Two elevator companies say they got the shaft when the Hamilton County Commission recently awarded an elevator maintenance contract to ThyssenKrupp Elevator while rejecting their bids.
The companies – Kone and Otis Elevator Co. – allege the county wrote its bid specifications to exclude their companies. But county officials said Kone – which has held the county contract for 10 years – had the opportunity to meet the bid requirements and chose not to.
The contract is worth $821,747 over 10 years and covers the maintenance of 23 county elevators.