http://www.keystoneedge.com/innovationnews/municibid0204.aspx
Keystone Edge, 2/4/2010
The sealed-bid process used by Pennsylvania’s myriad municipalities--the state is home to 2,500 of 85,000 nationwide--is a longstanding method by which they sell outdated, unneeded or surplus equipment, like fire trucks and tractors. Some, however, believe the process is not as open nor competitive as it could be.
No one knows this better than Greg Berry, who sat on Pottstown’s borough council in Montgomery County for a number of years.
“Every penny counts, especially with the economy and assessed real estate values going down,” says Berry. “Municipalities need every opportunity to increase revenue without putting it on the backs of taxpayers.”
Berry, who also owns an IT company called Pointsolve with offices in Pottstown and Lebanon, figured there had to be a better way. So Berry took the process online with his startup Municibid, getting notices in front of a larger audience, allowing bids to be viewable and thus increasing the amount and dollar amount of bids.
“I saw this pain trying to sell no longer needed items and it wasn’t effective,” says Berry. “No one was seeing these items for sale.
“This puts everyone on the same plane. Now a bidder isn’t limited to going down to the township building during business hours to fill out bid paperwork. They can bid at home at night in their underwear.”
Unlike competitors who typically charge a commission (up to 7.5 percent), municibid charges a flat fee of $500 that includes an unlimited amount of auctions, and customers don’t get invoiced until after they sell their first item.
About 200 municipalities nationwide, as far away as Oklahoma and Michigan, are using municibid, with PA representing its largest customer base by far. Barry expects growth to escalate and is hoping to have 1,000 municipalities using the service by the end of the year.
Source: Greg Berry, Municibid
Writer: Joe Petrucci
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