Cuyahoga County wants to increase participation by small business enterprises (SBEs), minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs), and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs) in County purchases and contracts for goods and services.

To do this, Cuyahoga County is increasing awareness and encouraging participation in County purchases and contracts that are estimated to cost less than $50,000.

These procurements are appealing for the following reasons:

• The County purchases a broad range of good and services.
• Purchases and/or contracts under $50,000 can be procured using an informal bid, informal request for proposals (RFP), or informal request for qualifications (RFQ) process.
• The informal bid, informal RFP, or informal RFQ processes have shorter solicitation and/or advertisement periods (typically ranging from 8 hours to 5 days), less onerous bid/proposal/qualification submission requirements, lower insurance requirements, and quicker selection/award processing for the purchases and contracts.
• Smaller contracts, purchases, informal bids, informal RFPs and informal RFQ procurements typically have a shorter duration period and less of an impact on businesses’ cash flow.
• These procurements are a great opportunity to build a relationship and familiarity with County procurement personnel, the County procurement process, and the County accounts payable process.

To get involved, interested businesses should do the following:

• SBEs, MBEs and WBEs should get certified with Cuyahoga County by downloading the certification applications available on the County Department of Equity and Inclusion’s website: https://cuyahogacounty.us/department-of-equity-and-inclusion/diversity-certifications 
• All interested businesses should register as a supplier in the County’s INFOR Supplier Portal System: Cuyahoga County Office of Procurement and Diversity. On this page, there are resources (i.e., training guides, training videos, etc.) to assist businesses with the registration process. Also, businesses can contact the Purchasing Department for assistance with registering.

The Department of Equity and Inclusion sends email blasts to County-certified SBEs, MBEs and WBEs notifying them of current procurement opportunities with Cuyahoga County.

“Often, after successfully completing the County’s SBE/MBE/WBE certification process, businesses say ‘I’m certified. Now what?’. To realize business opportunities with the County, they must still maneuver the procurement process,” said Cuyahoga County Director of the Department of Equity and Inclusion. “The County’s procurement process for formal purchases (i.e., purchases/contracts estimated at $50,000 and higher) can be overwhelming to businesses in general. However, the County’s procurement process for informal purchases (i.e., purchases/contracts estimated to be less than $50,000) is more vendor friendly! SBEs, MBEs, and WBEs pursuing County business opportunities by submitting bids/proposals for informal purchases is a great answer to the “Now what?’ question.”