The application managers provided updates to the City’s ePro bidding system on September 20 and 21, 2024. If you encounter any difficulties, please reach out to procurement@topeka.org for assistance.
Contractor Events
The Contracts and Procurement Division is excited to announce upcoming 2025 opportunities for the vendor community!
These events will provide valuable insights on how to offer goods and services to the City of Topeka. Stay tuned — event dates and details will be shared in February!
We look forward to engaging with our vendor community and fostering new opportunities for collaboration.
Kansas APEX Accelerator
Helping Kansas businesses with local, state or federal government contracting assistance!
Visit APEX Accelerator to register for FREE workshops or services: https://www.wichita.edu/research/kansasptac/
- 12/03 – Business Development Maximizers: The SBA and DoD Mentor-Protégé Programs-online meeting
- 12/10 – Competing for Government Contracts: Basic Training-in person Johnson County Community College
Mission Statement
The Contracts and Procurement Division of the City of Topeka, Kansas, is responsible for the acquisition of goods and services used by all city departments. It is the objective of the city to procure the necessary goods and services at the lowest possible cost, consistent with the quality needed to meet its requirements, and to ensure that its citizens receive the maximum value for each dollar expended.
What is procurement?
Procurement is a strategic process that involves the acquisition of goods and services. It is more involved than simply making a purchase, as it consists of a series of steps. Procurement includes purchasing, but first involves identifying the organization’s needs, conducting market analysis to understand the specific industry, evaluating life-cycle costs and depreciation, developing the appropriate scope of work or specification documents, determining the appropriate method for competitively selecting suppliers, negotiating terms and conditions of deliverables and fees, and actively and effectively managing supplier relationships.
Topeka E-Procurement Supplier Portal
The e-procurement website, or e-pro, allows for the electronic exchange of information between the city and suppliers. Businesses must be registered in the e-pro system in order to respond to open bid events and offer their goods and services to the city organization. Suppliers can now register online.
If you are already a vendor for the city but are not registered, you must register your business as a supplier in e-Pro to receive notifications of bid opportunities and to respond to bid events.
- Watch a short video on How to Register as Supplier on the City of Topeka’s Supplier Portal.
- Watch the video on How to Respond to a Bid Event on the Supplier Portal.
- Watch a short video on How to Navigate the City of Topeka Website.
Notice to Bidders
The City of Topeka shall not be held liable or legally bound by any software limitations or defect. The City of Topeka operates under and is subject to the Central Time Zone (CST or CDT).
The City of Topeka strives to include as many suppliers to enhance the competitive sealed bidding process. The City is unable to include every supplier in all events that they may be able to quote on. Registration on the city’s e-pro website does not guarantee an organization will receive notification of every bidding opportunity.
The City of Topeka attempts to maintain continuous access to the supplier portal. However, from time to time, access may be interrupted or prevented due to maintenance, site problems, Internet problems, or problems experienced by the user due to the user’s computer system. The city makes no warranty that the supplier portal will be uninterrupted or error-free. Regardless of the source of any problem, it is the user’s responsibility to ensure that its bid is timely received. Because of the discrepancies inherent in timing mechanisms (e.g. cell phones, computers, mobile devices), the bid time will be determined based upon the time indicated on the city server for the Strategic Sourcing application. If the user does not submit its bid at or before the time indicated on the City server for the Strategic Sourcing application, the bid will be electronically rejected by the Strategic Sourcing application as untimely.
The City shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses resulting from: (i) the use or the inability to use the supplier portal; (ii) unauthorized access to or alteration of the user’s transmissions or data; or (iii) any other matter relating to the supplier portal.
It shall be the bidder’s responsibility to advise the City of Topeka of any specifications, language, other requirements, or combinations thereof that restrict or limit bidding. Such notification must be submitted in writing and must be received by the Contracts and Procurement Division no later than five (5) days prior to the bid closing. The specifications were written with the intent of permitting competitive bidding. The City of Topeka reserves the right to waive minor deviations in the specifications that inadvertently restrict bidding to a single manufacturer (or vendor) or when such deviations do not alter or deter the City from accomplishing the intended use or function. Each bid shall include descriptive literature and specifications for the product. However, the provision of this material shall not be considered a substitute for listing deviations.
Amendments to Bids: To ensure maximum access opportunities for users, events and solicitations shall typically be posted for a minimum of ten (10) days, and no amendments shall typically be made within the last three days before the event or solicitation is due. Bidders and vendors are cautioned that the competitive nature of their offers could be affected if their submission does not include all amendments. For this reason, bidders and vendors are advised to revisit all solicitations to which they intend to respond three (3) days prior to the due date. It is the bidder’s or vendor’s responsibility to check the website from time to time for updates to events and solicitations and to pick up additional addenda and information.
All bids shall be considered firm for a period of forty-five (45) calendar days from the bid opening date, unless otherwise stated in the bid specification document(s).
If bidders have a concern about bid specifications or any term or condition that they believe restricts competition, bidders must contact, in writing, the procurement buyer assigned no later than five (5) days prior to bid closing. Upon receipt, the procurement buyer will research the issue and provide a response within five (5) days. Failure to submit a question or concern within the five (5) day period will waive any right the bidder may have to challenge the bid or a bid award.
Outside Resources
- Office of Minority and Women Business Development: This website is a great resource for businesses looking to gain insight into the education and certification process with the State of Kansas.
- State of Kansas eSupplier Public Portal: This website lists all current and past contracts that the State of Kansas has in place. Vendors can review bidding opportunities regarding the State of Kansas through this website.
- State of Kansas Bonding Statute (KSA 60-1111): This website lists the State of Kansas Public Works Bonding Statutes, which require bonding for the purpose of public improvement projects, or the constructing of any public building or making repairs on the same, when construction is estimated to be over the amount of $100,000.00.
- Shawnee County Purchasing: This website lists all current and awarded contracts for Shawnee County, Kansas. Vendors can review bidding opportunities and awards regarding the County through this website.
- Debarred Vendor List: This website lists any barred vendors from bidding on County or City opportunities.
- Kansas PTAC: The Kansas Procurement Technical Assistance Center seeks to help Kansas businesses with local, state, and federal government contracting assistance. They provide counseling and training seminars regarding contract issues and the latest guidelines to help businesses learn about procurement systems.