How to Do Business with the County
The requests generated by Alachua County departments, the Library
District and other user agencies results in a continual need for a wide variety
of goods and services.
The Purchasing Division is responsible for purchasing or supervising the purchase
of goods and services for all Alachua County departments under the County Manager,
the Alachua County Library District and various other users. The following information
explains how vendors may participate in Alachua County's Purchasing process.
We constantly seek out new sources of supply and welcome increased vendor participation.
The Purchasing Division contracts with an outside vendor,
DemandStar by Onvia (formerly named, Information on Demand, Inc. or IOD,
Inc.) to maintain an automated registered vendors' list by specific category.
For a small annual fee, vendors may register with Onvia, which will automatically
deliver bid announcements from all participating agencies in Alachua County via
fax or e-mail. In order to register (place your firm's name on the bidders'
list) with Onvia and to receive automatic notification regarding formal bidding
opportunities, the vendor needs to complete a vendor's application on line at
DemandStar by Onvia, or by contacting Onvia.com
at 1-800-711-1712.
This system is utilized for formal bids and is used as a reference listing for smaller
purchases. Based upon the registered vendors' listing, vendors are notified
via fax or e-mail of formal bidding opportunities for the product(s) or service(s)
that were selected in the completion of their application.
Participation in the DemandStar system, however, is not a necessary requirement
for doing business with Alachua County Board of County Commissioners. However, if
a vendor chooses not to register with Demandstar, they will not automatically receive
notification of bidding opportunities. Vendors may, however, continue to find out
about bidding opportunities by checking the local newspaper, The Gainesville Sun
or checking the County's web site at www.alachuacounty.us.