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Registering to do business
Procurement thresholds
Procurement Card
Small and Minority Business Enterprises
Obtaining Bid Bonds
Ethics
The City of Hartford issues
several hundred requests for response (RFR) in the form of proposals or
bids on an annual basis. We are very appreciative of the time and effort
the supplier community puts into preparing responses to these RFRs. To
reduce administrative costs for both supplier and the City we are in the
process of standardizing and simplifying RFR documents and,
additionally, have implemented an e-Procurement service. We are always
looking for ways to improve our ability to exchange information on these
business opportunities to a broad base of suppliers as efficiently as
possible. If you have any suggestions for improvement please email them
to rosal002@hartfordschools.org.
Registering to do business with the City:
BID/RFP DOCUMENTS are available
from the State of Connecticut Department of Administrative Services web
site at: http://www.das.state.ct.us/Purchase/Portal/Portal_Home.asp.
We strongly recommend that suppliers register on the State DAS site and
enable automatic notifications of bids.
It is anticipated that in
the Fall of 2009 the City will return to using an e-Procurement system
called Mercury Commerce for bid notification (http://www.mercurycommerce.com).
Once this occurs the City will fax or email invitations to suppliers who register on the
Mercury Commerce site.
Once the City returns to
using Mercury Commerce suppliers will need to be registered on
www.mercurycomerce.com to view, download and respond to a request for response (RFR).
For this reason we suggest that suppliers register now. Registration, downloading, responding and viewing responses after the submittal
deadline is free. HARD COPY RESPONSES
WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BY THE CITY FOR BIDS POSTED ON
THE MERCURY COMMERCE SITE. ALL RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH
THE MERCURY COMMERCE WEBSITE.
Click
here to download instructions on how to register to receive City RFRs
from Mercury
Commerce.
If you have any difficulty you may contact Supplier Support directly at:
1-877-969-7246
Businesses without internet access, may utilize computers located at most public
libraries. Procurement Services also provides access to the Mercury
Commerce site at a computer located in its office.
When registering it is very important to select the appropriate commodity
codes that describe what your business does!
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Procurement thresholds:
Up to $2500.00
Open competition not required.
Departments may purchase items using a Procurement Card or a purchase order.
Procurement Cards and purchase orders at this level are used for small one-time purchases using contracted suppliers when available.
$2,500 to $25,000
Open competition is required through a request for quotes or reverse auction.
Generally awards are issue to the lowest responsible supplier that meets requirements.
$25,000 and over
Open competition is required through a formal bid process.
Generally awards are issue to the lowest responsible supplier that meets requirements.
Please be sure to receive a valid purchase order or Procurement Card before delivering
services or performing work for the City.
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Procurement Card:
One of the new tools the City is using is a special form of credit card called a "Procurement
Card."These cards will enable City and Public School staff to purchase the small dollar items they need on
a timelier basis. Use of the card will also benefit our suppliers with faster payment for the goods and services as
well as the elimination of low dollar invoices and the associated processing costs.
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Small and Minority Business Enterprises
The City of Hartford Minority & Small
Contractors’ Set-Aside Program shall be in accordance with, Connecticut General Statutes, 4a-60(g) which
was established for the purpose of assuring that Connecticut small and small minority owned businesses have
an opportunity to bid on a portion of the city’s purchases.
Under this program, 25% of city-funded purchases are set aside for small businesses. In addition, 25%
of that amount is reserved for small businesses, which are minority-owned and operated.
To participate contact
Human Relations at
860.543.8595.
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Obtaining
Bid Bonds
If
you manage a small
business and have difficulty obtaining bonds(or just haven’t done it before) help is available from the Small
Business Administration (SBA) through “The Surety Bond Guarantee
Program.” One of the bonding companies working with this program is Suggs
& Associates in Windsor, CT. For more information go to www.sba.gov,
choose “Services.” Then select “Financial Assistance” and click on “Surety
Bond.”
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Ethics
Businesses, City and Public School staff responsible for any aspect of a
transaction need to understand the City's Code of Ethics. This code
is available in a downloadable pdf document by clicking
HERE.
Your interest in doing business with the City is very important to us!
Please let us know of any suggestions you may have for improvement.
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