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Veteran Vendor Preference — 3.5 Percent on State Bids

A resident vendor who is a veteran gets a 3.5 percent bid preference on state purchases, by either of two routes: four years of continuous residence here, or a workforce three-quarters made up of two-year residents.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

A resident vendor who is a veteran gets a 3.5 percent bid preference on state purchases, by either of two routes: four years of continuous residence here, or a workforce three-quarters made up of two-year residents.

What it's worth: 3.5 percent bid preference

  • A price preference on the bid, not a set-aside. Nothing is reserved for veteran vendors.
  • The preference certificate must be filed with the bid; it cannot be added afterwards.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served in the U.S. armed forces.
  • You served in the armed forces, the reserves or the National Guard.
  • You own, or are forming, a business that could bid.
  • Your home is in W. Va.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: With the bid — a preference claimed later is not applied
  1. 1Decide which of the two veteran boxes on the Vendor Preference Certificate you can actually tick. They are separate tests at the same 3.5 percent.
  2. 2Route one — the individual: you are an individual resident vendor who is a veteran of the armed forces, the reserves or the National Guard, and you have resided here continuously for the four years immediately preceding the date the bid is submitted.
  3. 3Route two — the company: you are a resident vendor who is a veteran, and over the whole term of the project, on average at least 75 percent of the vendor's employees are residents who have lived here continuously for the two immediately preceding years.
  4. 4Attach the certificate and your DD214 to the bid response.
  5. 5Keep meeting the test after award. If the Secretary of Revenue finds a vendor stopped qualifying, the Director of Purchasing may rescind the contract or assess a penalty of up to 5 percent of the bid amount.
Form
Vendor Preference Certificate (form WV-10)
File with
Purchasing Division, Department of Administration — with the bid
Documents you will need
dd214
At each renewal
Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
CorrectionThe residence periods differ between the two veteran routes and are the usual reason a claim fails: FOUR years of continuous personal residence on the individual route, TWO years of continuous residence for 75 percent of the workforce on the company route.
Worth knowingThe preference is not free of consequences. Ticking a box you cannot sustain exposes the vendor to rescission of the contract or a penalty of up to 5 percent of the bid amount.

Sources

Why only one source type: Read from the Purchasing Division's own solicitation record, which reproduces the Vendor Preference Certificate in full along with the veteran boxes and the penalty clause. The code section itself (W. Va. Code §5A-3-37) has not been read from the Legislature's site this session — code.wvlegislature.gov refused every request — so the form, not the code, is cited as authority.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.