Guide
Selling IT to the City of Los Angeles
How small tech firms win City of Los Angeles IT contracts: RAMP LA, business certification and local and small business preferences, the city's contracting ordinances, and departments that buy on their own.
The City of Los Angeles posts its bids and proposals on RAMP LA, the Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement, where registration is free. Contractors must meet city ordinances such as living wage and equal benefits where they apply, and certified small and local businesses can gain preferences. Some departments, including the Port, the airports and the Department of Water and Power, run much of their own purchasing.
The City of Los Angeles is a big, decentralized buyer. Each department buys much of its own technology, under citywide rules and ordinances. Small firms can win here, but you have to register in the right place and plan for the city's contract requirements.
RAMP LA
RAMP LA (Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement) is the city's online procurement portal. City departments post bids, requests for proposals and other opportunities there. It replaced the city's older system, the Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network (LABAVN).
- Registration is free, at rampla.org.
- Choose the categories that match your work, so you get notices.
- Some other public bodies in the region post on RAMP LA too, and it also carries private-sector opportunities.
Read each posting for where documents are held and how to submit. Some departments still use their own systems for parts of the process.
Who buys IT
- The Information Technology Agency (ITA) runs the city's shared technology, networks and many enterprise systems.
- The General Services Department handles much citywide purchasing of goods.
- Individual departments buy software, services and support for their own work.
Watch the departments whose work you know. A small contract with one department is often the fastest first win.
Departments with their own purchasing
Under the City Charter, some departments are "proprietary" and are run by their own boards with their own budgets. They generally run much of their own procurement and can have different rules, vendor registration and insurance requirements:
- Port of Los Angeles (Harbor Department)
- Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which also advertises opportunities on RAMP LA
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
Check each department's own procurement pages before you bid, since where they post and what they require can differ from the rest of the city.
Certification and preferences
The city runs programs to widen contracting with small, local and diverse firms. They can include:
- Certification as a small, emerging, minority-owned, women-owned or disabled veteran business. The city's Bureau of Contract Administration runs city certification, and the city may accept some certifications from other agencies.
- A local business preference for firms based in Los Angeles County, and preferences or goals for certified small businesses on some contracts.
- Outreach requirements on some contracts, where prime contractors must show they reached out to subcontractors, often through RAMP LA.
The rules, percentages and which contracts they apply to change. Check the current rules with the Bureau of Contract Administration and in each solicitation.
Contracting requirements
City contracts come with a set of ordinances. Which apply depends on the contract type and value, so read the solicitation's requirements section closely. Common ones include:
- Living Wage Ordinance, which sets minimum pay and benefits for employees on many service contracts.
- Equal Benefits Ordinance, which requires contractors to offer the same benefits to employees with spouses and those with domestic partners.
- Contractor responsibility, child support and nondiscrimination requirements.
- Campaign finance rules that can limit contributions by bidders on some contracts.
- A city Business Tax Registration Certificate from the Office of Finance.
- Insurance, which the city's risk management office reviews.
Most are handled through declarations or forms with your bid, and the Bureau of Contract Administration oversees compliance on many of them. Missing a required form can make a bid non-responsive.
How to get started
- Register on RAMP LA and pick your categories.
- Get a city business tax registration if you will do business in LA.
- Look into certification with the Bureau of Contract Administration if you qualify.
- Register separately with the Port, LAWA or LADWP if you want their work.
- Bid on smaller department contracts while you build references.
StackBid reads RAMP LA and lists open City of Los Angeles IT and software opportunities daily. See also selling IT to local government, selling IT to US state governments and selling IT to government in the US.
Common questions
Where are City of Los Angeles tenders posted?
On RAMP LA, the Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement, the city's free online procurement portal. Some departments, such as the Port, LAWA and LADWP, also post on their own sites.
Does the City of Los Angeles give preference to local or small businesses?
It can. The city runs local business and small business programs that may give preferences on some contracts. The rules change, so check the solicitation and the Bureau of Contract Administration.
Do I have to pay a living wage on a Los Angeles city contract?
On many service contracts, yes. The Living Wage Ordinance applies to many city service contracts, with some exemptions. Each solicitation says which ordinances apply.
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