BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The newly formed Cooperative for Union Services and Products (CUSP) announced its recent partnership with TopSource LLC, a Boston-based sourcing company that assists companies in managing procurement costs across hundreds of indirect products and services. TopSource provides significant savings to an extensive customer base primarily through its aggregated sourcing technique. Supporting multiple industries including grocery chains, convenient stores, drug stores, restaurants, other retailers, wholesalers and cooperative organizations, TopSource can source a breadth of business areas such as professional and operational services, marketing, HR benefits, IT/Telecommunications, transportation, logistics, and more.
Headquartered in Bethesda, the Cooperative for Union Services and Products (CUSP) opened its doors on January 2, 2013. Its sole objective is to drive down costs unions incur every day in representing their members. CUSP members include the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades with plans to expand to other unions and affiliated organizations. CUSP is a brand new organization starting from the ground floor, and selected TopSource as its procurement partner to conduct all of their sourcing work.
For the CUSP, the areas of business supported by TopSource are a strong fit to creating greater efficiencies and controlling indirect expenses for its union members. Richard S. Sloan, President and Chief Executive Officer of CUSP, talks confidently regarding the recent TopSource partnership stating, "As a newly formed purchasing co-op of unions, CUSP wanted to partner with a strong sourcing organization and TopSource fit the bill for us. We are looking to manage costs in several areas through consolidated purchasing efficiencies especially in areas such as office supplies, personal computers and utilities to start. Our Board of Directors was impressed with the TopSource team's expertise and years of experience in sourcing and working with a cooperative. We are confident TopSource can help our member unions maximize savings in several purchasing areas."
John Latham, director, business development of TopSource looks forward to working with the CUSP team. In support of the new partnership, Latham said, "I am extremely excited to announce our partnership with the CUSP not only as our first union cooperative organization in history but the opportunity to demonstrate significant savings across key sourcing areas for this brand new purchasing organization. We were able to demonstrate to the CUSP the competitive savings advantage TopSource delivers to its customers. Together, we have identified ten or so areas that may make sense for CUSP to offer their member unions to get things moving. Our sourcing teams look forward to helping CUSP with all their indirect procurement needs".
In conjunction with strategic supplier partners, the CUSP and TopSource believe tremendous opportunities exist in providing significant purchasing efficiencies for the Cooperative's member unions. Leveraging the purchasing power of its 60+ customers, TopSource is working closely with the CUSP Board Members to determine the exact business areas that will drive the greatest savings.
About TopSource
TopSource is a wholly owned subsidiary of Topco Associates LLC, the largest US cooperative buying organization in retail food. By applying a structured sourcing process and through spend aggregation, TopSource assists premier grocery, retail and wholesale companies realize significant savings in the area of Not-For-Resale (NFR), often called indirect spend. Across twelve NFR categories, TopSource has saved its customers an average of 13% on an annual basis in areas such as store equipment, office products, packaging, IT/Telecom, construction, logistics & distribution, marketing, health care, utilities and hired services. To learn more about TopSource, visit www.topsourcellc.com.
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About Cooperative for Union Services and Products (CUSP)
The CUSP was incorporated on December 7, 2012 for the sole objective to drive down the costs unions incur every day in representing their members. The original incorporators met to review and approve the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the new organization. Officers and Board of Directors were chosen from various union organizations such as IAM International and IUPAT. Richard S. Sloan was selected as President and Chief Executive Officer. The CUSP officially opened its doors on January 2, 2013.
The CUSP logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=16532