St. Thomas-Based EDA Company Fined for Violating Mandatory Procurement Requirement

The Board of Directors of the V.I. Economic Development Authority approved a resolution confirming that United Electronic Industries Services LLC had violated the rules governing the procurement requirement of the territory and was fined.

Shawn Miller, the president of UELS accepted the fine of $1500 and has since paid the penalty. UELS is a government contractor established in the USVI 2011, however the Norwood, Massachusetts company was founded in 1990.

The EDA firm's local address is 8264 Sub base # 3 St Thomas, VI 00802, according to its website.

The company, according to the motion as read to the board failed to put out a bid for a $36,000 contract and failed to engage with a business that was duly licensed during the period January 1 to December 31, 2019. The contract was not flagged in previous assessment periods.

The procurement regulations require that businesses registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands must only be conducted with other businesses that are duly licensed in the USVI, unless exempted.

“Based on the compliance review findings for the procurement requirement in accordance with rules and regulations, there are set fines unless exempt,” and the company which was awarded the contract was not exempted, according to the board.