Ingram Micro Offers Extended Flooring, Bid-Bonding Programs For Gov/Ed Resellers

The offerings will help GovEd Alliance's 2,000 solution providers get easier access to the financing and insurance services needed to win government contracts, executives said.

Santa Ana, Calif.-based Ingram Micro has signed an agreement with GE Commercial Distribution Finance to give GovEd Alliance solution providers 60-day free flooring and finance options on all products purchased. In addition, Ingram Micro has increased its existing flooring finance program with Textron Financial from 45 days to 60 days.

Ingram Micro also plans to offer bid-bonding services through Textron Financial's national insurance group. The bid-bonding services provide additional credit insurance resources for government contracts that require bonding insurance. The distributor can offer competitive rates for credit insurance based on the solution provider's financial performance, Ingram Micro executives said.

"It's critical [that] we continue to strengthen our financial services offerings and make it easier and more profitable for our customers to do business in the public sector," Bob Laclede, vice president and general manager of government and education sales for Ingram Micro, said in a statement. "Our new 60-day extended flooring programs and bid-bonding services help reduce the financial burden of lengthy government pay cycles and enable our customers to deliver increasingly more complex and costly technology solutions. That's a competitive advantage in any market."