Housing Partnership DIRECT has just been restructured to better serve the purchasing needs of Network member organizations. Launched a year ago as a group purchasing cooperative, DIRECT was reconfigured due to changing market conditions and the insights learned about the purchasing operations of Network members. Most significantly, DIRECT is now a benefit of membership in the Network, with no fee or investment required. Click here to learn more about HP DIRECT.

“Last year was a very tough time to launch this effort,” notes Rick Leeds, president of AHC Management LLC and a Housing Partnership DIRECT board member. “But DIRECT is a great concept and the new approach makes a lot of sense. The collective buying power of bringing Network members together is huge and creating a strong peer exchange in this area is extremely valuable.”

Emphasizing the needs of ongoing property operations, the new DIRECT has negotiated aggressive discounts with a variety of national vendors. Deals are currently in place with HD Supply, Sherwin-Williams, and FloorExpo, and several others are under discussion. For development and rehabilitation projects, DIRECT also continues to offer significant discounts on bulk purchases of flooring, lighting, and cabinetry through CCA Global. Because all savings are front-loaded and go directly to the properties, the new approach also eliminates identity of interest issues with HUD, which enables members to use DIRECT for all their properties.

A key aspect of the new DIRECT is to promote more efficient procurement and property operations systems. “Over the past year, we’ve learned a lot about the operations side of our members,” says Chuck Wehrwein, president of Housing Partnership Exchange at the Network. “There is a real desire to share information and best practices with one another in what has been a somewhat untapped program area for the Network. As part of DIRECT, we will promote a very robust peer exchange around property operations and building systems technology. The selection of new products and vendors, as well as DIRECT’s growth, will be very much driven by the members’ interests.”

For more information, please contact Bill Kelsey (617-259-1805) or Manuel Muelle (617-259-1803).