Resources for businesses who wish to sell their products or services to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
UW–Madison does not keep a vendor list or an “approved vendor list”. There are only on-contract or not-on-contract vendors. Vendors/Suppliers can learn more about how to register with UW System on the ShopUW+ Essentials Supplier Resources site.
We recommend following these steps to become aware of procurement opportunities available in your commodity areas. For invoicing or payment questions, refer to Making Payments.
The ShopUW+ Supplier Manager module was launched May 9, 2022.
Steps to take
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Be aware of all statewide contracts in your market sector
A list of all statewide contracts is available on the State of Wisconsin Procurement Contracts site, also known as VendorNet.
Register with UW System
As of May 9, 2022 – Suppliers can register to be a supplier and update their own information in the ShopUW+ Jaggaer Supplier Portal. The new supplier portal is UW System’s secured single point of entry for suppliers to update information and receive invitations to sourcing events (function coming at a later date). Registration does not constitute a claim of receiving business with UW System.
Register with the state VendorNet program
Registering will allow you to receive automatic notice of any new procurement efforts.
- Registering requires you know the various NIGP commodity codes applicable to the items your company can provide.
- When a bid is posted for that commodity code, you’ll get an automatic e-mail alert about the posting and you can then bid on the item/contract.
Review the Wisconsin Public Notice website
The state maintains a Public Notice website which lists available bid opportunities. This service provides links to VendorNet bid announcements.
Know UW-Madison purchasing procedure
- Purchases under $5,000 are typically placed by people from the various campus departments as a best judgment transaction (not visible on VendorNet).
- Purchases of $5,000 – $50,000 require three quotes (not visible on VendorNet)
- Purchases of $50,000 and more require official sealed bidding (which you would see and receive notice of via being registered for VendorNet).
Consider becoming a Wisconsin certified Minority Business Enterprise
- If you qualify, consider becoming a Wisconsin certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). There is a goal that all state agencies spend 5% of their purchases with certified MBE firms.
- The MBE program and certification is administered by the Department of Administration (DOA).
- View some of the ways the University promotes MBE firms.
- If you have registered as an MBE, verify that your listing(s) are in the proper categories for buyers to logically find you.
Pursue Small Business Administration registration
For national exposure to other state or federal agency buyers, firms that qualify can pursue Small Business Administration (SBA) registration. This is increasingly more important for the University as we receive certain federal funds that come with requirements that we spend dollars with certain small businesses (SB, SDB, WOSB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUB Zone).
Firms can register through Central Contractor Registration (CCR), and with DemandStar.
Construction or remodeling
If your business focuses on construction or remodeling we recommend that you also monitor the WisBuild website for bid postings related to large construction projects in the state. Depending on the project type and the overall cost, many university building projects are managed entirely by the Dept of State Facilities (DSF).
Please be aware that bid solicitations for these projects will not be visible on VendorNet, but rather are only posted on WisBuild.
Scams, phishing and fraudulent purchase orders
Fraudulent email phishing scams have been reported involving purchase orders and request for product quotations that claim to originate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While the university cannot prevent this illegal activity, we are actively working with law enforcement to investigate these fraudulent email contacts.
Learning the common traits or themes of phishing emails may help reduce risk to your company in becoming a financial victim of this scam.
Report it!
Forward phishing emails to abuse@wisc.edu and/or report the incident to the UW–Madison Office of Cybersecurity. You can also submit offending email using the report spam feature within the web or desktop email client.
If you are ever unsure whether an email message is legitimate, DO NOT RESPOND to it! Instead, contact the DoIT Help Desk online or by calling (608) 264-HELP (4357) and ask for advice.
