Loading Portal...

tutorial_account_lookup Account Lookup /Help/Tutorial/TutorialViewV2.asp?TN=houston&XID=6945&src=AccountLookup&portal=v2 tutorial_forgot_password Forgot Password /Help/Tutorial/TutorialViewV2.asp?TN=houston&XID=6945&src=ForgotPassword&portal=v2 tutorial_username_assistance Username Assistance /Help/Tutorial/TutorialViewV2.asp?TN=houston&XID=6945&src=UsernameAssistance&portal=v2 tutorial_new_user_request New User Request /Help/Tutorial/TutorialViewV2.asp?TN=houston&XID=6945&src=NewUserRequest&portal=v2 tutorial_change_user_info Change User Information /Help/Tutorial/TutorialViewV2.asp?TN=houston&XID=6945&src=ChangeUserInfo&portal=v2

Online Hire Houston First Application

Welcome! You are about to complete the on-line application for designation as a City or Local Business under the HIRE HOUSTON FIRST PROGRAM.


Mayor Annise Parker developed Hire Houston First (HHF) in an effort to promote economic opportunity for Houston businesses and to support local job creation. The City of Houston spends billions of dollars to maintain and improve the City's infrastructure, and provide services for the public. Hire Houston First grants the City the ability to give preference to local companies and local workers, as long as their pricing is competitive.


It is the policy of the City of Houston as defined in the Hire Houston First Ordinance Chapter 15, Article XI, to use the City's spending powers in a manner that promotes fiscal responsibility and maximizes the effectiveness of local tax dollars by ensuring City spending provides business opportunity to city and local businesses as a measure to support the local economy.


Firms applying for HHF designation must meet the following basic requirements. Businesses interested in participating in the Hire Houston First initiative must complete the Hire Houston First Application. Only businesses that meet the requirements, as defined below, will be eligible to participate in the Hire Houston First initiative.


There is no charge for processing this application. A completed HHF application is NOT evidence of designation under the Hire Houston First initiative. An applicant's eligibility must be confirmed in writing by the Office of Business Opportunity.


- To be designated as a "City Business" (CB) your Principal Place of Business must be within the Houston city limits,


and/or


- To be designated as a "Local Business" (LB) your Principal Place of Business must be in the 10 county Local Area (as defined below).

DEFINITIONS

- City Business means a business with a principal place of business within city limits.


- Local Area means the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the President of the United States and includes the counties of Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, Waller, Liberty, Austin, and San Jacinto.


- Local Business means a business with a principal place of business in the local area.


- Principal Place of Business means the business must be either: (1) headquartered in the incorporated limits of the city or the local area, as applicable; or (2) have an established place or places of business in the incorporated limits of the city or the local area from which 20% or more of the entity's workforce are regularly based, and from which a substantial role in the entity's performance of a commercially useful function or a substantial part of its operations is conducted. A location utilized solely as a post office box, mail drop or telephone message center or any combination thereof, with no other substantial work function, shall not be construed as a Principal Place of Business.


- Headquartered means the location where an entity's leadership directs, controls, and coordinates the entity's activities.


- Subsidiary is a company that is completely or partly owned by another company ("parent company") that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock.


- Independent Subsidiary Company is a subsidiary in which decision making is conducted and carried out independently from its parent company.


- Dependent Subsidiary Company is a subsidiary in which decision making is conducted and carried out with dependence on its parent company.


If you require technical assistance while completing the application, please use our online support form. If you have questions about the Hire Houston First program, please contact the


Office of Business Opportunity
HIRE HOUSTON FIRST Local Preference Program
611 Walker St., 7th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002
PHONE: 832-393-0951
EMAIL: HIREHOUSTONFIRST@HOUSTONTX.GOV



To continue, please select an option below:


- Are you certified with the City of Houston as an MWSBE/PDBE or DBE firm (or were certified in recent years)? >> Lookup Account
- Are you currently doing business with the City of Houston as a prime contractor or subcontractor? >> Lookup Account
- Are you not certified with the City of Houston as an MWSBE/PDBE or DBE firm and are not currently doing business with the City of Houston as a prime contractor or subcontractor? >> Create an Account
- Are you familiar with this Office of Business Opportunity system and already know your user name and password? >> Login
- Do you need assistance with account registration or logging into the Office of Business Opportunity system? >> Customer Support

After logging in to your account, click the Submit HHF Application link on the right side of the page or select View > My HHF Applications from the left menu.

This experience requires Javascript

We've detected that your browser does not have Javascript enabled for this site. Please enable Javascript and reload this page to continue.

Loading
It appears you have deactivated your alerts. This probably occurred when you clicked the checkbox that said "Prevent this page from creating additional dialogs".
Image of checkbox deactivation alert
Because the alerts have been disabled, your confirmation action cannot be captured and we cannot proceed with this process.
To clear this issue and get you on your way, it will be necessary to (1) log-off, (2) log back in, and (3) return to this process. In some cases, it may be necessary to completely close this Internet browser and other related windows after you logoff to fully clear the setting.
When presented in the future with an alert, please do not click the "Prevent this page from creating additional dialogs" checkbox, as the situation will repeat.
Thank you!