Local Vendor Preference

Qualification Requirements

To qualify for our local vendor preference all of the following requirements must be met and certified by the vendor:

The vendor must maintain an office within the legally defined boundaries of the town and have a majority of full-time employees, chief officers and managers regularly conducting work and business from this office;
The vendor must have held a valid Town business license for a consecutive period of at least three years prior to the date of the application for certification; and
The vendor must submit a local vendor preference certification form and have it certified by the Town prior to the sealed bid/proposal deadline.

For comparing bids, any vendor who meets all the criteria for certification will have their bid price reduced by five percent, not to exceed a maximum reduction of $10,000. If after the application of the local vendor preference, the vendor is determined to be the low responsive and responsible bidder, they will be awarded the contract; and
Final contract price will reflect the original bid amount before the local vendor preference was applied.
The Local Vendor Preference is not applicable to Requests for Qualifications for professional services.

The local vendor preference application must be completed and returned to the Town of Hilton Head Island in order to be eligible for the Local Vendor Preference.
Forms shall be submitted via email to the Town's Procurement Officer, Rich Groth at RichG@hiltonheadislandsc.gov.
Once your application has been received you will receive written verification that your status as a local vendor has been approved.
Whenever you submit a bid proposal, you should indicate your status as a Certified Local Vendor.

Questions?

Contact our Procurement Officer, Richard Groth at RichG@hiltonheadislandsc.gov or 843-341-4711.