purchasing

West Virginia Resident Bidder Preference

Revised September 10, 2020

Chapter 5A: Department of Administration
Article 3: Purchasing Division
Section 5A-3-37: Reciprocal preference; preference for resident vendors for certain contracts.

(2) For purposes of this subsection, a successful bid shall be determined and accepted as follows:

• (A) From an individual resident vendor who has resided in West Virginia continuously for the four years immediately preceding the date on which the bid is submitted or from a partnership, association, corporation resident vendor, or from a corporation nonresident vendor which has an affiliate or subsidiary which employs a minimum of 100 state residents and which has maintained its headquarters or principal place of business within West Virginia continuously for four years immediately preceding the date on which the bid is submitted, if the vendor’s bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than two and one-half percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has made written claim for the preference at the time the bid was submitted: Provided, That for purposes of this paragraph, any partnership, association, or corporation resident vendor of this state which does not meet the requirements of this paragraph solely because of the continuous four-year residence requirement, shall be considered to meet the requirement if at least 80 percent of the ownership interest of the resident vendor is held by another individual, partnership, association, or corporation resident vendor who otherwise meets the requirements of this paragraph, including the continuous four-year residency requirement: Provided, however, That the Purchasing Division shall promulgate rules relating to attribution of ownership among several resident vendors for purposes of determining the 80 percent ownership requirement; or
• (B) From a resident vendor, if, for purposes of producing or distributing the motor vehicles or the construction and maintenance equipment and machinery used in highway and other infrastructure projects which are the subject of the vendor’s bid and continuously over the entire term of the contract, on average at least 75 percent of the vendor’s employees are residents of West Virginia who have resided in the state continuously for the two immediately preceding years, and the vendor’s bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than two and one-half percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has certified the residency requirements of this paragraph and made written claim for the preference, at the time the bid was submitted; or
• (C) From a nonresident vendor, which employs a minimum of 100 state residents or a nonresident vendor which has an affiliate or subsidiary which maintains its headquarters or principal place of business within West Virginia and which employs a minimum of 100 state residents, if, for purposes of producing or distributing the motor vehicles or the construction and maintenance equipment and machinery used in highway and other infrastructure projects which are the subject of the vendor’s bid and continuously over the entire term of the contract, on average at least 75 percent of the vendor’s employees or the vendor’s affiliate’s or subsidiary’s employees are residents of West Virginia who have resided in the state continuously for the two immediately preceding years and the vendor’s bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than two and one-half percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has certified the residency requirements of this paragraph and made written claim for the preference, at the time the bid was submitted; or
• (D) From a vendor who meets either the requirements of both §5A-3-37(c)(2)(A) and §5A-3-37(c)(2)(B) of this code or §5A-3-37(c)(2)(A) and §5A-3-37(c)(2)(C) of this code, if the bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than five percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has certified the residency requirements above and made written claim for the preference at the time the bid was submitted; or
• (E) From an individual resident vendor who is a veteran of the United States armed forces, the reserves or the National Guard and has resided in West Virginia continuously for the four years immediately preceding the date on which the bid is submitted, if the vendor’s bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than three and one-half percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has made written claim for the preference at the time the bid was submitted; or
• (F) From a resident vendor who is a veteran of the United States armed forces, the reserves or the National Guard, if, for purposes of producing or distributing motor vehicles or construction and maintenance equipment and machinery used in highway and other infrastructure projects which are the subject of the vendor’s bid and continuously over the entire term of the contract, on average at least 75 percent of the vendor’s employees are residents of West Virginia who have resided in the state continuously for the two immediately preceding years and the vendor’s bid does not exceed the lowest qualified bid from a nonresident vendor by more than three and one-half percent of the latter bid, and if the vendor has certified the residency requirements of this paragraph and made written claim for the preference, at the time the bid was submitted; or
• (G) Notwithstanding any provisions of §5A-3-37(c)(2)(A), §5A-3-37(c)(2)(B), §5A-3-37(c)(2)(C), §5A-3-37(c)(2)(D), §5A-3-37(c)(2)(E), or §5A-3-37(c)(2)(F) of this code to the contrary, if any nonresident vendor that is bidding on the purchase of motor vehicles or construction and maintenance equipment and machinery used in highway and other infrastructure projects by the director or by a state department is also certified as a small-, women-, or minority-owned business pursuant to §5A-3-59, the nonresident vendor shall be provided the same preference made available to any resident vendor under the provisions of this subdivision.

(3) If any of the requirements or provisions set forth in this section jeopardize the receipt of federal funds, then the requirement or provisions are void and of no force and effect for that specific project.