Doing Business With Lake County

Free Webinar - Contracting and Subcontracting with Lake County is as Easy as 1, 2, 3

Lake County is celebrating National Procurement Month in March to increase awareness of contracting and subcontracting opportunities with Lake County. Vendors and businesses, including those owned by minorities, veterans and women, are invited to a webinar at 9 a.m. on March 20.

Vendors and businesses will learn about the three-step process to work with Lake County - Get Registered, Get the Business, and Get Paid! Hear about upcoming projects and procurement opportunities directly from Lake County's Purchasing and Facilities teams. Learn how businesses can work with Lake County, and about various initiatives and programs including job order contracting.

Webinar Date: 9 a.m., Monday, March 20, 2023

Webinar Registration: Sign up to attend the free webinar through Zoom

Purchasing Division

The Purchasing Division works to ensure an open and competitive purchasing process, and assists Lake County departments and agencies in purchasing required goods and services in conformance with the Lake County Purchasing Ordinance. Purchasing also strives to increase awareness about business opportunities, while maximizing participation from Lake County businesses, including women owned and minority business enterprise. 


Lake County invests around $200 million each year on various goods and services including equipment, products, supplies, and services ranging from small to big purchases. Additionally, the County has multi-million dollar construction projects including roads and buildings where products and services are needed. 

Doing Business With Lake County


Doing Business with Lake County is a three step process:
  1. Get Registered - Register your company on the online bid and vendor registration portal. Through this online portal, vendors can download full bid packages, register to receive email notifications about procurement opportunities, post addendum questions, and download plan holder lists. The tool also allows multiple individuals from the same firm to register. All vendors are required to register on the portal.
  2. Get the Business - Submit bids, proposals, or quotes for your products and services. Purchasing will review, evaluate, and make a recommendation. If selected, you then enter into a contract with the County.
  3. Get Paid - Issue invoices for goods and services. The County will make payment within 30 days from the date the invoice was received. The Lake County Procurement Ordinance (PDF) must adhere to State procurement laws which require competitive solicitation of products and services above a certain dollar amount. Payments must be made in accordance with the Illinois Prompt Payment Act.

Vendor Disclosure  
Effective January 2019 the Lake County Board implemented a Vendor Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Policy, which require vendors to disclose any familial relationships between a Lake County elected official, department director, deputy director, manager and owners, principals or officers of the vendor’s company as well as campaign contributions to County elected officials. Completed forms are included as part of the Awarded Contracts database.

Buy Local, Build Local, Work Local
Lake County's Buy Local. Build Local. Work Local. program aims to connect Lake County businesses-including women-owned and minority businesses - with government procurement opportunities.
Buy Local Build Local Work Local
The program’s objective is to maximize participation from these businesses in the County's procurement process. One key strategy of the program is to conduct targeted outreach to local, women-owned and minority businesses in an effort to keep dollars in Lake County and to promote workforce diversity.  Lake County has conducted outreach sessions and workshops with local businesses to increase awareness about government procurement opportunities.
 

Economic Opportunity Program

The County has adopted an Economic Opportunity Program (PDF)​ to increase procurement opportunities for Local, Women-Owned and Minority Business Enterprise (L/W/MBE). The goal is to maximize participation from L/W/MBE businesses interested in doing business with Lake County, or connect them with other job assistance programs including training services, apprenticeship programs, and more.

State law mandates an open and competitive bidding process and requires that contracts be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The County is prohibited from demonstrating a preference based on bidder's location, race, or gender.

Job Order Contracting

Lake County utilizes Job Order Contracting (JOC) (PDF)​ as a method to procure select construction and renovation projects involving demolition, electrical work, HVAC, carpentry, concrete, painting, plumbing and other trade work. JOC is an Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity construction contract that expedites the ordering of construction services while controlling cost plus increasing quality and transparency. The County has Job Order Contracts in place with Paul Borg Construction Company, Homestead Electrical Contracting, LLC, and McDonagh Demolition, Inc. To obtain information about Job Order Contracting, or to identify sub-contracting opportunities, we encourage you to visit their website. 

In January 2022, the Purchasing and Facilities teams hosted a Virtual Meet & Greet for local business owners to learn more about this unique procurement process. Watch the webinar recording about JOC and upcoming projects and procurement opportunities for 2022.

The slides from this presentation are also available.

Surplus Items


Lake County sells surplus such as computer, vehicles, equipment, office furniture and much more to employees and the public. Obenauf Auction Services, Inc handles our LIVE Auction in the Spring and Fall. GovDeals handles all our ONLINE Auctions all year around. Details of the purchase and pick-up of the surplus items are explained in detail on our vendors websites. Please visit Obenauf Auction Service or GovDeals for more information.