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Small Business Enterprise Program

Procuring goods and services in a timely manner is critical to the operations of Pinellas County. Equally important are the opportunities that can be made available to the County’s Small Business Enterprise (SBE) program through the procurement process. It is important to find a balance between timeliness of procuring goods and services and facilitating opportunities to the sheltered market through the procurement process.

In an effort to accelerate the current process, the Purchasing & Risk Division is making a change, effective June 26, 2023, from the County’s sheltered market program to an SBE local market component as follows:

SBE Local Market Component Small business enterprises shall be given preference of award on contracts $5,000 to $100,000 to the lowest responsive, responsible quoter that meets the Pinellas County SBE Program criteria at time of award, at the discretion of the Board or designated representative. Preference will be given to SBEs that submit within the first five business days of the solicitation. If a responsive and responsible SBE submits a quote after the first five business days, they shall receive a 5% preference above open market pricing. SBEs shall be awarded economically feasible contracts or portions of contracts.

How To Participate

This notice from the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners Purchasing and Risk Management Division invites you to register to receive solicitation notices for any or all of the below areas.

  1. Formal invitation to bids and request for proposal notifications are accomplished through OpenGov Procurement. You must register as a vendor through OpenGov Procurement to bid on active County solicitations. After registering, make sure to subscribe to Pinellas County’s page.
  2. Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) Professional Services solicitations are accomplished through OpenGov notifications.
  3. The Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program provides opportunities and support for small businesses to move from subcontracting and subconsulting to prime contracting and consulting roles. As part of the SBE Program, the Purchasing and Risk Management Division uses OpenGov to seek quotations from Pinellas County small businesses for purchases valued between $5,000 and $100,000. Supplier lists are based on SBE applications processed through the Economic Development department. The program is a race and gender-neutral program. Visit the Pinellas County Economic Development website to complete an SBE application.
  4. Subcontractors may also participate in Pinellas County solicitations. Finding and building relationships with prime contractors can be accomplished by marketing your company directly to prime contractors. Primes meet many subs, so make sure your business cards are memorable and describe your area of expertise. Answer all calls. Prime contractors may not call a second time if you are not responsive to their attempts to reach you.
  5. In order to ensure you are included in the Pinellas County procurement process, please register with OpenGov and make sure to subscribe to Pinellas County in the registration process so you are notified about newly advertised solicitations that may be of interest to your firm. In addition, the Purchasing and Risk Management Division publishes a list of awarded contracts.

SBE ITQ Process

SBE-ITQ-Process-SJ

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the new quotation process differ from the former quotation process?

  • All questions posed by the vendor will be answered via OpenGov in an informal format – no addendums
  • All solicitation questions must come through the Purchasing Analyst during an active solicitation.
  • SBE qualification question only should be directed to Office of Small Business and Supplier Diversity

Question:  A quote advertisement was released at 3pm on Thursday 7/20, what is day 5?
Day 0 – July 20
Day 1 – July 21
Day 2 – July 24
Day 3 – July 25
Day 4 – July 26
Day 5 – July 27
Response:  The day a solicitation is advertised is day 1, there is no day 0.

Should you need technical assistance with OpenGov, the following options are available for assistance:

Contact information for general purchasing process questions:

Purchasing and Risk Management Division

400 South Ft. Harrison, Sixth Floor
Clearwater, Florida 33756
Phone: 727-464-3311
Fax: 727-464-3925