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August 13, 2010

Purchasing Stimulus Site Provides Additional
Bid Opportunities to Vendors

The Purchasing Division has recently established a new website to promote projects utilizing the use of SEP/ARRA Federal Stimulus funds with a specific time requirement.  Because of the unanticipated volume of work for the state as a result of the time requirement for use of the funds, Purchasing Director David Tincher authorized the suspension of standard purchasing procedures for projects using Federal Stimulus funds and has invoked the emergency purchasing procedures as set forth in the West Virginia Code §5A-3-15, the Code of State Rules §148-1-7.6 and Section 8.6 of the Purchasing Division Procedures Handbook.

 Emergency purchasing procedures allow state agencies, after receiving approval from the Purchasing Division, to seek and obtain bids for the work as well as all other necessary approvals and then submit that information to the Purchasing Division for award of the contract. We believe this emergency declaration will permit state agencies to use SEP/ARRA Federal Stimulus funds in the most expeditious manner to obtain maximum benefit for the state of West Virginia.

State agencies are required to submit a written request to the Purchasing Division to attain emergency approval for their purchase.  Once approval has been granted from the Purchasing Division to process the purchase as an emergency, the agency may solicit bids for the project.

The Purchasing Division will publicly post the project on a webpage, www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/stimulus.html, that has been established for these time-sensitive stimulus projects. This webpage is accessible to all vendors, regardless of their vendor registration status. These solicitations must be advertised on this web page for a minimum of two weeks prior to the bid opening to give ample time for prospective vendors to respond.

There may be a pre-bid conference conducted if the agency deems necessary. Pre-bid conferences are typically used with construction projects.

After receiving the bids for the project, the agency is to select the lowest bidder meeting specifications as the apparent successful vendor for the contract. Necessary insurance, licenses, bond documents, and other required verifications and certifications will be requested by the agency from the apparent successful vendor.  Many of the forms can be found at: http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/vrc/pforms.htm

Following the receipt of all necessary documentation, this information will be forwarded to the Purchasing Division for processing and final approval.  

Please note that if there is not an imminent deadline for use of the stimulus funds, these procurements will be handled through normal purchasing process.

 

If you have questions regarding this process for these time-sensitive Federal Stimulus projects, please contact the Purchasing Division at (304) 558-2306.