Lead Agency Solicitations

Suppliers earn contract awards by responding to a Lead Agency’s current solicitation and receiving a winning score under that solicitation’s award criteria.

Each solicitation outlines a process for submitting questions through the online procurement platform utilized by the Lead Agency. These questions are due on or before the date specified in the solicitation. The Lead Agency’s answers are provided to everyone who downloaded the solicitation. Questions may only be submitted through the online procurement platform – do not submit questions regarding the solicitation to the Lead Agency or Equalis Group.

Lead Agencies determine how many suppliers to award on a solicitation-by-solicitation basis depending on the specifications of the solicitation and the scoring of proposals received. Our Lead Agencies generally follow a limited award philosophy and either award contracts to the single highest scoring respondent or the smallest possible number of the most qualified and complementary suppliers.

For example, if a single company is best qualified to provide the full scope of the solicitation to Equalis members nationwide, a Lead Agency may choose to issue a single award for that solicitation.

Alternatively, the Lead Agency may choose to award multiple respondents based on the specific geographies served and/or products and services offered by respondents to best meet the needs of Equalis members.

The Lead Agency’s procurement team issues Award Letters to winning suppliers. The Lead Agency publishes notice of awarded contracts upon contract execution. Equalis members receive a new contract announcement email. Equalis establishes a dedicated landing page for each awarded supplier, which is typically published on the Contracts tab of the Equalis website. Solicitation and contract documentation are posted on each awarded supplier’s landing page, which also includes information about the supplier and the products and services available through the Master Agreement.

All suppliers are encouraged to register with Equalis Group so we can enter you into our database. Registration with Equalis is not required to respond to a solicitation or earn a contract award.