RAPID CITY, SD—The City of Rapid City is transitioning to an electronic bidding platform as part of its procurement process. The upgrade will be implemented by January 1 and will impact the way the City manages its bids and proposals with contractors, consultants, vendors and other community partners.
The City of Rapid City is contracting with PlanetBids to modernize its procurement operations. The agreement, the first for PlanetBids in South Dakota, will cover the City’s entire procurement process from requests and solicitation creation to evaluations and bid awards. Officials indicate the new procurement format will move the City of Rapid City from a fully manual procurement process to a centralized integrated platform.
“The new electronic bidding platform will be a major upgrade and improvement in how the City does its procurement business,” said City Public Works Administrative Operations Manager Shannon Truax. “Our current process, which has been in place for many years, still relies heavily on manual processes and data entry, emails, paper documents, and manually tracking information through several different steps. That takes time, creates duplicate work, and increases the opportunity for errors. It can also make the process more complicated than it needs to be for businesses that want to work with the City.”
The City manages a broad procurement program across public works, infrastructure, professional services and general operations across numerous departments.
Truax says the change will be implemented over the next several months.
“We will be transitioning to an electronic procurement platform that will bring much of this work into one centralized system,” Truax said. “ For our contractors, consultants, and vendors, this removes the time, cost, and uncertainty of getting a paper bid or proposal physically delivered to City Hall by the deadline. They can submit electronically from anywhere and receive confirmation that their submission was received.”
For City staff, the new process means less manual data entry, fewer opportunities for errors, better recordkeeping, and a more consistent process. The platform will also provide better tools for managing RFPs (Request For Proposals), including distributing proposals to evaluation teams, documenting scoring, and maintaining the record of the evaluation process.
City Finance Director Daniel Ainslie says the new process will have positive impacts in various areas.
“This platform will give us a foundation to continue improving how we purchase goods and services, manage competitive solicitations, and work with the businesses that serve our community,” Ainslie said. “This will allow us to make better use of staff time, improve consistency and transparency, and add additional procurement improvements as we move forward.”
City contractors and consultants were notified of the change by letter in late October, two full months ahead of implementation scheduled for January 1, 2027.
“We recognize that this will be a change for many of the businesses that regularly work with the City,” Ainslie said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re providing early notification now. This is a preview of what is on the horizon."
Ainslie and Truax indicate the City of Rapid City will be accepting bids using both the existing and new processes during the transition period, so contractors have a chance to become familiar with the system.
Truax said before the system goes live, the City will be providing more information about the new platform, the timeline for the transition, how businesses can register, and what they need to do to prepare. There will also be training sessions scheduled and resources provided to help City customers become familiar with the new process.
Vendors interested in working with the City of Rapid City can register, view open opportunities, and sign up for notifications on new solicitation postings in the City’s new PlanetBids vendor portal at https://vendors.planetbids.com/portal/91054/portal-home.
About PlanetBids
PlanetBids' lifecycle procurement platform helps procurement professionals in the public, private, education, and non-profit sectors streamline their purchasing operations and improve vendor and supplier relationships for better budget and resource management. With tools for bid and vendor management, business certification and insurance tracking, contract and document management, and reporting, PlanetBids is purpose built by procurement industry experts for agencies of all sizes and budgets. To learn more, visit https://planetbids.com.
About the City of Rapid City
The second-largest city in South Dakota, Rapid City sits where the Midwest collides with the Mountain West, right at the edge of the Black Hills, where granite peaks rise above endless prairie and every road leads to something unforgettable. Just minutes from Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and Badlands National Park, Rapid City blends rugged outdoor adventure, deep Native American and Wild West heritage, and a downtown alive with year-round events into one unforgettable basecamp for exploring western South Dakota. Learn more at https://rcgov.org.
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