Vendor's Guide: Doing Business with Spokane County

Our Mission

The Mission of the Spokane County Purchasing Department is to support the public service mission of Spokane County Government through effective procurement of goods and services in a courteous and lawful manner which maintains the reputation of integrity, public trust and confidence.

Download the Vendor's Guide to Doing Business with Spokane County

Welcome to Spokane County

Vendors play a very important and vital part which allows the various Spokane County departments to fulfill their mission! It is, therefore, important that your experience in doing business with Spokane County is a smooth process and positive experience. For this reason, this brochure has been developed to give you information and to direct you to points of contact who can provide additional information or answers to your questions.

With 52 departments, and 2000 employees, Spokane County purchases a wide variety of materials, supplies, equipment, services, and undertakes a variety of public works projects. Spokane County values competition and fairness for all Vendors, which is why quotes are obtained and informal and formal bids are issued. The County Purchasing Department maintains vendor lists and advertises twice each year to solicit additional vendors to these lists. If you are interested in adding your name and contact information on a particular vendor list, then you may do so at any time. Please submit your request in writing and be sure to describe the product or service that your firm provides. To have your name added to our vendor list, you will also need to complete a Vendor List Registration Form.

Along with your completed application form, you may enclose a brochure or other pertinent information about you, your products, or your services. To request a Vendor List Registration Form call (509) 477-2301. You can mail, email, or fax, your completed application to:

Spokane County Purchasing Department
Monroe Court Building, 3rd Floor
901 N. Monroe Street, Suite 350B
Spokane, Washington 99201-2103
Phone: (509) 477-2301 Fax: (509) 477-6627
Email: purchasing@spokanecounty.org

Vendors that do not respond to three (3) consecutive solicitations are placed on inactive status. A written “no bid” response, for each project you decline to bid on, is sufficient for you to retain your name on the County’s vendor list(s).

The Competitive Process

The Spokane County Purchasing Department issues and solicits invitations to Bid (ITB’s), Requests For Qualifications (RFQ’s), Request For Proposals (RFP’s), and calls for Sealed Bids on all formal projects — i.e., projects valued at $10,000, or more, for public works; $25,000, or more, for goods. In addition to using our vendor lists, formal projects are advertised in the County’s Official Newspaper, as required by statute.

With few exceptions, as published by the Clerk of the Board, Formal Bid Openings are held at 11:00 A.M. each Wednesday and the location is as specified in each bid document. Be sure to check the specific bid document for dates, times and locations.

The Spokane County Purchasing Department encourages you to call and make an appointment to come in and visit with the Buyer who handles your product or service — or, you may call the Buyer to discuss the product or service you offer. For your convenience, a list of Buyer contacts in the Spokane County Purchasing Department, including phone numbers and email addresses, are listed on the opposite side of this brochure.

Spokane County welcomes all vendors and contractors and we encourage you to join our list of vendors.

SUBMITTALS FROM MINORITY, WOMEN AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES ARE ENCOURAGED.

The Small Works Roster

Spokane County has implemented a Small Works Roster (SWR) for different categories of anticipated work. The SWR is a list of contractors who have applied for placement on the SWR for small public works projects. Small public works projects are those with an estimated cost of less than $200,000. Each work category contains a roster (or list) of contractors, that have applied and which have been deemed as qualified by the County for placement on certain roster categories for small public works projects. For more information on the SWR, please contact the Buyer handling Public Works projects.

Our Objective is your participation

We value competition and encourage you to participate. It is only through the participation of firms interested in bidding and doing business with the County that we can contract with high quality vendors while being reasonably assured of obtaining competitive pricing.