Two angry forklift dealers and a business group are up in arms over a Yuma County decision to snub local materials handling equipment suppliers.

The practice is seen as detrimental to the local economy, according to Geoff Nance, Mark Wright and Ken Rosevear.

"The county did this, (and) they are looking stupid," says Nance, sales manager of the Yuma branch of Naumann-Hobbs Material Handling (NHMH).

"Shock and disbelief" is the reaction of Wright, manager of the Yuma store for Alta Lift Inc, a business of Quinn Group Inc.

"How could the (county) not be locally sensitive in this difficult economy?" ponders Rosevear, executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce.

In early April at a meeting in Yuma, the county board of supervisors approved spending USD80,000 to provide materials handling equipment and accessories to the non-profit Yuma Community Food Bank. The funds came from a traditional US Department of Housing and Urban Development community development block grant for the county's discretionary use.

The county went through a state Department of Administration-run purchasing cooperative to make the procurements from Arnold Machinery Company of Arizona in Laveen, Arizona. Arnold salesman Vic Villont handled the transaction.

The Arizona business unit near Phoenix is an operation of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Arnold Machinery Co. Arnold has 19 materials handling, construction and general implement facilities, serves all or parts of 15 states but does not have a location in Yuma.

The co-operative program with its pre-approval process is open to any in-state business and, typically, makes it convenient for a local government to make purchases from a list of qualified bidders without going through another extensive vetting. The co-operative forbids local preference unless a bidder offers special qualifications such as local parts and service.

While Arnold was on the state co-operative's list, that was not the case for NHMH or Alta Lift. Both, however, are taking steps toward being included.

On 13 September after a suitable county ceremony, the Food Bank began using two new battery-powered Yale forklifts with lifting capacities of 3,550 lbs (1,598 kg) and a new battery-powered Yale pallet jack with a capacity of 4,000 lbs (1,800 kg). In addition, the Food Bank received extra forklift and pallet jack batteries, a forklift scale, a battery charger and a watering kit.

The Food Bank continues to use a Hyster forklift with capacity of 6,250 lbs (2,813 kg), but "we have retired one of our older pallet jacks," says Jerry Garcia, the Food Bank's co-ordinator of special events and public relations.

The county's purchasing of the equipment and accessories from Arnold Machinery created a brouhaha in Yuma, and Nance, Wright and Rosevear have made their displeasure known to those within hearing distance and beyond.

On behalf of the Food Bank, "Mark and I did the legwork," Nance says, and "we have had a huge push to buy here (and) buy local."

Wright notes, "We spent three weeks with . . . the Food Bank conducting application survey(s), electrical specs of the building, charter/watering applications as well as electronic scale specs and loaner batteries."

Wright comments about the local dealers' efforts: "The pricing given directly to the Food Bank was under (USD)65,000. It seems we did all the work for the Food Bank, and Yuma County did not even consult or call Alta Yuma or Mr Nance at Naumann-Hobbs before awarding Arnold the deal."

The chamber's Rosevear says, "Our reaction was shock. This is not the first instance that Yuma County has awarded contracts without soliciting local vendors. The Yuma Chamber has campaigned through a Buy Locally program for the past few years. We feel that it is especially important during these tough economic times that local entities make every effort to keep these dollars circulating in our communities. This creates local jobs and keeps our tax dollars at home."

Nance observes that the Arnold Machinery site in Laveen is more than 180 miles (288 km) from Yuma in south western Arizona and suggests that timely equipment maintenance at that distance might be problematical.

Terry Ross with the Yuma Sun drove home the economic issue in a 25 September opinion piece and encouraged Yuma County to help local firms get on the procurement list, perhaps through workshops or information sessions.

"Local government officials have to be 'neutral' in applying purchasing laws, but they shouldn't be neutral in wanting to actively look for lawful ways to help local businesses benefit from public purchases," says Ross, director of the daily newspaper's news and information centre.

Robert Pickels, Yuma County administrator, did not respond to an inquiry.

In addition to the Yuma branch, Phoenix-based NHMH has 13 sites in the US states of Arizona, California, Utah and Nevada and two locations in the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. NHMH in Yuma represents the Clark, Crown, Mitsubishi and Jungheinrich brands.

In addition to the Yuma store, Alta Lift has five forklift locations in central California. Alta Lift in Yuma represents the Caterpillar brand. Parent firm Quinn Group is based in Selma, California.

About 1 mile (1.6 km) separates the East Gila Ridge Road locations of NHMH and Alta Lift facilities in Yuma.