Small businesses urged to compete for state contract opportunities

The state of Arizona needs vendors to fill all sorts of business needs, whether that’s providing equipment to dig a well, transporting fish, repairing glass for agency vehicles, conducting pest control services for state buildings or providing clothing for inmates — and everything in between. Now, the Arizona Department of Administration is focusing on expanding its pool of Arizona-based small businesses to compete for these state contracts. 

Of the $220.5 million spent on vendors in January 2025, $15 million was awarded to small businesses: $12 million to Arizona-based small businesses and $3 million to small businesses outside of Arizona. To be considered an Arizona-based small business, an organization’s primary address must be in Arizona, and the organization must have fewer than 100 full-time employees or gross annual receipts of less than $4 million. 

ADOA’s State Procurement Office has developed new tools to help local small businesses understand when solicitations are out for bid and how to compete for an even greater share of this work. 

The State Procurement Office began this small-business initiative in July 2024. A current goal for the office is to increase the percentage of Arizona-based small businesses in the Arizona Procurement Portal by 10% over the next four years. 

David Steuber, ADOA assistant director for the State Procurement Office, said this effort is about giving businesses and the state opportunities to achieve shared goals. 

“Small businesses play a vital role in our economy and community, delivering services and goods to urban and rural areas. Expanding our small-business vendor network of potential bidders will close service gaps and increase our ability to serve needs across the state,” he said. 

New branding recognizing vendors as “locally owned small businesses” now appears on relevant vendors’ landing pages in the Arizona Procurement Portal, where all state vendors must register to bid on contracts. New tools also allow state contract managers to filter searches to more easily identify small businesses that could participate in solicitations. 

These tools launched in December, and State Procurement Office Operations and eProcurement Manager Guy Mauro said the new options will make it easier for contract managers to put together inclusive solicitations for state bids. 

“Now when contract managers are doing a solicitation for proposals, they can easily make sure they include small businesses and Arizona businesses in addition to large-market vendors because of the tools that we put in place,” Mauro said. 

The State Procurement Office has also been refining vendor data to make sure vendors have the necessary “commodity codes.” The “commodity codes” selected by the vendor drive system notifications about when solicitations are available for bidding. All approved vendors are able to bid on these open solicitations (and are notified when relevant bids are available), even if they’re not specifically invited to submit a proposal. 

Steuber encourages local small businesses to think about registering because it’s a simple step to become aware of upcoming contract opportunities. 

“You can choose to pursue opportunities that make sense for your business to grow, expand or pivot into the public sector. Opportunities are presented daily, and there is always a need for capable state partners to achieve our shared goals,” Steuber said. 

Current state vendors can log in to make sure they’re correctly identified as a locally owned small business in the Arizona Procurement Portal. Learn more about the portal and the procurement process here.