BATON ROUGE, LA — June 25, 2018 — This morning, Mayor Broome announced the launch of the Vendor Self Service (VSS) portal, a new website that streamlines the processes used by vendors to register and do business with the City-Parish.

Vendors can access the VSS portal at http://brla.gov/vss. Those who have not done business with City-Parish previously can register as a new vendor. Existing City-Parish vendors will be mailed the information needed for them to create an account in VSS. After registering for an account in VSS, vendors will have the ability to electronically update their contact information, upload tax forms, set communication preferences, and select the goods and/or services they provide. In addition, vendors will now be able to access a variety of purchase order and payment activities that will allow the vendor to find out if a purchase order has been issued, an invoice has been received, or a check has been written. All of this can be done through the VSS portal without having to contact City-Parish via phone or email.

"We have heard from numerous businesses about the obstacles they face when searching bids and competing for City-Parish contracts. Based on feedback from these companies, we began listing upcoming procurement opportunities on the City-Parish website,” said Mayor Broome. “Our next step is this launch, which makes the process more streamlined and efficient for vendors who do business, or wish to do business, with the City-Parish. This new functionality is a result of the City-Parish’s deployment of a modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which replaced a 20-year-old financial and procurement system."

For more information on becoming a vendor with the City-Parish, visit http://brla.gov/vendors. To access the City-Parish’s listing of Upcoming Procurement Opportunities, visit http://city.brla.gov/dept/purchase/purfops.asp.