Hernando County to host procurement meet and greet for local businesses

Hernando County will give local businesses another chance to get inside its purchasing process when the Procurement Department hosts its annual meet and greet on Friday, May 15, 2026, from 9 a.m. to noon at the WellCome OM Integral Healing and Education Center, 4242 Lake in the Woods Drive in Spring Hill.

The event is free and open to the public, with reservations encouraged through the county’s OpenGov procurement portal. County officials say the goal is to help business owners and community members learn how to do business with Hernando County, a practical entry point for contractors, consultants and service providers that want to compete for county work.

The county is bringing together staff from Utilities, Public Works, Economic Development, Procurement and Parks and Recreation, along with representatives from the City of Brooksville, the Hernando County School Board and the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. That mix gives local firms a rare chance to ask how bids are shaped, where upcoming projects are headed and which contracts are realistic for a small Hernando operation.

The county’s procurement office says its mission is to maximize the purchasing value of public funds while maintaining a fair, equitable and quality procurement system. It says the process follows the Procurement Manual, Hernando County Ordinance, Florida Statutes, the Florida Sunshine Law and the Cone of Silence, rules that are meant to keep competition open and decisions transparent. For first-time vendors, the county’s move from paper-based bidding to a fully automated OpenGov electronic bidding and vendor management system may matter as much as the event itself, since vendors can register for free, subscribe for notifications and track solicitations for amendments and addenda automatically.

The county’s active procurement portal already lists the May 15 meet and greet alongside open solicitations for mowing services, Ridge Manor Field Renovation, airfield perimeter wildlife fencing improvements and signalization work. That pipeline suggests the meet and greet is being staged in the middle of real spending decisions, not as a ceremonial outreach stop. The bigger question is how much of that work stays local and whether this event helps new Hernando firms break into a process often dominated by the same familiar bidders.

The Hernando County School District says Florida Statute 287.084 requires a 5% preference for vendors whose principal place of business is in Florida, a detail that could be especially useful for small businesses chasing school-related contracts. Hernando County previously held a similar local vendor and department meet and greet on January 10, 2024, and the Chamber of Commerce is also promoting this year’s event. Procurement can be reached at 352-754-4020, and county contact listings place the office at 15470 Flight Path Drive in Brooksville.