The City of Allentown purchases more than $30 million in goods and services annually across all funds.

The city Purchasing Department has developed a quick ten question on-line survey designed to ascertain how it can better serve city vendors.

“We don’t want to leave any stone unturned,” said Allentown Purchasing Agent Jessica Baraket. “We stand ready to individually contact those who may have substantial concerns so that we can begin to start, build or mend a relationship.”

The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YDNLTWP. It is also available on the City of Allentown’s Purchasing Department website, https://www.allentownpa.gov/Finance/Purchasing, under the Vendors Tab.

“I can’t help but feel that a number of small businesses are missing out on a golden opportunity. The city has hundreds of employees who have to be equipped to do their jobs. The city also maintains dozens of properties. We need supplies, equipment and services to make it all work,” Baraket stressed.

The City’s Purchasing Department utilizes a free automated vendor/bidder notification process called “Public Purchase.” All vendors are required to register and participate in this electronic system in order to receive automated bid notification from the City for the purchase of supplies, materials, services and equipment. The registration process is free and easy and only requires about 20 minutes.

The vendor/bidder registration entails entering company information, contact names, etc., and selecting commodity/class-item codes for those products and services your company represents. Solicitation notices for upcoming bid requirements will be sent to vendors based upon the selected codes.

Interested vendors can register electronically at http://www.publicpurchase.com.

Vendors should be sure to enter a valid email address in their profile to properly receive any notifications from the Public Purchase system. Information such as Commodity/Class Item Codes which define the products and/or services your company represents is vital to the electronic notification process and without them, your company will not receive bid notices.

More information on registration is available from the Purchasing Department website at https://www.allentownpa.gov/Finance/Purchasing/Vendors or by emailing purchasing.agent@allentownpa.gov.

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