The EWP will notify program vendors of available contract opportunities after careful review by the EWP staff. In making a determination whether or not to send out an opportunity, the EWP staff will weigh a number of factors, including but not limited to: geographic area of the opportunity and available vendors in that area; type of industry and/or service; distribution of contracts within the program; benefit to qualified vendors as well as to the EWP as a whole.
Deadline for provider response is five (5) business days from date the email is sent by EWP staff. By law, the EWP has limited time to respond to opportunities; therefore, the three-day turnaround is the maximum allowable time to respond to potential opportunities. Therefore, given State deadlines on the program, the EWP cannot make exceptions to this requirement of replying within the specified time-frame.
Generally, opportunity notifications are sent out to all vendors within the EWP. This is done to ensure fairness and timeliness. However, in certain cases, such as notification of an opportunity in an outlying area, the EWP may limit notification to a vendor or vendors in that location due to geographic limitations.