OCEAN COUNTY SHARES RESOURCES WITH PUBLIC AGENCIES
TOMS RIVER _ Sharing information on buying products and vendors is an efficient and cost effective way of doing
business, says Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari.
And, with that in mind, Vicari today encouraged public agencies to take advantage of the wealth of information
found on the county’s Bid Portal.
“The bid portal is the county’s online bid processing system which was initiated in 2002 to help vendors do business
with the county,” Vicari said. “Today, this also serves as a great source of information for all of our municipalities
and our school districts.”
Vicari noted that by visiting the bid portal which can be accessed from the county website at co.ocean.nj.us, public
agencies can tap into all the bids, the vendors and contract information that the county works with.
“Writing bid specifications alone takes a great deal of time and expertise,” Vicari said. “With that information already
online a town or school district can just take the information and tailor it to their needs.”
In addition, schools and towns can use vendors the county has already awarded bids and contracts to so long as the
vendor chooses to extend to other agencies.
“The bottomline is by using the county’s bid portal, our towns and school districts can lessen their costs and save on
paperwork and leg work because the county has already done it,” Vicari said. “There are a host of items that we all use.
There is no need for everyone to perform the same work such as preparing bid specifications when it has already been
done.”
Vicari said some of the items listed include paper, janitorial supplies, buildings and grounds equipment.
“The list is extensive,” Vicari said. “This is truly a valuable tool for all of us to use.”
Currently there are 1,718 vendors registered on the Bid Portal. Vendors can register and access the bids online
24-hours a day, seven days a week.
“These vendors provide services from acoustical ceiling tiles to agricultural supplies, to bottled water to
first aid supplies,” Vicari said. “With that many vendors listed there is little that is not available on the portal.
“This essentially allows outside agencies to purchase products that they need without having to go through the bidding
process again,” Vicari said. “It’s a virtual supermarket for public agencies.”
Peggy Bruno, Ocean County’s Assistant Purchasing Agent, said Ocean County is one of only six counties who have the
county cooperative purchasing system allowing any public agency within the county to use its bids.
“This saves our communities and taxpayers a significant amount of time and money,” Vicari said.
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