SERVING MONTANA GOVERNMENT & EDUCATION AGENCIES
THE EPROCUREMENT PLATFORM MONTANA AGENCIES CHOOSE TO MODERNIZE PROCUREMENT
Built for county commissions and town clerks, published bid notices and everyday purchases, local funds and federal grant projects. PlanetBids adapts to the requirements your agency must meet and keeps a complete, timestamped record of every solicitation, notice, bid, and award. Contact us to learn about cooperative purchasing options available to Montana agencies.
Montana agenciesCooperative purchasing options are available to allow your agency to purchase PlanetBids without a new competitive solicitation. Ask our team about options for your agency type.
TRUSTED BY AGENCIES ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN WEST
From the Rocky Mountains to the Great Basin Desert to the Great Salt Lake, government agencies across the Western U.S. count on PlanetBids to run compliant, transparent, modern procurement.
CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT
HOW THE CITY OF RENO STREAMLINED OPERATIONS
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Suppliers expressed a preference for online bid submissions – allowing the City to quickly eliminate the dual system it planned to run at initial launch.
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The City expanded usage from general goods and services to the Public Works Department in just a few months, maintaining operational continuity throughout.
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All documents and requirements are in one place, saving time when searching for specific documents or files.
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The City has expanded its vendor network and reaches more potential bidders by going beyond posting in the local newspaper and on its website.
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Centralized and organized workflows give staff step-by-step guidance, deadline tracking and easy access to documentation all in one place.
"The system provides a really easy, step-by-step guide that helps me stay organized and ensure submissions are complete and meet deadlines. It has resulted in a larger vendor pool with greater competition and increased diversity in subcontracting."
Marcie Wood
Purchasing Program Management Assistant, City of Reno
MONTANA PROCUREMENT COMPLIANCE
BUILT FOR HOW MONTANA AGENCIES ARE REQUIRED TO BUY
Montana law requires counties, cities, and towns to publish a notice for bids on purchases and construction contracts above $80,000 and to award to the lowest responsible bidder. PlanetBids is engineered to streamline your processes no matter which procurement method applies, automating manual tasks and producing a complete, timestamped exportable record of the notices, bids, evaluations, and awards your agency runs.
Bid Notice & Award Records
PlanetBids centralizes the solicitation, bid receipt, and lowest responsible bidder award record for county and city or town purchases, giving the agency a record of the processes it followed.
Published Notice Records
Keep the dates and content of the published bid notice with the solicitation file, and post new solicitations in the PlanetBids vendor portal for automatic notification to registered vendors, supplementing rather than replacing the statutorily required publication method.
Montana Contractor Preference
Keep a record of ow optional Montana contractor preference was applied when bids were evaluated so your agency can defend awards if questioned. Whether to use the preference, and who qualifies, stays the agency's determination.
Conflict of Interest Records
PlanetBids holds conflict of interest disclosures and other required evaluator agreement acknowledgements with the bid file for agency review.
Department of Commerce Grant Procurement
PlanetBids gathers the solicitation, bid, and award records for grant-funded projects into an organized and easily accessible file, supporting the procurement documentation and executed agreements grantees send to the Department of Commerce.
Federal DBE & Procurement Method
PlanetBids tracks and manages business certifications from vendors and supports good faith effort documentation for DOT-assisted projects, keeping a record of the formal and informal methods used on federally-funded purchases.
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING
Cooperative Purchasing Options
Montana agencies may be able to purchase PlanetBids through an existing cooperative contract like the Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS), eliminating the need for a new competitive solicitation. Ask your PlanetBids rep about available cooperative vehicles for your agency type.
PROCUREMENT EXPERTISE
NPI-CERTIFIED
PlanetBids is certified as an Achievement in Excellence in Procurement® (AEP) eProcurement Certified platform by the National Procurement Institute, meeting critical standards for Electronic Sourcing (AEP Criteria 7b) and Electronic Evaluations and Automatic Scorecarding (7c).
EVENT PRESENCE
INDUSTRY EVENT SPONSOR
PlanetBids is a proud member of NIGP and a regular attendee and sponsor of the annual NIGP Annual Forum, as well as attending annual American Public Works Association and Government Finance Officers Association event.
THE PLATFORM
EVERYTHING YOUR PROCUREMENT TEAM NEEDS, NOTHING YOU DON'T.
PlanetBids is a modular, end-to-end procurement lifecycle platform. Start with what you need and add modules as your agency grows.
Requests & Solicitations
Create, publish, and manage IFBs, RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs from guided templates. Get live countdowns, drag-and-drop documents, and real-time status tracking.
Vendor Management
Create a centralized vendor registry with real-time Empire State Development MWBE and SDVOB certification verification. Automated outreach by commodity code generates good-faith effort documentation for State Comptroller pre-audit packages and Empire State Development utilization reports.
Compliance & Audit Trails
Every action is timestamped and logged, with automatic bid tabulation, sealed bid verification, and complete documentation trails that hold up to protests – $50B+ processed, zero valid protests.
Contract Management
Centralize awarded contracts with automated expiration alerts, amendment tracking, and insurance certificate management so you ever miss a renewal or compliance deadline.
Project Evaluation
Multi-round scoring with unlimited evaluators, consensus or individual scoring modes, and exportable matrices supports complex RFP evaluations for capital projects and bond programs.
AI with Guardrails
AI tools are built specifically for public procurement, with the compliance controls government agencies require. Get faster drafting and smarter vendor matching, within the boundaries your policies demand.
Requests & Solicitations
Create, publish, and manage IFBs, RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs from guided templates. Get live countdowns, drag-and-drop documents, and real-time status tracking.
Vendor Management
Create a centralized vendor registry with real-time Empire State Development MWBE and SDVOB certification verification. Automated outreach by commodity code generates good-faith effort documentation for State Comptroller pre-audit packages and Empire State Development utilization reports.
Compliance & Audit Trails
Every action is timestamped and logged, with automatic bid tabulation, sealed bid verification, and complete documentation trails that hold up to protests – $50B+ processed, zero valid protests.
Contract Management
Centralize awarded contracts with automated expiration alerts, amendment tracking, and insurance certificate management so you ever miss a renewal or compliance deadline.
Project Evaluation
Multi-round scoring with unlimited evaluators, consensus or individual scoring modes, and exportable matrices supports complex RFP evaluations for capital projects and bond programs.
AI with Guardrails
AI tools are built specifically for public procurement, with the compliance controls government agencies require. Get faster drafting and smarter vendor matching, within the boundaries your policies demand.
THE VENDOR ADVANTAGE
MORE QUALIFIED BIDDERS, ZERO VENDOR PHONE CALLS TO YOUR TEAM.
A deep, pre-qualified vendor network and a dedicated support team handles vendors for you, so your purchasing office can focus on procurement, not vendor phone calls.
VENDOR
NETWORK
40K+ qualified vendors ready to bid on your solicitations
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Vendors are matched to your bids by commodity code, no manual outreach lists required
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Agencies typically jump from 3-4 responses to 10-12 submittals per bid after switching to PlanetBids
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Empire State Development MWBE and SDVOB classifications are built in to meet Montana's 30% MWBE utilization goals for state-funded projects
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Vendors can register and bid for free, removing the friction that keeps small businesses out
EXCLUSIVE
DEDICATED
VENDOR SUPPORT
We help your vendors so you don't have to
When a vendor has a question about your solicitation, how to upload documents, or how to register, they call us, not your purchasing office. Our dedicated vendor support team handles it directly so your team stays focused on procurement. For you, this means no more:
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Vendor registration help calls
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Document upload questions
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Bid submission troubleshooting
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Addenda & notification questions
Results: Fewer incomplete bids, more competitive responses, and hours back in your team's week, every single procurement cycle.
VENDOR NETWORK
40K+ qualified vendors ready to bid on your solicitations
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Vendors are matched to your bids by commodity code, no manual outreach lists required
-
Agencies typically jump from 3-4 responses to 10-12 submittals per bid after switching to PlanetBids
-
Empire State Development MWBE and SDVOB classifications are built in to meet Montana's 30% MWBE utilization goals for state-funded projects
-
Vendors can register and bid for free, removing the friction that keeps small businesses out
DEDICATED VENDOR SUPPORT
We help your vendors so you don't have to
When a vendor has a question about your solicitation, how to upload documents, or how to register, they call us, not your purchasing office. Our dedicated vendor support team handles it directly so your team stays focused on procurement. For you, this means no more:
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Vendor registration help calls
-
Document upload questions
-
Bid submission troubleshooting
-
Addenda & notification questions
Results: Fewer incomplete bids, more competitive responses, and hours back in your team's week, every single procurement cycle.
WHO WE ARE
Built by procurement professionals, for procurement professionals
PlanetBids was founded specifically for the public procurement industry, and we understand the needs of procurement professionals. That origin matters, as every feature, every workflow, and every support interaction are designed to reflect how actual purchasing teams manage work under budget pressure, public scrutiny, and legal compliance requirements.
Designed for public procurement since 2000
We're not an ERP company that added a procurement module. We're not a startup that pivoted into GovTech. We're not a big conglomerate chasing a new market. We are a 25-year-old company whose entire business is built around making procurement professionals more effective.
100% US-based support staff with procurement backgrounds
Our in-house support team includes people with real public procurement backgrounds. When you call with a question about sealed bid procedures or vendor protest prevention, you're talking to someone who has managed that process themselves and understands your issues.
A solid foundation of PlanetBids agencies
550+ agencies. 1,000+ users. 99% retention. Zero valid bid protests across $50B+ in contracts processed. Our company has stayed focused on one thing for 25 years, and we have the track record to prove it.
WHAT MONTANA PROCUREMENT TEAMS ASK US MOST
Can our Montana agency purchase PlanetBids without going through a new bid process?
Potentially yes. Depending on your agency type and purchasing thresholds, cooperative purchasing options may be available that allow Montana agencies to execute a contract without issuing a new competitive solicitation. PlanetBids is available on the Interlocal Purchasing Systme (TIPS) as a cooperative contract. Contact our team to discuss the procurement paths available for your specific agency.
If a direct procurement path is preferred, our team can provide pre-approved legal resolution language addressing common counsel concerns.
Does PlanetBids integrate with our ERP?
Yes, PlanetBids provides API integration with ERP and financial platforms. The integration passes awarded contract data, vendor information, and purchase requisitions between systems, eliminating duplicate entry while maintaining your ERP as the financial system of record.
PlanetBids handles the vendor-facing competitive bidding process, vendor management, bid solicitation, evaluation, and award, then pushes clean contract and vendor data into your ERP for encumbrance and payment processing. Most clients keep their ERP for accounting while using PlanetBids for the public procurement workflow.
Can PlanetBids help us document how we apply a Montana contractor preference when we evaluate bids?
Yes, PlanetBids keeps the evaluation record, including how a preference was applied and weighted, with the rest of the bid file, so your team can show its work if an award is questioned. Whether to use the preference stays your agency's decision.
We receive grant funding through the Department of Commerce. Can PlanetBids help us assemble the procurement documentation we send upstream?
Yes, the solicitation, bid, and award record for grant-funded projects are kept together and can be easily exported, so your team isn't rebuilding the file at the end of the project.
Our county has its own purchasing policy, and the rules may change. Does PlanetBids need to be rebuilt each time?
No. PlanetBids is designed to adapt to whatever your agency's workflow or requirements are, no matter how they change. Updates to these regulations and requirements will not impact how PlanetBids' functions or records your steps, so there is no rebuild needed.
We're a small town with limited staff. Is PlanetBids too complicated for us?
Absolutely not. PlanetBids is designed to scale to any agency size, from one-person purchasing offices to large procurement departments. It is built to automate the time-consuming manual tasks that often slow down small procurement teams, saving time and using budget more efficiently.
Our published bid notices are handled separately. Does PlanetBids replace them?
That depends on your state or local agency's requirements. PlanetBids provides a digital vendor portal that allows you to post new solicitations and lets your suppliers to register and receive automatic notifications for those new projects. They can submit secure digital bids in the portal and receive all communications regarding projects, Q&A, and addenda as well. If your agency is still required to post solicitations directly onto your website or a local newspaper, the vendor portal would supplement that and document the posting.
How long does implementation take?
Most agencies can be up and running in just a few weeks, including implementation, training, customization, integration, and vendor migration. No additional IT support is typically required.
PlanetBids does charge a one-time setup fee that covers all implementation and training. There are no per-bid, transaction, or vendor fees.
How much does PlanetBids cost?
PlanetBids is a SaaS subscription-based pricing module, with tiers designed around specific functionality and features, as well as number of bids per year and number of full user licenses required. Pricing is customized to each agency, so we recommend speaking to our sales team for a tailored quote.
READY TO MODERNIZE PROCUREMENT FOR YOUR MONTANA AGENCY?
Book a 30-minute demo with a member of our dedicated public sector sales team. We'll show you the platform, walk through the TIPS contract process, and answer questions specific to your agency type.
Available on TIPS cooperative with no new RFP required
Works in conjunction with your agency's own requirements, processes, and policies and adapts as workflows change
US-based in-house support with extensive procurement expertise
Pricing is tiered, with options for any agency size and budget
99% client retention means our agencies love us