eCitydeals.com hopes to make waves in B2G

As the business-to-government market grows exponentially, one new company

is hoping to separate itself from the competition by providing the private

sector with access to hundreds of cities, while offering auctioning and

procurement capabilities to its local government customers.

eCitydeals facilitates transactions between city governments and private

entities. The Los Angeles-based company generates revenue through transaction

fees, advertising and sponsorships, economic development services and consulting

fees, said chief executive officer Larry Kosmont.

"We're the online business portal for cities and the private sector to get

together and do transactions easily by getting rid of all the bureaucracy

and paperwork," Kosmont said. "We're the only one that's really focusing

on B2G for local government and not on state and federal."

ECitydeals enables cities to conduct online auctions, purchase goods and

services, post competitive public works bids, trade taxes with other cities

and advertise job opportunities.

Kosmont said more than 600 cities have expressed interest since the company's

launch in April, and it has already conducted commodities auctions for cities

in California and Maryland, as well as Newport News, Va.

Newport News auctioned nine items online, including four school buses, two

motorcycles, two side loaders and a van for a total of more than $31,000,

Kosmont said.

"eCitydeals is a full service portal for economic development, procurement

and auctions, and allows cities to use the Internet for a variety of transactions,"

he said. "And economic development is the mother's milk of local revenues."

The company has already conducted online auctions, but its procurement features

are in beta testing and will be rolled out during the next few months, Kosmont

said. Future plans include property sales in July and other added transactional

services as cities request them.