Prince George's County Opens SOAR Center to Help Local Businesses Become Vendors

The county opened a Supplier Opportunities Access and Resource (SOAR) Center on Jan. 21 to give in-person assistance to local and county-based businesses that want to become vendors with Prince George's County. The Office of Procurement (OOP) designed the center to guide businesses through vendor registration, certifications including minority business certification, procurement rules, and training on doing business with the county.

The SOAR Center launch included an open house and ribbon-cutting event and offers ongoing registration for one-on-one help and training. County officials say the center will provide a physical point of access to procurement staff so businesses can get direct answers about solicitation procedures, bid submission, and required paperwork. The press release announcing the center was posted Jan. 21, 2026 on the county website.

For Prince George's County business owners, the new center aims to remove administrative barriers that commonly block small firms from public contracting. The Office of Procurement will assist entrepreneurs with the vendor portal registration process, walk through certification options that can boost competitiveness for set-aside awards, and explain procurement timelines and evaluation criteria. Training sessions will cover practical steps to find open solicitations and prepare compliant bids.

Local economic implications include a potential expansion in the pool of qualified vendors competing for county contracts. By helping more businesses secure minority business certification and vendor status, the county increases the likelihood that taxpayer dollars circulate through neighborhood firms in Bowie, Hyattsville, Oxon Hill, and other communities across the county. Broader vendor participation can also sharpen competition, which tends to lower costs for the county and improve value for residents.

The SOAR Center is part of the county’s strategy to strengthen supplier diversity and improve small-business access to public procurement. For entrepreneurs that have faced difficulty navigating online portals or deciphering procurement rules, the center supplies face-to-face support and training from procurement staff. That support is likely to matter most for minority-owned firms and smaller contractors that lack in-house compliance capacity.

Business owners seeking assistance or registration details can find information on the county website at princegeorgescountymd.gov/departments-offices/news-events/news/prince-georges-county-office-procurement-opens-supplier-opportunities-access-and-resource-soar. The SOAR Center makes the county’s purchasing process more accessible; the practical result for readers is a clearer route to compete for local contracts and a stronger chance to convert bids into revenue that supports jobs and services in Prince George’s County.