Procurement changes to support local business

Wollongong City Council is continuing to encourage and support local businesses by increasing the weighting of “Local Economic Capacity” scoring on its formal quotations and tenders.

We’ve an updated Sustainable Procurement Policy which has doubled the mandatory criterion scoring from 5 to 10 per cent, as part of our effort to strengthen the local economic capacity. This change incentivises local companies to submit tenders for Council works and projects and bolster the local economy and help fortify jobs, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Wollongong City Council Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said more local suppliers being selected to supply Council will help support the local economy.

“By increasing the local economic weighting, Council aims to see an increase in the local number of suppliers who bid for tenders,” he said.

“We will also have pre-tender support in place to provide advice about our tendering process and help support them to ensure that their applications are of the highest quality.’’

Increasing the weighting is only one of the ways in which Council is looking to strengthen the areas economic capacity. Council’s Supply Chain and Logistics Unit and Economic Development Unit and other relevant Business Units are developing and delivering initiatives like workshops, and educational materials, on submitting tenders to Council, along with holding pre-tender online information sessions for interested parties for a range of major panel contracts.

Work will also be put into developing an infrastructure roadshow to highlight all the infrastructure and capital works detailed in Council’s four-year Delivery Program to allow businesses to plan and be aware of local upcoming works. These initiatives will also be collaborated on with the Illawarra and Shoalhaven Joint Organisation to take a regional focus to some of the above ideas.

“We believe in local businesses and we want to give them an opportunity to be a competitive option when it comes to assessing tenders for Council works and projects,’’ Cr Bradbery said,

“Local businesses should by no means be discouraged by the tender process when it comes to putting their hand up to be considered for local work.”

A review of the impact on the increase in the local procurement scoring percentage will be undertaken after 12 months of implementation to ensure that all risks are being appropriately mitigated.