The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Melitta Hannon (289) 344-0087 melittah@vision2000.ca Contact me to plan your dream vacation today! www.vision2000.ca/melittahannon A Publication of Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce www.haltonhillschamber.on.ca July 13, 2010 12 Pages Doing Business with the Town of Halton Hills T Written by Simone Gourley, BBA, C.P.P., Town of Halton Hills he Town of Halton Hills welcomes bidders small and large, from both near and far, to bid on any contract in order to supply goods and services at the best value for the town. Ongoing purchases include salt and sand for roads, fire trucks, playground equipment, etc. But did you know that we buy trees for Earth Day and boulevard planting, source contractors for road and building construction, artists for beautification, and car and truck parts for fleet repairs, just to name a few? Some smaller companies may find the purchasing process intimidating but, with the latest technology, town staff is aiming to make the process as open, fair and transparent as possible. The Town's website is a great place to start. Here's the link: http://www.haltonhills.ca/business/tendersCurrent.php. The link is also available through the weekly Chamber Update email. The website will show you a list of current bids, which firms have already downloaded them, a brief summary of the bid and then you may download the bid, free of charge. Any bid over $25,000 will be here. It also has a list of closed bids and a list of the bid amounts if they were in the form of quotation or a tender. If your product or service isn't out for bid right now, you can always register your company name and select a commodity group. Once a bid comes up for this commodity group, you will be notified of the bid through email. The town also advertises their bids on the Ontario Public Buyers Association website www.opba.ca. This website lists bids or links for most municipalities in Ontario. It is a great one-stop site. In addition, staff place advertisements on www.biddingo.com. This is a subscription service that emails the subscribers notifications of bids they may be interested in. The town also works quite closely with the other agencies in Halton Region to consolidate our buying power through improved pricing, standardization and reduced administrative costs. This group is called the Halton Co-operative Purchasing Group. It is formed with the other Halton municipalities, two school boards, police, Conservation Halton, area hydro companies and Halton Children's Aid. Large contracts such as janitorial products, stationery, fuel, pool chemicals and tree services are jointly tendered by one agency in the group. It is worth looking at the other municipal websites as well for additional opportunities. Halton Region - http://webaps.halton.ca/ shop/bids_open.cfm Milton - https://bids.milton.ca/en/Milton/ General/Tenders/Page.aspx Oakville - http://www.oakville.ca/biddin gopportunities.htm Burlington - http://www.burlington.ca/bid docs/biddocuments.asp Once you find a tender that you are interested in bidding on, you should check the document to find the date and time that it is due. Late bids will be rejected. Check if a WSIB certificate and insurance is necessary and the amount that is required. Normal limits would be $2 million for service contracts and more for construction contracts. For construction contracts, look to see if bid bonds, performance bonds and labour and material bonds are required. When submitting your bid, it must be in a sealed envelope, signed and include any required bid bonds and agreement to bonds for the performance and labour and material bond. Bonds are similar to insurance, but they are a guarantee to the town that you will stand behind your bid, pay your subcontractors and complete the project. These things have been put in place to protect the town and in essence the tax payers' interests. Staff is always willing to help you through the process and answer any questions you may have. Please contact the Purchasing Section of Corporate Services at 905-873-2601, ext. 2210 to pursue any opportunities. BusinessLink Profile Inside This Issue... From the Boardroom . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . Page 3 Business Link Profile: P & H Milling Co. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 3 Upcoming Events .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 4 Business After Hours .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 4 General Manager's Desk. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 5 A Heads Up on Bill 168 . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 5 Welcome New Members . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 6 Membership Renewals . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 7 Businesses of Month. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 8 Book Review DRiVE by Daniel Pink . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 9 Employee of the Quarter .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 9 Spotlight on Volunteer. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 10 Rebuilding Haiti .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 10 What's News .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . Page 11 Mary Judge (Virtually Working for You) showing BusinessLink to the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour. Tracey Wellon's (TY Virtual Assistant) daughter with BL at Plaza Mayor in Italy. See page 3 Send in your pic reading BusinessLink on holidays, and you'll be on the front page, too! 905-702-0515 ...at your service . . . at your doorstep www.dekerelectric.ca ESA/ECRA #7003060 H O T T U B S , R E N O VAT I O N S , PA N E L R E P L A C E M E N T S / S E R V I C E U P G R A D E S , K O H L E R S TA N D B Y G E N E R AT O R S