Call Derek715-290-0606

Free pilot, starting mid-October

The public bids near your shop, read every morning.

BidStar reads the bid pages and notices of cities, counties and other public owners across the Northland each morning. When a new bid fits your trade and the miles you'll drive, you get an email that morning, with a link to the owner's own notice.

Ask about the free pilot

Or call Derek at 715-290-0606

Sample bid. The owner and the job are made up.

Each bid

What you see on each bid

The facts an estimator checks first, and a link to the owner's notice for the rest.

Closing soonTue Sep 29 · 2:00 PM CT

Roof replacement, public works garage

City of Pine Harbor · Pine Harbor, MN · 12 mi

RoofingStrong match

Deadline moved from Thu Sep 25 · 2:00 PM CT.

Read live from the source · confirm in the bid documents

Owner's notice

Sample. The owner and the job are made up.

  • The deadline, in Central time

    When the owner publishes a time, each bid shows it. When they don't, we show --:-- and say so, instead of filling one in.

  • The owner, the town and the miles

    Measured from your shop, so you can tell a day trip from an overnight at a glance.

  • The owner's own notice

    Each bid links to it. The owner is the authority, so confirm every detail in the bid documents.

  • Watch a bid

    We tell you when its deadline moves, and from when.

Three kinds of deadline

  • Tue Oct 20 · 11:00 AM CT

    The owner published the date and the time.

  • Tue Oct 13 --:--

    Time not published. Confirm it on the owner's notice.

  • Planning lead · no bid date yet

    Approved or funded, with no bid date yet. Get ready before the bid is out.

How it works

We do the reading. You pick the jobs.

  1. Tell us your trades and how far you'll drive.

    Any distance. Set the miles from your shop, or no limit at all.

  2. Every morning, we read the owners' own bid pages and notices.

    JEV, BidStar's reader, pulls out what matters from each notice: is it a bid, which trades, who the owner is, and when it's due.

    Then it ranks each bid by fit for your shop. Fit is a ranking to sort by, not a prediction of winning.

  3. When a new bid fits, you get an email that morning.

    Quiet mornings, no email. Open a bid for the owner's notice. Watch it, and we'll tell you if the deadline moves.

Built for trade shops

  • Roofing
  • HVAC
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing
  • Concrete
  • Excavation
  • Paving
  • Painting
  • Carpentry
  • General

Plus fire protection, demolition, bridges and landscaping.

Electrical or HVAC shop?

You get the GC jobs your trade is inside, before the GC calls you.

Honest coverage

What we read, and what we miss

We don't claim every bid. We count what we read and test what we miss, and we tell you both.

125

public buyers' bid pages, read every morning within 100 miles of Duluth.

As of Sep 25, 2026

1 in 7

In a test on a year of real bid ads, that's about how many we caught before Sep 25.

1 in 2

Projected, now that we read Wisconsin public notices every morning. We re-measure it Sep 30.

Past 100 miles from Duluth, coverage isn't measured yet. You'll see what we read there, but not every bid. We measure a region before we sell in it.

Tell us what we missed, and we'll show you why.

Free pilot, starting mid-October

Free for 4 weeks. We're looking for 3 to 5 Northland contractors.

  • What you get

    • An email on mornings when we find a new public bid that fits your trades and the miles you'll drive. Quiet mornings, no email.
    • Each bid shows the owner, the town and miles, the due date and time, how well it fits your shop, and a link to the owner's own notice.
    • A heads-up from Derek when a job on your list changes its deadline, addenda or scope.

  • What we ask

    A few minutes a week. Every Friday, tell us which bids you hadn't seen, which you'd bid, and which you did bid.

  • What it costs

    Nothing. No billing and no contract. In week 4 we'll show you the paid options side by side. Yes or no is your call.

Want in? Call Derek.

715-290-0606

Or email help@techstarsuniversity.com

Questions

Straight answers

Where do the bids come from?

The owners' own bid pages, city and county boards, and public notices. Each bid links to the owner's notice. The owner is the authority, so confirm every detail in the bid documents.

How far out can I look?

As far as you want. Set the miles from your shop, or no limit. We measure coverage region by region, and we tell you where it isn't measured yet.

Do I need to install an app?

No. BidStar works in your phone's web browser, and new bids that fit come to your email the morning we find them.

What happens after 4 weeks?

In week 4 we show you the paid options side by side. Yes or no is your call. There's no billing and no contract during the pilot.

Who's behind BidStar?

Tech Stars University, a Duluth company. Built by people from here, for people who build here.