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Politics & Government

Growing Local Businesses in Forsyth County

Forsyth County continues efforts to provide more opportunities for local businesses.

In an effort to continue providing more opportunities for local businesses, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners voted in October to extend the existing Local Business Initiative through Dec. 31, 2012, according to a news release.

The BOC also voted to revise the program's criteria removing the previous caps on annual gross receipts, the number of full-time employees, and increase the local preference credit. These revisions will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

The Local Small Business Initiative, founded in April 2009, is a program designed to provide opportunities for businesses within Forsyth County to do business with the county government, according to Procurement Director Donna Kukarola.

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"This program aims to return taxpayer funds back to the local economy in a relatively short amount of time," she said. 

The Local Business Initiative is applicable only to projects with a total cost of less than $500,000.  

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The news release further stated that, under any applicable solicitation or bid issued by the county, vendors desiring to qualify for the program will be required to demonstrate they satisfy all of the requirements. This must be done each time a vendor submits a bid, quote or proposal and would like to be considered under the Local Business Initiative.  

For solicitations less than $500,000, a qualified local business that submits a responsive and reasonable price receives a local preference credit of five percent. However, there are some exclusions under certain circumstances.  

More information about doing business with Forsyth County government is available on the Forsyth County Procurement Department page.

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