Vendor Communication No. 7 — Primary Category Launch

Sent to the full vendor base (any vendor with a contact email, not rejected) on August 6, 2026 — every vendor listing now has a single Primary Category field.

The Vendor Wall Ranks Top 10 Per Category

The public Vendor Wall has always shown only the 10 highest-scoring vendors in each category — ranked by RHTP Fitness Score, rural fit, RHTP alignment, and profile completeness. That cap is unchanged. What changed is which category a vendor is ranked in: previously a vendor could be considered for every category its AI-derived capability tags touched; now each vendor has one Primary Category and is only ranked for a top-10 spot in that one.

Existing Vendors Got a Temporary Auto-Pick

Every vendor that predates this field was automatically assigned a temporary primary category — their first AI-selected capability tag — so existing rankings didn't go stale while the field rolled out. Vendors can confirm or change this pick at any time from their profile; the change applies immediately and does not require admin approval, unlike other profile edits.

Search and Matchmaker Are Unaffected

Primary Category only changes Vendor Wall placement. The vendor directory search and the applicant Vendor Matchmaker still see and weigh every capability on a vendor's profile — primary-category signals are simply prioritized within that existing matching logic, nothing is hidden.