Yesterday, the Montgomery County Council approved a bill from County Executive Marc Elrich that would establish a preference for local businesses in the County procurement process.
The bill is an effort to economic growth in the county. It creates a program that would provide a 10 percent price preference in evaluating bids from local businesses on a County contract. Local businesses will be certified eligible for the program by the Office of Procurement if their principal place of business is located within Montgomery County. The Council amended the bill to cap the the preference at $200,000 for a competitive sealed bid.
“I sent this bill to the Council because it is key to ‘walking the walk’ in supporting our local businesses. We know that local business is key to a strong local economy, and we need to use our purchasing power to support them,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Money spent on purchases from local businesses generally stays in Montgomery County in the form of wages or purchases from other local businesses. It has a local ripple effect. This is an important tool that was discussed during our 4Business listening sessions last year, and I’m glad we now have it in our toolbox as we continue our work to strengthen our local economy.”
From the press release:
County Executive Elrich and County Council President Sidney Katz previously launched the “4Business: Benchmarking to Be the Best for Business” initiative because they want businesses to locate, grow and prosper in Montgomery County. During the past year, County Executive Elrich and Council President Katz hosted six 4Business listening sessions around the County to get feedback directly from business owners. In addition, they received input from the business community via email, an online form, and through an online survey, and followed up with two 4Business charrettes to discuss the feedback received and action plan for improvements.
