North Carolina buys through a central state purchasing office, and its cities, counties and school districts buy on their own as well. To sell to the state you register once as a vendor, then watch for solicitations in your commodity codes and respond by the deadline. This page covers the state registration steps, where bids are posted and the programs that help small businesses, with links to the official pages.

Central purchasing officeDivision of Purchase & Contract, NC Department of Administration
Vendor registrationNC electronic Vendor Portal (eVP), linked to NC eProcurement
Registration feeFree to register in eVP; NC eProcurement charges a 1.75% transaction fee on applicable purchase orders for goods (no fee on services).
Where bids are postedeVP solicitations page: https://evp.nc.gov/solicitations/
Open bids right now1,013 open North Carolina bids (158 closing this week, 595 new in the last 7 days)

How to register as a North Carolina vendor

  1. Go to https://evp.nc.gov, choose Sign In or Register, click Sign up now and enter a unique email address.
  2. Complete the email-based multifactor authentication.
  3. Enter your vendor name, vendor type, federal Tax ID (no dashes) and choose the registration types your company needs, such as NC eProcurement or NC Small Business Enterprise certification.
  4. If you choose NC eProcurement, read and accept the NC eProcurement Terms of Use.
  5. Complete the Substitute W-9 before you can receive state payments, then use your account to receive nightly solicitation notices and respond to solicitations.

Registration gets you on the state's list, but it rarely sends you every relevant bid. Many agencies, and most local governments, post on their own portals. A free BidsNexus alert watches the state portal and North Carolina's local agencies for you and emails the matches each morning.

Small business and certification programs

  • NC Small Business Enterprise (NCSBE) certification: For-profit North Carolina-headquartered businesses with 100 or fewer employees and annual net income of $1.5 million or less; the program is moving to the Division of Purchase & Contract, with a fast-track window of October 15 to November 30 for previously HUB-certified firms.

Federal set-asides work differently from state programs; see our guide to small business set-asides.

Cities, counties and school districts

NC eProcurement serves state entities, K-12 school systems (Local Education Authorities), community colleges and participating local governments, so one eVP registration can bring purchase orders from local buyers; the Division of Purchase & Contract says it serves some local government entities.

Local bids are where most small businesses win their first contracts: smaller dollar values, shorter responses and less competition from national firms. BidsNexus collects them into one list, so you can browse every open North Carolina bid in one place.

Tips specific to North Carolina

  • The HUB program ended: the 2026 state budget eliminated the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses, and as of July 7, 2026 state contracts no longer recognize HUB certifications. The Statewide Uniform Certification stays valid for local and city governments until it expires.
  • Price goods bids with the 1.75% NC eProcurement transaction fee in mind; services are not charged.
  • Keep eVP contacts, addresses and phone numbers current, and consider an Ariba Network account for added purchase order features.
  • Division of Purchase & Contract help desk: 984-236-0210 or doa.pchelpdesk@doa.nc.gov.

Open North Carolina bids with upcoming deadlines

Infrastructure Improvement Program RFQ · Due Oct 5, 2026 · +2 similar Revised Community-Based Organization (CBO) Funding Applications Now Open RFQ · Due Oct 5, 2026 · +1 similar House Setup and House Development Services Phase II SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026 CMPD License Plate Recognition System SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026 54-ML-PR39786 Galvanized Steel Beams for Wilkes Co. Bridge Maintenance SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026 · +1 similar Sponsored Research Finance Operations Assessment, Remediation, and Transformation Consulting Services SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026 Aggregate, 78M Granite-Div 2 (Special Maintenance Operations Group) SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026 30-26293-ITD Curam by Merative Software Subscription, Licenses, and Support RD2 SOLICITATION · Due Oct 5, 2026

See all 1,013 open North Carolina bids →

What North Carolina agencies are buying

Open North Carolina bids on BidsNexus right now, by category:

Next steps

  1. Register with the state (above) and, for federal work, in SAM.gov.
  2. Find your NAICS codes so you're matched to the right solicitations.
  3. Learn how to read an RFP quickly and make a bid/no-bid decision.
  4. Set up a free daily alert for North Carolina in your categories.
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Sources

Checked against the state's official pages on September 23, 2026. Rules and portals change, so confirm details on the official site before you register or bid.
https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/purchase-contract
https://evp.nc.gov/
https://eprocurement.nc.gov/training/vendor-training/registering-evp
https://eprocurement.nc.gov/system-tips/vendor-tips
https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/historically-underutilized-businesses-hub