Forsyth County continues to focus on providing more opportunities for local companies to do business with the county government. At their Oct. 7 work session, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners voted to extend the existing Local Business Initiative through Dec.r 31, 2015. Since its inception in 2009, the goal of the program has been to return as much taxpayer money back into the local economy as possible.
“The goal of the Local Business Initiative is to provide more opportunities for local companies to conduct business with the county government,” Procurement Director Donna Kukarola said. “To ensure efficient operations and delivery of services, the county purchases a wide variety of materials and equipment. This provides opportunities for all types of businesses to work with the county government.”
The Local Business Initiative is currently applicable only to projects with a total cost of up to $500,000. Revised for the coming year, the program in 2015 will apply to projects up to $1 million. Under any applicable solicitation or bid issued by the county, vendors desiring to qualify for the program are required to complete an affidavit demonstrating they satisfy all of the requirements. Currently, this must be done each time a vendor submits a bid, quote or proposal and would like to be considered under the Local Business Initiative. Effective January 1, 2015, however, the affidavit has to be submitted just one time for the entire year, with businesses required to notify the Procurement Department if they move out of the county and are no longer eligible.
For solicitations less than $1 million, a qualified local business that submits a responsive and reasonable price receives a local preference credit of five percent. Some projects, such as public works and road projects, are excluded from the initiative.
For more information, visit the Procurement Department page at www.forsythco.com.
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