Recap: Procurement Opportunities in Montgomery County

Left to right: Barbara Ashe (MCCC Executive Vice President), Ash Shetty (Montgomery County Office of Procurement), Grace Denno, (Montgomery County Office of Procurement), Gigi Godwin (MCCC President & CEO), and Kal Attia (CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield)

Our October Business EXCELerator featured Montgomery County Office of Procurement Director Ash Shetty and Division Chief Grace Denno. While Director Shetty and Division Chief Denno provided attendees with information about new and updated processes within Montgomery County Procurement, they dedicated much of the time to fielding questions from attendees.

Some of the key takeaways:

• Director Shetty is focused on streamlining and updating processes and programs to ease the burden for contractors looking to do business with Montgomery County Government.
• The Montgomery County Office of Procurement Monthly Open House – held every 3rd Wednesday from 10-11am – is a great opportunity for business owners to ask very specific questions relating to resources, processes, and specific contracts.
• There are significant challenges with forecasting procurement needs in Montgomery County Government, as there are 34 using departments, and there are often extensions to bids without warning.
  • Procurement staff recommend utilizing the County’s transparent budget tools to search for potential opportunities that have not yet been posted by agencies.
  • DATA Montgomery and the Office of Management and Budget
• Director Shetty is spearheading legislation that would establish the Local Business Preference Program. This legislation would provide additional preference points for Montgomery County business in regard to their bid/proposal evaluation. Director Shetty testified just hours after the Business EXCELerator in support of this important legislation.
• Significant IT contracts are coming up for bid in the next year. Keep your eyes open for these opportunities, and don’t miss your chance to submit your proposal!

The Office of Procurement has made several enhancements to their website. Here are some significant changes that may positively impact your business:

• NEW! Procurement Calendar: This features events hosted by the Montgomery County Office of Procurement, as well as events hosted by partner agencies and organizations. Subscribe to the calendar to ensure you don’t miss important local procurement events!
• NEW! On the Formal Solicitations page on the Procurement website, there is now a column that shows the scope of a solicitation. This was added to save potential vendors from having to download the entire solicitation in order to find this information.
• NEW! Contract Search: You can now search contracts and solicitations by keyword.

Montgomery County Procurement would like your input regarding procurement regulations. Take the survey here.

​Interested in attending a future Business EXCELerator? Check out our events calendar and make sure you’re subscribed to our email newsletter!