- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has joined the Native Purchasing Group, becoming the latest member of a network that uses collective buying power to secure discounted rates for tribal governments and enterprises.
The addition brings the organization's membership to roughly 203 tribes and tribally owned entities, according to founder and CEO Jeff St. Louis, a member of Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa. The Native Purchasing Group operates as a group purchasing organization, or GPO, negotiating with vendors on behalf of its members to obtain lower prices on goods and services. The agreement gives the Seminole Tribe access to the group's vendor network and negotiated rates.
By pooling demand across Indian Country, the Native Purchasing Group works to strengthen tribal economies, reduce costs and free up staff resources that might otherwise be spent on bidding and negotiations, St. Louis said.
“A lot of tribes have not been presented with very fair pricing or very good pricing because the competition was not as strong,” St. Louis said. “What Native Purchasing Group is doing is giving those tribes more negotiating power together.”
The Seminole Tribe's push to work with more Native companies through their business enterprises led them to the Native Purchasing Group. The partnership represents one of the biggest deals yet for St. Louis, who spent years in the medical field working for companies such as Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.
St. Louis said he saw GPOs used frequently in the medical industry and adapted the business model for the tribal sector after seeing a lack of focus on Native markets. While GPOs are common in healthcare and other industries, he said many tribes had never been introduced to the concept.
The Native Purchasing Group now offers access to more than 3,400 vendors and about 4 million products, spanning categories from healthcare and office supplies to hospitality, food service and construction materials. Members order directly from vendors using an assigned customer number that unlocks negotiated pricing.
Healthcare remains a key focus, given the firm’s experience in the field. The group's contracts can help reduce rising pharmaceutical and supply costs while also supporting other areas of tribal operations, St. Louis said. The organization is also developing a consortium for tribal pharmacies, modeled after similar alliances in the private sector, to boost purchasing efficiency in healthcare.
Membership is free for tribes. Vendors pay the Native Purchasing Group an administrative fee on each member purchase, creating what Louis described as a mutually beneficial arrangement: tribes receive competitive pricing, vendors gain access to a broad customer base and the organization sustains its operations. With potential pricing increases from tariffs under President Donald Trump's administration, tribes will need any advantages they can get, St. Louis said.
“It's a win-win for everybody,” St. Louis said. “That's why [the GPO model] is perfect for the tribal space. When you're negotiating as a group as opposed to negotiating as a single entity, you're going to get a much better deal, especially when those tariffs begin to hit really hard.”
