massive flow of information that often was confusing or inaccurate.
2. During this confusion, there was no coordination to ensure the places that had the greatest need were being properly prioritized.  Some places would receive equipment that would sit unused while other places had people getting sick or dying due to lack of equipment.
3. There were many sellers who misrepresented what they had, which led to more confusion, expensive sales, or sales of substandard products.  These dangerous sellers often were able to make their sales over and over again since there was no coordinated resource to identify bad actors.  
4. Buyers were competing amongst themselves on price, which caused products and services to become much more expensive than necessary.
5. The logistics of having products delivered to where they were most needed and in a timely fashion was very inefficient due to poor communication.  Even after finding appropriate goods, there was a very chaotic environment to coordinate shipping and delivery.  

What is a Cooperative Resource Center?

1. It would be a new organization that would aggregate the needs of its members for identified products and services using a cloud-based platform that is already used by hundreds of the largest corporations.  
2. This organization would solicit the supply chain for products and services, requesting information such as quantities available, inventory locations, pricing, quality verification, and payment terms.
3. The system would match supply and demand across the marketplace and provide participating organizations information on the optimal way to share limited supplies.  Prior to the crisis, the participating members would agree on the proper methodologies regarding prioritization and allocation.
4. This Center would provide a one-stop shop for clear communications to all participating parties in a transparent fashion.  It also could be a single point of contact to coordinate with the federal government and other organizations.  Dashboards would exist to show key information on the changing environment for supply and demand.
5. The Center itself could be a true cooperative. It would be owned and operated by participating members that could include states, local jurisdictions, nongovernmental organizations, etc.  It would have oversight provided by a board of members.  Its fixed operating costs would be paid through member assessments. When its services are used, there would be a markup on each transaction based on what is provided.  To the degree the Center earned a profit, its board would decide whether to invest it in the operation or provide a rebate to members.
6. The discussion above focuses on the critical activity of optimizing matches for  supply and demand.  Additional value-added services also would be possible, such as supplier and product quality inspection, logistical activities including transportation and warehousing, and financial processing including payment processing and payables financing.  
7. All of these services would be provided by best-in-class private-sector companies that would have to earn their role in a competitive fashion and be held accountable by the Center’s board.

Also, a Cooperative Resource Center would be helpful during normal times to help manage supply and demand for non-crisis related items needed by governments.

A few parties discussed a variation of this idea during March and April of this year.  As a volunteer, I was one of these parties trying to put this idea into action.  There were several reasons that it didn’t move forward during that period.  First, the crisis was so severe that the leaders already had too many things to address.  Second, the participants would have to provide quality information on their needs and come to a prior agreement on allocation methodologies.  This sounds doable; but it involves a lot of politicians. Political leaders need to approve the plan; but emergency management experts should be the participating parties.

This concept should happen to help with the next pandemic, major national crisis or disaster.  The time act is now and not during the middle of the next crisis.  A Cooperative Resource Center can save lives in an efficient and effective fashion at a relatively low cost.

Remember, Relentless Positive Action in your life will help you and others. So, I wish you RPA every day!