State and local governments face many of the same procurement challenges as the federal government. Fairfax County Public Schools, for example, has a logistics group that deals with transportation, supplies (including texts), school facility repair and maintenance, etc. Their acquisition expertise should not be overlooked. In a current solicitation for school buses, the county did an actual 360-degree look at their requirements. They talked to bus drivers, to the mechanics, to the manufacturers, and to the county-level managers. All input was collected, sorted, considered, and either adopted as a part of the solicitation or dispensed of as cost prohibitive. (As an example of the latter, the mechanics wanted an engine compartment that allowed easy access to various components, but that requirement would have required re-engineering, and thus was not a cost-beneficial requirement.) The federal sector can learn a lot from the techniques used by local government entities. One source of information is an e-zine called "The Source," published by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, at www.nigp.org.