Selby Area CDC  
 
Why should I use the web?

There are a lot of tools on the internet that can make your job faster, more profitable, and require less time working on the books and more time on what you love to do. If you'd like assistance with the sites you can come into the Selby Area CDC offices at 917 Selby Ave. If you have questions contact Sara Reller thru e-mail sreller@selbyareacdc.org or call 651-252-1064. More tools can be found here.

A participant of the ProBid Training Program said of this site, "It has changed everything about the way I do business with the web."
Mn/DOT

The Mn/DOT site has a huge amount of valuable information some of it is a little difficult to find so here are some quick links to the key pieces.

E-Plan Room: The e-plan room has several pieces of information that anyone who is interested in bidding either as a prime or sub on a contract will want to know.
The specific jobs that are currently being let are listed on the left hand side of the page with the brief project description being available when you click on each job.
The "View Planholders" tab at the top of the page pops up a new window that has a list of all planholders both electronic and manual. This list can let you know who your competition is for a job, or who a contact name for a prime.
The "View Plans" tab will let you view a PDF of the specs for a specific project. You can search through the specs (using the Ctrl+F find function)to find pieces of the job that would be relevant to your business.

Sixth Month Letting Schedule: This is a simple schedule of the jobs that will be let in the next 6 months. You can use this to plan out your projects and plans for the next few months.

Bid Abstracts: This is for jobs that have already been let and awarded. You can use this to view jobs that you bid on or to look at your historical numbers in your business area and compare it to what you are bidding on jobs. (There is a similar tool on the Bidx site.)

EEO: You can view a list of all DBE's to find businesses to partner with or businesses.

Spec Book: This is a searchable, easy to use version of the little green book you need to use to look up all the specific specs for Mn/DOT jobs.

Approved Vendors: If you aren't sure where to go for a specific item that you'll need for your bid you can tap into the approved vendors and reach out to the local businesses to get good information. Contact information is either directly available at the link or at the web sites of the businesses.

Manuals: Information on what a specific type of seed is comprised of, how exactly a process should be done you can find the manuals to clarify these things.

State Register: The State Register has information on professional contracts. Engineers, surveyor's, and others who would need to be involved in professional bids or before the bid is let this is a good place to watch for them before hand.

 
Bid Express

Mn/DOT DBE's have an opportunity to get up to a year free if they utilize the site. After taking the class and using the training information contact Sara for more information. DBEs who do not use the account may have it removed by MnDOT.

For detailed instructions on how to use the Bid Express site click here.


Gov Contracts

The City of Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Ramsey County, and Hennepin County have partnered for the CERT program.

There are 2 different lists of CERT businesses: one is a simple list of the names of businesses and the other is a list of business types, NAICS codes, addresses, contact information. You can use this list to find partners, subcontractors, and much more.

They also include information about trainings and events when it's relevant.

City of Minneapolis contracting opportunities

City of St Paul and Ramsey County contracting opportunities

Hennepin County contracting opportunities

 
Certifications and more opportunities!

Most government agencies have at least some contracting information online to qualify toward any goal on a project you must be certified.

We have a list of dozens of government agencies you can get jobs from here.

You can find a list of additional Certifications here.
Minnesota State Tools

Minnesota Department of Labor: All independent contractors must have a contractors license. This is where you can download the information to get that filled out. If you have subcontractors working for you and they don't have one of these on file you as the business owner can be fined up to $5000. Make sure all your contractors have this.

Minnesota Department of Revenue: Sales and Use Tax is an important thing to consider when you are putting together a bid. If you don't collect taxes from your customer then it is going to come out of your profits. Instruction forms.

Minnesota Secretary of State: You will need lots of information from the Secretary of State, including filing business information and other official documents.

 
Materials Management

Arcat and Sweets Network: These are two sites that give you information on what providers are available for you to use. You can find detailed information including product specs, distributors, product types, and descriptions.

Thomasnet: Thomasnet is a tool to find information about wholesalers, distributors, and other competitors. There are many tools on the site to help you make your business more efficient.

Get a Quote: Get a quick number to make sure a bid is accurate.

Equations and Math: If you need help to figure out the math or equations for your materials check here.


Money and Your Business

Free Annual Credit Report Each year all individuals are entitled to a copy of their credit report from each of the 3 credit report agencies. Everyone should make sure they get one and that the information is accurate.

Dun and Bradstreet: If you are looking for a business to business credit report you can check with Dun and Bradstreet. You do have to sign up for this service and the business you are looking for information on must be in there as well. Asking a business for referrals is a very cheap effective way to do your own credit check on a business as well. At the library you can access Dunn and Bradstreet, Robert Morris, andthe Almanac of Financial Ratios.

BizStats BizStats is a tools to get a good grasp on what industry rates and numbers are including Profit and Loss statements and more. A subscription is required for full use of the site.

JJ Hill: The JJ Hill research library can be a great local resource. The resource librarians can do a lot to help you if you have a specific question.

 
Wages

Salary.com As your business grows and you add employees this can be a tool. You can also use this to calculate what your rate should be when you are doing tasks as a supervisor, project manager, or other task. Make sure you are not over paying because you are losing money, or under paying because you may lose a good employee.

Prevailing Wages If you need to know prevailing wages you can check here to find them for your specific industry and location.

Workers Comp rates All employees must have workers comp, if you are looking to hire on a new person, for a job or permanently make sure you check to see how much extra per hour they will cost. The wage is just the starting point for what they will cost.
National Estimator

This is one of the many estimating software that is available. ProBid Trainees contact us for a discount code!

 
IRS

The IRS can be a great resource to find information about your competition. Utilizing the statistics of income you can get a good feel for where your numbers should lie. You can set up a one-on-one to work with Dale to figure out how to best use these numbers.

 
Inflation Calculator

If you are looking at information from previous years and would like to update it to be current you can use an inflation calculator to have the numbers make more sense.