Horry County reports rise in vendor registrations and expands outreach to local bidders

Miss Stevens briefed the council on the county’s local vendor outreach program and recent procurement activity, explaining how the program’s preference thresholds work and reporting recent increases in registrations and DBE/DVE participation.

Stevens summarized the local vendor preference policy passed in 2013 (resolution R116-13), describing match thresholds for different procurement ranges and the requirement that vendors maintain a Horry County address for three years to qualify. "Within that resolution...the thresholds for an IFB process was $25,000 to $100,000 if the local bid was within 5% of the lowest bid," she said, and described the higher threshold ranges and matching requirements for larger procurements.

She announced the county recently issued a notice of intent to award solicitation 2526-060 (an IFB for Bonny Bay Road and Booth Road improvements, a project valued at over $3,000,000) and said the apparent local award required a bid reduction of $48,002.94 that the vendor accepted within the response window. Stevens also detailed a new quote-request option for smaller projects (between $10,000 and $50,000) designed to increase competitive bids; she reported that quote activity and registered vendors have grown substantially, with "317" registered local vendors and "95" DVEs registered statewide, roughly "30 of those are in Horry County."

The procurement update emphasized outreach and training for departments to increase participation and transparency in county contracting. Council members thanked procurement staff and noted local-vendor preference as a council priority; no votes were taken during the presentation.