Atlantic County will soon start taking bids using a new automated online bidding service during its transition to full paperless bidding.
“This system will improve the process on both ends, for our staff and most importantly, for our vendors,” stated County Executive Dennis Levinson. “It will eliminate the costs for vendors to hand deliver bids or hire someone to do it for them. It will also provide automated notifications to vendors of bid solicitations and check for errors if information has been omitted prior to submission.”
The county awarded a $103,000 contract to Bid Express late last year and began training staff and notifying vendors of the upcoming transition.
According to Purchasing Director Palma Conover, the county will start using the new system this summer with the goal of being fully paperless by the end of the year.
Conover noted that vendors will have secure access to their bids and will also be able to correct or modify their bids prior to each bid submission deadline.
They will also be notified if all required documents are not completed rather than facing rejection of a bid for that reason.
Vendors must be registered at www.bidexpress.com to be notified of future Atlantic County bid opportunities. They will then receive notices and be able to review each solicitation they want to bid on electronically.
“We believe this electronic bidding system will help streamline the process and also save a tremendous amount of paper and time needed to prepare hard copy bids,” Levinson said.
While the Bid Express system is used by many organizations with associated fees, the county is waiving any fees for vendors bidding on Atlantic County projects.
