So you want to bid on Maryland-specific state contracts? From bid systems to ePortals, to the right opportunities, this article will take you into the depths of everything you need to know on your contracting journey with the state’s centralized eProcurement Program.
Fundamentals of the Maryland ePortal
The State of Maryland conducts the majority of its procurements through what’s called the ‘eMaryland Marketplace Advantage’ (eMMA) the online procurement system that is a business tool to provide vendors with easy access to state procurement information. It’s important that vendors register with the eMMA so that they have the ability to:
- Complete the Small Business Reserve (SBR) self-certification
- Receive notice of bid opportunities
- Search for contracting opportunities
- Submit bids electronically
- Obtain bid results online
Registration with eMMA is free, and once you are signed up, you can begin doing business with the State of Maryland. All vendors in eMMA are required to identify their product and service offerings. This is important as it impacts the types of solicitation notices you receive from the system. Once registered, you will begin receiving email notifications of solicitations issued under the UNSPSC codes your business identified with during registration. Otherwise, once you create a vendor profile and complete the SBR self-certification, you can not only receive notifications of bid opportunities, but you can also search for contracting opportunities and submit bids electronically. For more information on how to read solicitations to bid on government contracts, check out this article.
There are numerous advantages for registering with the Maryland ePortal. You’re contributing to the greater prospect of increasing confidence through uniform economic availability within State procurements. The eMMA provides a simplified, clarified, and modernized way to govern State procurement through the continuous development of procurement regulations, policies, and practices. These laws promote a broad-based competition in the State through the support of the free enterprise system – fewer barriers for you!
To begin your contracting journey with the eMMA, register here. Qualified vendors may also complete the self-certification process for the Small Business Reserve (SBR) Program and Veteran-owned Small Business Enterprise (VSBE) Program. Not wanting to register just yet with the online procurement platform? You can still check out the public solicitations and public contracts on the eMMA website too.
When a vendor creates a profile on the eMMA, they are required to indicate whether the firm is registered as a small business, certified as a minority- or women-owned business, or verified as a veteran-owned business and designate what class of goods and/or services it provides. This is to provide safeguards for maintaining a State procurement system of quality and integrity while enabling fair and equitable treatment of all persons who deal with the State procurement system. Vendors must also be registered and in good standing, as required by the State Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT), and not on the State debarment list.
Small Business Reserve Program
In their commitment to the growth and success of their small business community, Maryland created the Small Business Reserve (SBR) Program in 2004 to allow small businesses to compete against other small businesses instead of larger, more established companies for contract awards. Once a solicitation has been designated as “SBR,” an award can only be made to a registered SBR vendor. State agencies are required to spend at least 15% of their total fiscal year expenditures on qualified small business procurements. Visit the link here to learn more about the SBR criteria.
Next Steps
You can utilize the search features directly from the Maryland Department of General Services to seek open and bids and contract awards here. You can also utilize PSF’s power-matching intelligence tools to find and connect you with opportunities straight to your inbox! PSF offers deep market insights to accelerate your digital capability growth while finding and tracking government opportunities for your commodity codes.
Also, check out this press release from the rollout of Maryland’s new eProcurement service here.
