Bergen County Receives 2021 Government Project Experience Award from the Center for Digital Government

Hackensack, N.J. – The Center for Digital Government has awarded the County of Bergen as a recipient of one of the 5th annual Government Project Experience Awards, for their www.BergenBids.com website. 

The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government.  Bergen Bids is a one-stop-shop for businesses and other local units to access educational information about how to do business with the County, what contracts may be available for the use of other agencies, and where to find and submit bids opportunities to compete for a contract with the County of Bergen. 

The website was designed, directly to address the challenges in procurement brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, under the direction of Gerald T Reiner Jr, Purchasing Agent for the County of Bergen with collaborations from two partners.

The first partner is Stateside Affairs, a woman and minority-owned government affairs and public relations company based in New Jersey.  Founded in 2015 and lead by NJBIZ 40 Under 40 Recipient Christina Pinzon, the company’s reputation for success has garnered both state and regional recognition for its work in public affairs, print and digital communications. Stateside Affairs created the digital landing page to host educational information as well as create a seamless gateway to the formal procurement portal.

  The second partner, Bonfire Interactive, is a firm that was created out of the frustration and countless hours of energy spent by small to mid-sized companies that they were enduring and struggling with in preparing and submitting for paper-based procurement processes.  Bonfire Interactive provides the robust portal that Bergen County needed to manage over 300 solicitations per year and with ease of use and functionality which provides this service to all 70 municipalities free of charge. 

“It was important to me and the County of Bergen to design an experience which drew businesses in, particularly those who are small, minority, veteran and women owned businesses. Each step we take should open opportunities so that where we spend our money reflects the populations we represent. I am honored to receive this award on behalf of the County and it is just another reflection of how the administration supports our communities,” said Gerald Reiner Jr., Director of Purchasing for the County of Bergen. 

“Bergen County was ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the County of Bergen still had to operate efficiently and effectively.  My administration took any and all actions to support our first responders, our communities, and our staff, and this is yet another example of the County adapting to the circumstances brought on by COVID-19.  Thank you to the Center for Digital Government for recognizing our efforts and to the other recipients of this prestigious award,” said County Executive Jim Tedesco.

A full list of the recipients as well as logo’s and information may be found here; https://www.govtech.com/cdg/government-experience/government-experience-awards-2021-winners-announced