Alright, let me expand on this topic then, since it looks like this will be the turn it's taking. Governmental bidding is a huge, convulated mess when it comes to trying to ferret out all the opportunities that may exist in your service area for the scope of services that you offer, especially true if you have a full service company offering installation and maintenance on a commercial scale. The reason is, each level and entity of government, from the local sewer/water district, city, county, state, feds, special districts, quasi governmental agencies, et al, have their own procurement rules and regulations that govern what triggers an actual bid opportunity and how that opportunity is broadcasted. To complicate things further, certain dollar amount thresholds or types of services may not even need an open bidding process, but rather just a selection among approved vendors. Other entities may piggyback on contracts made through purchases done at a higher level of government, for example cities, counties or school districts buying through an open state contract that wasn't inially set up to include them. Looking for bidding opportunities in itself can be a full time job. The best way to get your feet wet in this arena though is to:
a) watch the legal notices in your local papers. Tehre are always going to be dollar amounts that trigger an open bidding process and that will include giving legal notice to the public.
b) identify the procurement offices of local agencies, get on their vendor list and/or watch their web sites for new listings.
c) ask around, especially to dept leaders that may have a need to sub with you. It never hurts to be interested in working..lol...just make sure you're not a pest about it, they have other work to do too.
d) you can subscribe to a contract watching service, but since these are generally geared at large & national scaled type things, don't expect to get a lot of info about small local jobs, the kind you are most likely to have a shot at.
If you are a minority or veteran owned company, there are also additional resources available to you for working the governmental bid process, including, in some cases, set asides. Contact the local Small Business Administration office in your area, it can be found through their website or in your phone book and let them help you out through some of the processes.