Small businesses wanting to nab a slice of the billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure and vendor contracts in L.A. County now have a new database they can turn to.

The Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement (RAMP) was set to launch on Feb. 18 in an effort to capture all of the contract opportunities among local public agencies and — for the first time — private companies and place them in a one-stop centralized database. These include infrastructure contracts such as street repair or rail line construction as well as supplier-vendor contracts for government agencies or for major events such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup or the Grammy Awards.

RAMP represents the culmination of a multiyear effort to broaden and consolidate existing contracting databases, spearheaded by the Los Angeles Business Council — a Century City-based business advocacy group — and the city of Los Angeles. The database platform cost nearly $2 million to develop; funding came primarily from the city.

RAMP replaces and expands upon the Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network database set up in 2003 by the administration of then-L.A. Mayor James Hahn to consolidate contracting opportunities within L.A. city government.

“RAMP is a regional system, which any public entities beyond the borders of the city (of Los Angeles) can utilize to post contracting opportunities,” Mary Leslie, Los Angeles Business Council president, said in the RAMP launch event held Feb. 11.

What’s more, Leslie said, RAMP “allows for the first time the private sector to post contracting opportunities. By consolidating public and private (contracting) opportunities on one platform, we are cutting down the time and regulatory barriers for small businesses to apply.”

RAMP is free for all businesses using it to find contracts. Agencies and prime contractors that post contracts on the database pay an annual fee of about $2,500 to help offset ongoing database administration and maintenance costs.