Nora Vargas District 1 Chair | Official website of County of San Diego
Nora Vargas District 1 Chair | Official website of County of San Diego
San Diego County News Center
San Diego County is taking steps to connect with a diverse range of suppliers through events designed to foster relationships between the county and local businesses. On Wednesday, an event titled "Connecting with the County" was held in National City, bringing together 85 participants interested in learning about doing business with the county.
The event was organized by APEX Accelerators, a company that assists small businesses in securing government contracts. Seven county departments were present, including Child and Family Well-being, General Services, Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities, the Library, Planning and Development Services, Public Health, and the Sheriff’s Department.
Julie Saunders, a business development manager for buddi who traveled from Los Angeles to attend the event, expressed her determination to understand how to improve her chances of winning contracts. “I’ve been so close. By point two, I lost my last one,” she said. “It’s now really learning about what more can I do...so coming out here was definitely to learn and get that sort of training that I need.”
Jack Pellegrino, Director of County Purchasing and Contracting, highlighted the importance of such events: “The County procured nearly $2 billion worth of goods and services last fiscal year and we have over 2,000 suppliers registered in the County’s procurement system, BuyNet...South County features a diverse group of businesses and nonprofits, so we are glad we had the chance to connect.”
To further support local businesses, San Diego County offers a local business preference program which provides a 5% preference to local small businesses as well as veteran-owned or disabled veteran-owned enterprises. The department is also implementing an equity review of all its services and establishing a formal Supplier Diversity Program in collaboration with the San Diego Council for Supplier Diversity.
APEX Accelerators plans to collaborate again with San Diego County for another event this fall. Additional outreach efforts are also being planned for other regions within San Diego County. Regular workshops are offered by the Department of Purchasing and Contracting for those interested in doing business with the county.
Businesses looking for opportunities can sign up on BuyNet; however, those already registered may need to reregister due to recent updates.
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