Milwaukee County Transit System joins online bid, quote operation
The Milwaukee County Transit System is now posting bids and quotes online, at DemandStar.com. The Internet marketplace was created to unite local government purchasers with suppliers of goods and services.
According to DemandStar representatives, MCTS is the first transit system in the nation to use the online bidding service as well as the first public agency in Wisconsin to do so.
Transit System managing director Thomas P. Kujawa expects to gain efficiencies through the system. "Posting our bids online helps us broaden our reach to more suppliers," he said. "Plus, we’ll be able to save time and reduce administrative costs associated with our bid process."
Suppliers can register online by county, state or nationally, and gain access to all of the member agencies in their territories. It is not mandatory that suppliers register for the service.
MCTS hopes that a significant number of its regular suppliers will take advantage of the technology and sign up with DemandStar.
DemandStar’s Sam Chesser said the operation has agreements with more than 230 government agencies in 30 states, along with thousands of suppliers.
Nextel expands coverage area
Nextel Communications (www.nextel.com) has expanded its Wisconsin coverage area to include Theresa, Morrisonville, Lake Delton, downtown Kenosha, Bristol and downtown Beloit. "It is our intent as a company to greatly expand our presence in the Wisconsin marketplace in 2001," said Dan LeDonne, Wisconsin general manager, Nextel Communications. The company, a business-to-business wireless provider, entered the Wisconsin marketplace in 1997. Today it employs 55 people at its Waukesha sales office, 20800 Swenson Dr., and six in its Madison sales office, 1818 W. Beltline Hwy.
New business database released
More than 20,000 manufacturing and service companies throughout the US are profiled in the Wisconsin All-Business Database released by Harris InfoSource and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
The new database was created by combining the existing WMC/Harris InfoSource Wisconsin manufacturers database with the new Wisconsin services database.
"The information in the 2001 Wisconsin All-Business Database enables sales and marketing professionals to quickly identify their best prospects in the Badger State," said David Wilkof, vice president of sales and marketing at Harris InfoSource, based in Twinsburg, Ohio. The database has as many as 15 contacts per firm.
Web sites:
– www.ovoland.com, a New York City-based not-for-profit group of visual artists, filmmakers, writers, directors and actors. A recent OVO project was "The World’s Best Prom," a documentary film profiling high school "prom-mania" as it occurs in Racine.
– www.hotelmetro.com, a new site for the Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee, designed to reflect the hotel’s sophisticated image. The site features on-line room registration requests, panoramic views through QuickTime video, dynamic menus for the restaurant, details on banquet facilities, and registration for an e-mail newsletter. Hotel personnel are enabled to update the site’s content.
– www.firststage.org, a site for Milwaukee’s First State Children’s Theater. The site provides information on the organization’s mission, its schedule, tools for teachers, resources for families, and an activity section for youth.
– www.polacheck.com, the corporate Web site of The Polacheck Co. of Milwaukee. The redesigned site for the real estate company includes a new look, updated functionality, and a new online newsletter.
– A redesigned site for Durant/Eaton/Cutler-Hammer in Watertown. The site, www.durant.com, will allow for integrated e-business and end-user e-commerce applications. The site is slated for introduction in the first quarter of this year.
– A redesigned site for Universal Strap of Jackson, a manufacturer of webbing products such as luggage straps, camera straps, suspenders and WWJD wristbands. The site can be found at www.ustrap.com.
– Hosting and upgrades for www.progressiveimage.com, the site of Progressive Images of New Berlin, a distributor and assembler of electronics parts.
