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Our Story | TIPS Construction

Our Story

TIPS began as a small department within the Region 8 Educational Service Center, which supported school districts throughout northeast Texas.

The founding leaders envisioned a procurement partnership between TIPS members and local vendors that would meet the needs of public entities and give highly qualified businesses an entry into this competitive, governmental procurement market through TIPS compliant bid process.

Public K-12 schools, civic municipalities, universities, and other governmental agencies had a growing need for a supportive and viable procurement process.

Over the course of over 20 years, TIPS has grown beyond its headquarters located in Pittsburg, Texas, and now services cooperative members and vendors across the nation.

The TIPS Construction team is not a commercial entity, but a department of the overall TIPS cooperative.  Our lead agency, Region 8 Educational Service Center, is commissioned by the Texas legislature.

TIPS Construction is an exciting development for the TIPS-USA Cooperative which now offers specialized service to its vendors and members who utilize the TIPS construction contracts as a vehicle for procurement.

This individualized response is one unique way we are expanding and growing deeper into our motto, “Purchasing made Personal”.

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David Mabe, Vice President of Construction

David currently serves as the Vice-President of Construction for the TIPS purchasing cooperative. He previously served as the Deputy Executive Director for the Region 8 Education Service Center, during which he and his team founded the TIPS purchasing cooperative in 2002. Today David’s focus is on the construction contracts for TIPS. Under David’s leadership TIPS has grown from a small regional purchasing cooperative in Texas to one of the largest purchasing cooperatives in the nation, with 130% growth in the last four years alone.

Sarah Reynolds, TIPS Counsel/Contract Manager (CTCM)

Sarah Reynolds is a senior attorney at Leon Alcala, PLLC and serves as the Legal Counsel/Contract Manager (CTCM) for both TIPS and TIPS Construction. She has worked with TIPS for over 3 years providing expert and strategic legal advice to the TIPS team, while also publishing and evaluating all of the TIPS solicitations.

Stephanie Glenn, Director of TIPS Assignment of Contract Program

Stephanie has more than 25 years of experience nationally and internationally in the non-profit and for-profit sectors, creating and managing community development programs.  These previous experiences have prepared her to support stakeholders utilizing the TIPS cooperative purchasing program.  Stephanie directs the TIPS assignment of contract program that connects TIPS members with local, construction service providers.

Gene Hawk, Construction Compliance Manager

Gene comes from the K-12 sector with twenty years’ experience as a Facility Director and an independent construction consultant, completing over a billion dollars of construction activities in his career. His focus for TIPS is to educate both members and vendors on the requirements of JOC contracts and ensure they remain compliant with their contracts. Gene assists vendors that may need training in the use of required estimating platforms, proposal formatting and any compliance related inquiries for JOC contracts. 

Meredith Barton, Director of Business Development

Meredith has twenty-four years combined experience in procurement with TIPS and commercial retail leadership. As TIPS’ Director of Business Development, she is focused on enhancing revenue and streamlining business operations. Meredith oversees all business relationships with TIPS members and vendors. She works to identify and develop new business opportunities while also evaluating existing partnerships, assisting in continuous business and purchasing improvement.

Rachel Caldwell, Construction Customer Support

Rachel has been with the TIPS Construction team since 2021, offering assistance in vendor support and business operations. She currently serves as first level support, helping TIPS Construction vendors and members with any inquires, training or guidance needed to aid their procurement process, including vendor portal assistance/training and TIPS eBid (IonWave) support.

Gabe Gaytan, Construction Business Manager

Gabe came to the Construction team from a previous position within the TIPS accounting department. Serving as a liaison between TIPS Construction administrative processes and vendor’s business operations, Gabe ensures that every partnership runs smoothly. He oversees your TIPS construction accounts and maintains the existing processes that will efficiently support TIPS contracted projects, ensuring accuracy in reporting and accounts payable.

Brandon Williams, Director of Quality Assurance and Compliance Assistant

Brandon leads our new Quality Assurance division. The goal of Quality Assurance is to follow up with TIPS Construction projects to ensure that our member agencies are satisfied with the quality of work and project compliance. He works closely with our member’s facility contacts and the project managers for TIPS Vendors to guarantee the overall satisfaction of Members utilizing a TIPS Construction contract.  Brandon also assists our Compliance Manager, Gene Hawk, with compliance related inquiries for JOC contracts. 

Callie Easley, Marketing Specialist

Callie comes from a background of Marketing within the public sector, starting her career with TIPS many years ago as an intern. As Marketing Specialist, she effectively communicates important TIPS bulletins to current members and vendors through newsletter correspondence and social media channels. Callie also works to build brand awareness for potential members and vendors, developing promotional materials and maintaining the TIPS Construction website.

DaShauna Williams, Assignment of Contract Assistant

As TIPS Construction’s Assignment of Contract Assistant, DaShauna assists Stephanie with the management of all assignment of construction contracts. In the ever-growing area of contract assignments, she offers guidance for all parties throughout the assignee process and valuable support connecting our TIPS members with local, construction service providers.