Prince George's Council weighs five business bills on contracts, restaurants, permits

Prince George’s County’s purchasing power was front and center Tuesday as the County Council prepared to hear five bills that would change who gets contracts, who pays less to open a restaurant, and how much leverage local officials keep over development. The package puts county money and permitting rules to work as economic-development tools, with the quickest effects likely landing in procurement and restaurant fees.

At the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building in Largo, the council was set to take public comment on CB-024-2026, the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Act; CB-026-2026, the Locally-Owned and Operated Business Assistance Act; CB-027-2026, the Fine Dining Incentive Act of 2026; CB-028-2026, the Local Diverse Supplier Prime Contractor Program; and CB-029-2026, the Dine-In Restaurant Permitting Incentive Act of 2026. Together, the bills would broaden access for veteran-owned firms, create a local-business preference, direct money from the county’s Economic Development Incentive Fund toward higher-end restaurants, open more prime-contracting opportunities for diverse suppliers, and lower permitting fees for sit-down restaurants.

The most immediate stakes are financial. Prince George’s County requires companies to register as vendors before doing business with the county, and certification through the Supplier Development and Diversity Division can bring preference points for local, small, minority, disadvantaged and veteran-owned businesses. The county’s new Business Highway portal is meant to be a one-stop entry point for those suppliers. If the council advances the new bills, those existing systems would become even more important as firms compete for county work.

The restaurant proposals could also reshape the county’s dining market. County-affiliated materials describe the Economic Development Incentive Fund as a $50 million pool used to retain, expand and attract businesses, giving the fine-dining proposal a clear fiscal hook. A local report said the permitting bill would cut sit-down restaurant fees by 50 percent, a move that would help independent operators facing heavy startup costs. The same coverage said the fine-dining push was being discussed as a grant program, with one official arguing that 56% of Prince George’s businesses are fast-food establishments and that the county should also embrace fine dining.

The supplier bill would go further into county construction. A local report said the prime-contractor program would seek a 20% award target for county government construction contracts and require progress reports to the council. That would benefit diverse suppliers that have long struggled to break into lead-contracting roles, while putting pressure on larger primes that dominate major projects.

The hearing came after a late-2025 wave of procurement changes, including measures that reduced fees and charges, revised procurement procedures, required at least 15% participation by County-based Minority Business Enterprises on contracts of $1 million or more, and created the PGC Community Wealth Building Compact to aim for at least 10% of institutional procurement dollars to go to Black-owned businesses. Residents could register to speak or submit comments by 3 p.m. the day before the hearing, and the meeting was open to the public and available by county livestream.