Iowa government bids for small agencies

Where Iowa, its cities and counties post their bids, how to register, and the open ones that suit a small web, software, video or marketing agency right now.

Open right now

No Iowa bids on our vetted list at the moment. New ones turn up most weeks; the free Monday email brings the best five.

Where Iowa posts its bids

State bids: State of Iowa Bid Opportunities. The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) lists active state bid opportunities here, with awarded and closed bids too. Any business can check current opportunities at any time without an account.
Register as a vendor: IMPACS Vendor Portal (free). Registering in IMPACS gets you email notices of bids that match the commodity codes you pick, and lets you respond online. DAS says there is no charge to get on the state bidders list.
Technology buying: IT Procurement - Contracts, Sourcing, and Vendor Management (Iowa Department of Management). The Department of Management runs state IT procurement, IT master agreements and IT vendor management. IT vendors register in IMPACS with the right commodity codes to get state IT bid emails.
Small business certification: Targeted Small Business (TSB) Program. The Iowa Economic Development Authority certifies Iowa businesses that are majority owned and run by women, people with minority status, service-connected disabled veterans or people with disabilities. Certified TSBs are listed in an online public directory.
Free bid coaching: CIRAS APEX Accelerator (Iowa State University): the state's APEX Accelerator helps small businesses with registrations and proposals at no cost.

Big city, county and agency buyers

Each of these runs its own bid page, and most want you registered in their system too.

Buyer	Bid page	Runs on
City of Des Moines	Open bids	Ionwave
Polk County	Open bids	their own website
City of Cedar Rapids	Open bids	Ionwave
City of Davenport	Open bids	Ionwave
Des Moines Public Schools	Open bids	their own website
Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART)	Open bids	Bonfire

Good to know

To get State of Iowa bid notifications, you must be registered under the right IMPACS commodity codes in the IMPACS Vendor Portal. source
TSB certification requires less than $4 million in gross income, averaged over the preceding three fiscal years. source
The City of Cedar Rapids accepts bids only through its Ionwave e-procurement system, and registration there is at no cost. source
The City of Davenport requires electronic submission for all bids, RFPs and quotes. source

Before you bid

Registering takes time, so do it before you find the perfect bid: how to get registered, and how to write a capability statement (with a free template).