MARINAIR FREIGHT FORWARD, INC., D/B/A GRAPHIC PRODUCTIONS CO., APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1982-09-21
No. AN-389
MILLS and ERVIN, JJ., concur.
419 So. 2d 1136 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1982)

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Synopsis

Graphic Productions challenged the Florida Department of Commerce's denial of its protest against a printing contract award to the lowest bidder, Universal Printing, a Missouri corporation not registered to do business in Florida at the time of bidding. The court affirmed the department's decision, holding that Chapter 607 does not require foreign corporations to register before submitting bids on printing projects.


Holding

The court held that Chapter 607 does not require a foreign corporation to register to do business in Florida before submitting a bid on a printing project. Submitting a bid does not constitute 'doing business' within the meaning of Section 607.304.


Headnotes

[1] A foreign corporation is not required to be registered to do business in Florida prior to submitting a bid on a state printing project.

[2] Submitting a bid for a state printing project does not, in itself, constitute "doing business" in Florida for the purposes of corporate registration requirements.

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Key Quotes

“nothing in Chapter 607 requires a foreign corporation to register to do business in Florida before submitting a bid on a printing project”

States the core holding that registration is not a prerequisite to bidding on printing projects

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Facts & Procedural History

Graphic Productions and Universal Printing, a Missouri corporation, submitted bids on a Florida Department of Commerce printing project. Universal sub…

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Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Judge.

[*1137] WIGGINTON, Judge.

The appellant, Graphic Productions, challenges a Department of Commerce final order denying its formal protest relating to bidding procedures for a proposed department printing project. Graphic contends that because the low bidder, Universal Printing, a Missouri corporation, was not registered to do business in Florida pursuant to Section 607.304, Florida Statutes (1981) at the time it submitted its bid, Universal should be disqualified and the contract awarded to Graphic (the second-lowest bidder).

We affirm because nothing in Chapter 607 requires a foreign corporation to register to do business in Florida before submitting a bid on a printing project.

In this regard the circumstances here are wholly dissimilar to Greenhut Construction Company, Inc. v. Henry A. Knott, Inc., 247 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971), relied upon by Graphic. In Greenhut, this Court reversed a judgment that would have permitted a contractor to bid on a construction project without prior registration. The result in Greenhut was dictated by the unique registration requirements of former Chapter 468, in which “contractor” was defined as one who, among other things, submits a bid to build. In effect the statute specified that to submit a construction bid is to engage in the business of a contractor, thus requiring that a contractor register to do business before bidding.

Here, however, Chapter 607 does not require the conclusion urged by Graphic that, in general, submitting a bid is the equivalent of doing business in Florida. We note that Universal registered with Florida’s Secretary of State within two weeks after the bids were opened. Graphic promptly requested and received this Court’s temporary stay, so Universal and the department have not entered into contract and work has not begun; that is, Universal has not yet “done business” within the meaning of Section 607.304.

Finally we reject Graphic’s contention that the department failed to live up to its Section 120.57 responsibilities in this case. At the department’s invitation, Graphic presented thorough legal argument in support of its protest. Although specifically given the opportunity to raise disputed issues of material fact, Graphic raised none. Therefore, we find that the department’s actions complied with Section 120.57.

Accordingly, we affirm the department’s order denying the protest and we dissolve the temporary stay previously issued in this cause.

MILLS and ERVIN, JJ., concur.


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