St. Paul-based GovDelivery, which helps government and citizens communicate electronically, has bought the Washington D.C.-based GovLoop, an 18,000-member social network site.

GovLoop will continue operating as a division of GovDelivery, says Finance and Commerce, which notes that its owner, Dolan Media Company, is GovDelivery’s largest shareholder.

GovLoop says its purpose it to let people working in and around government to collaborate and socialize; its mission: “connecting government to improve government.”

The goal of GovDelivery is to help government communicate with cities by delivering information through email, mobile text alerts, RSS and widgets.

GovDelivery says clients include the White House, both houses of British Parliament, U.S. Departments of Defense, State, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the U.S. federal court system, the states of California and Indiana, and the cities of Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis.

Other Minnesota clients are the state departments of Education and Health; the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities; Minnesota Emergency & Community Health Outreach; Blue Earth, Carver, Hennepin, Olmsted, Ramsey and Stearns counties; and the cities of Blaine, Buffalo, Burnsville, Chanhassen, Duluth, Eden Prairie, Golden Valley, Rochester, Rosemount, Shoreview, St. Louis Park, St. Paul and Waconia.