The groundbreaking ceremony for a new cooperative purchasing warehouse for Griffin Regional Educational Services Agency was recently held on Friday, August, 21. Griffin RESA administers the cooperative purchasing services for the eight member school systems that make up the agency’s network. This service allows the school systems to have the same purchasing power that much larger systems enjoy, thus creating substantial savings opportunities. The Board of Control authorized the construction of the facility due to the need for more storage space for consumable, non-consumable, and cleaning supplies. The depressed economic conditions enabled the agency to negotiate a construction fee that will result in a marked decrease in what is currently being spent on warehousing each month. A great deal of study and research went into the planning of this facility to ensure that Griffin RESA would be good stewards of tax dollars. The new facility will contain over 18,000 square feet of storage space, will be energy efficient, and designed with modern safety features. The planning of this project was a cooperative effort between Griffin RESA, the Griffin-Spalding Development Authority, and the eight school systems. The building is expected to be completed in late fall 2009.