Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a)
Set-Aside
The Chief Procurement Officer may designate as small business
set-asides a fair proportion of contracts for the provision of goods and
services for award to small businesses in Illinois. A set-aside designation may
last indefinitely or for a stated period of time.
b) Required Use
If the Treasurer's office wishes to make a procurement
covered by a set-aside designation, the solicitation must note that responses
are limited to those from responsible small businesses. Bids, proposals or
responses received from large businesses will be rejected as
nonresponsive.
c)
Withdrawal of Set-Aside
If the Chief Procurement Officer determines that acceptance
of the best bid, proposal or response will result in the payment of an
unreasonable price, the Chief Procurement Officer will reject all bids,
proposals or responses and withdraw the designation of small business set-aside
for the procurement in question. When a small business set-aside is withdrawn,
notification must be published as provided in Section
1400.1505 with an explanation.
After withdrawal of the small business set-aside, the procurement will be
conducted in accordance with the requirements of this Part.
d) Criteria for Small Business
Unless the Chief Procurement Officer provides a definition
for a particular procurement that reflects industrial characteristics, a small
business is one:
1) Independently
owned and operated.
2) Not dominant
in its field of operations. This means the business does not exercise a
controlling or major influence in a kind of business activity in which a number
of business concerns are primarily engaged. In determining dominance,
consideration must be given to all appropriate factors, including volume of
business, number of employees, financial resources, competitive status or
position, ownership or control of materials, processes, patents, license
agreements, facilities, sales territory, and nature of business
activity.
3) With annual sales for
the most recently ended fiscal year no greater than:
A) $13,000,000 for wholesale
business;
B) $8,000,000 for retail
business or businesses selling services; or
C) $14,000,000 for construction
business.
4) With no
more than 250 employees if a manufacturing business.
A) A manufacturing business must calculate
how many people it employs by determining its average full-time equivalent
employment, based on the number of persons employed on a full-time, part-time,
temporary or other basis for its most recently ended fiscal year.
B) If a manufacturing business has been in
existence for less than a full fiscal year, its average employment should be
calculated for the period that it has been in existence.
5) If both a wholesaler and a retailer, the
combined wholesale and retail annual sales for its most recently completed
fiscal year may not exceed $16,000,000. The retail component may not exceed
$6,000,000 and the wholesale component may not exceed $10,000,000.
6) When computing the size status of a
vendor, the number of employees and annual sales and receipts, as applicable,
of the vendor and all affiliates must be included. Concerns are affiliates when
either one directly or indirectly control or have the power to control the
other, or when a third party or parties control or have the power to control
both. In determining whether concerns are independently owned and operated and
whether or not affiliation exists, consideration must be given to all
appropriate factors, including use of common facilities, common ownership and
management and contractual arrangements. However, a franchise relationship does
not affect small business status if the franchise has the right to profit
commensurate with ownership and bears the risk of loss or failure.
e) Reliance on the Determination
of CMS
The Treasurer's office may defer to the determination by CMS
or the Chief Procurement Officer for General Services that a business is a
small business.
f) Small
Business Specialist
The Small Business Specialist for the Treasurer's office
shall assist small businesses seeking to provide goods or services to the
Treasurer's office and is specifically responsible for the following:
1) Compiling and maintaining a comprehensive
bidders list of small businesses and cooperating with the Federal Small
Business Administration in locating potential sources for various products or
services. The Small Business Specialist may rely on the bidders list developed
by CMS to satisfy this responsibility.
2) Assisting small businesses in complying
with the procedures for bidding, proposing or responding to solicitations of
the Treasurer's office.
3)
Assisting in the development of small business set-asides if determined by the
Chief Procurement Officer to be in the State's best interest.
4) Making recommendations to the Chief
Procurement Officer for the simplification of specifications and terms in order
to increase the opportunities for small business participation.
5) Assisting in investigations by the
Treasurer's office to determine the responsibility of any offeror on any small
business set-asides.
g)
Small business annual report
The Chief Procurement Officer shall annually before December
1 report in writing to the General Assembly concerning the awarding of
contracts to small businesses. The report will include the total value of
awards made in the preceding fiscal year under the designation of small
business set-aside. The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly will
be satisfied by filing copies of the report as required by Section
3.1 of the General Assembly
Organization Act [25 ILCS 5/3.1
].
