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Madison County implements online registration system for vendors

Madison County is changing the way it does business with its vendors as part of an effort to increase competition and save money.

The county spends around $35 million annually on goods and services, buying things such a toilet paper, office supplies, vehicles, as well as construction costs for building renovations or parking lot repairs.

For years, the county relied on a list of vendors to provide many of its goods and services. Whenever the county’s Purchasing Department would receive a request to buy items, it would contact four to five vendors on the list and request bids.

The process is now changing.

Chairman Kurt Prenzler wanted to put a plan so more vendors could do business with the county.

“After nearly two years it’s up and running,” Prenzler said this month.

Anyone wanting to do business in Madison County will now be required to register online.

“The process will be easier for vendors and contractors to see the needs of the county,” Prenzler said. “It will increase competition, which will lead to better pricing and therefore save the county and taxpayers money.”

Now, the county will accept bids and quotes online for everything it needs to buy, and any business can sign up to receive e-mail notices when an opportunity becomes available. The county will still be required to advertise bids for goods/services that are more than $30,000.

The Purchasing Department worked with the county’s IT Department to create the online registration and e-mail notification system. Application Support Programmer Anton Strickland wrote the code for the new support system.

Purchasing Director Linda Ogden said the process for the online vendor registration took nearly two years to complete. She said the first step was researching software and companies that deal with government procurement processes.

“There were some great companies out there, but it really wasn’t the savings we wanted to see,” Ogden said. “Most were free for the county to post its information, however a vendor was required to pay a fee to receive the information.”

Ogden said it would have prevented smaller businesses from signing up if they were required to pay to get the information.

“It’s not what the chairman wanted,” she said. “For business to pay to get the information.”

The second step was building the online registration system.

“It took more than a year for it to all come together,” Ogden said.

Ogden said her department would continue to notify its regular vendors about upcoming bids, however she hopes to end the practice once the new system becomes established. Also, some bids won’t be submitted simply with the press of a mouse button because officials will be required to hold a pre-bid conference.

“Some of the contracts we do require pre-bid notification before the vendors receive a bid packet,” Ogden said.

Prenzler said he’s proud of the product the county put together.

“With the exposure that comes through the Internet, we hope that more vendors will learn of the county’s needs, which should bring lower prices,” he said.

To receive e-mails inviting bids and quotes, vendors must open an account. Visit the county home page at www.co.madison.il.us, then go to Departments link and select Purchasing.

Select the “Bids and Proposals/Vendor Registration” button. Next, select “Vendor Login” in the left corner to create a new account.

 

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