MCbiz : Vendor Registration

Vendor Registration

Dear Small Business Enterprise Owner/Operator:

Thanks for your interest in selling commodities or providing services as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) to MaricopaCounty .  Each year, the Materials Management Department contracts for more than $400 million in goods and services, and we hope your business becomes a member of this elite team of County providers.

MCbiz, MaricopaCounty �s Small Business Enterprise Program, is interested in your small business being involved in MaricopaCounty �s procurement process.  These small business activities strengthen our local economy and increase a business�s vitality in our community.

MCbiz will support and help your small businesses through the self-certification and registration process so it can become eligible to participate in County procurement activities.  MCbiz�s primary goal is to help SBEs, like yours, position themselves to provide MaricopaCounty departments with commodities, services and construction projects not covered by existing contracts with a one-time estimated cost of less than $50,000.

In order to self-certify as an SBE, a business must have less than 100 full-time employees or have gross annual receipts of less that $4 million in its last fiscal year.  Certification is part of the registration process.  Irrespective of a business�s current standing as a Minority Business Enterprise or a Women Business Enterprise, it must still meet the aforementioned test to be considered as an SBE.  Consequently, SBEs may or may not be women- or minority-owned businesses. 

To become eligible to do business with the County as an SBE, the business must register on the County�s online BuySpeed (BSO) system at www.maricopa.gov/materials. (The City of Phoenix , State of Arizona , and Grand Canyon Minority Supplier Development Council registration and certification guidelines and requirements may differ from those of the County.)

Registration includes: 

• Self-certification as an SBE
• Identifying and designating the commodity codes that apply to the business
• Listing all of the required contact information in the application.

An important step in this process is for vendors to register to appropriate commodity codes.  Vendors that register to non-applicable National Institute of Government Procurement (NIGP) commodity codes may not be contacted to participate in the procurement process.  Vendors may be exempted from the procurement process by not registering to a commodity code or by registering a business under the wrong code.  Please review http://www.maricopa.gov/materials/Vend-Reg_Help/02_help.asp  for specific, step-by-step registration instructions.

County procurement representatives select suppliers to bid on commodities and services based on the commodity codes the businesses opted for in BuySpeed Online.  For a list of the applicable commodity codes, please visit our website at www.maricopa.gov/materials.

County procurement personnel can not select or designate commodity codes for vendors.  However, they can provide assistance in an advisory capacity to �help� a vendor make the best choices in the interest of his/her business.

Please note, although registration and certification are absolutely required, a vendor will not automatically be designated as the County�s vendor of choice.

Businesses that register will be added to the official Vendor List.  These companies may or may not be subsequently contacted to provide a bid.  Being added to the Vendor Listdoes not constitute a contractbetween the County and a business.  Being added to the Vendor List only signifies that an enterprise is interested in doing business with MaricopaCounty under a certain commodity code.

The decision to select a vendor to provide a particular commodity is based on a number of factors including lowest bid, responsiveness and responsibility�one solicitation at a time.  Responsiveness is defined as delivering the solicitation response to the location designated in the document by the required date and time.  Responsibility is defined as the ability of a vendor to successfully fulfill the requirements of the contract.  These vendor qualifications are NOT reviewed prior to a vendor being added to the official Vendor List.  The qualifications are reviewed only after the solicitation and resulting bids from vendors. 

A formal solicitation is defined as a bid or proposal with an estimated value greater than $50,000.  Registered vendors will receive notification of solicitation opportunities each time a formal solicitation for the NIGP commodity codes identified in their Vendor Registration Application is issued.

Please take a look at the following web address to access current formal solicitations:  www.maricopa.gov/materials/advbd/bidinfo.asp.

Typically, small business enterprises will receive informal solicitationsfor bid.  Informal solicitations are defined as quotations, and have a value of $50,000 or less.  Businesses that are looking to provide a bid in this realm WILL NOT BE AUTOMATICALLY NOTIFIED that a bid has been solicited for a specific commodity. 

The County does not require posting of informal solicitations for bid as they are very dynamic.  Subsequently, the businesses may or may not be contacted by a County procurement representative for a bid, even if the business� identified NIGP commodity codes track with a County department�s requested commodities.

We invite you to certify and register as a Small Business Enterprise with Maricopa County Materials Management at your earliest possible convenience so you can become empowered to provide goods and services to the County.

Should you have any questions or concerns about this process, please contact us at 602-50MCbiz / 602-506-2249 or visit the MCbiz website at www.maricopa.gov/mcbiz .  We look forward to working with you.

Best Regards,

Nelson G. Mitchell III

Coordinator

MCbiz