22-RFP-2025-009 Pre-Proposal Conference Presentation.pdf

RFP-2025-009

Countywide Vending Services

Pre-Proposal Conference

July 18, 2025

1:00 – 2:00 PM CST

Microsoft Teams

Agenda County Introductions

Working with TBEs Office of Economic Inclusion

The Scope of Work Tony MacLellan

The Timeline & RFP Process Tony MacLellan

Supplier Questions

Introductions

• Department of Administrative Services

• Procurement Division

• Office of Economic Inclusion (OEI)

Working with the Office of

Economic Inclusion

• TBE Bonus Points

• Working with a Prime

• Working with a TBE Subcontractor

• Expectations

• Who to Contact for Help

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Administrative-Services/Office-of-Economic-Inclusion https://fundamatics.net/from-the-beehive-21/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

Racial Equity

Bonus Points

• Achieving racial and health equity is our vision.

• We expect our vendors to be partners in achieving the vision!

• Although no TBE goal is established by this RFP, bonus points are available to Offerors who partner with TBEs.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC https://4dreamy.wordpress.com/2020/09/06/%EC%BD%94%EB%A1%9C%EB%82%98-%EC%8B%9C%EB%8C%80%EC%9D%98-%EB%B3%B5%EC%A7%80%EC%97%90-%EB%8C%80%ED%95%98%EC%97%AC-%EC%84%A0%EB%B3%84%EB%B3%B5%EC%A7%80%EB%83%90-%EB%B3%B4%ED%8E%B8%EB%B3%B5%EC%A7%80/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

How to Receive Bonus Points

• Review Addendum 1: TBE Guidance Update.

• Offerors can receive bonus points for the use of certified TBE firms and diverse non-certified firms as follows:

• One hundred (100) points for the use of certified TBE firms, including self-performance by certified TBE Primes; and

• Fifty (50) points for the use of diverse non-certified firms with demonstrated diverse ownership or leadership.

To receive these points, Offerors must provide compelling evidence of diverse ownership and operations that advance the County’s vision of racial and health equity.

• To receive the bonus points, the Offeror must:

• clearly describe in its Proposal and any submitted TBE forms the commercially useful function the proposed TBE firm(s) will perform;

• explain how the function fulfills a requirement of the Scope of Work or supports the Services proposed; and

• demonstrate that the function the TBE firm will perform will be required for the duration of the contract term (for this RFP, up to five years).

Offerors who will utilize certified TBE partners and Offerors who are certified TBE firms are eligible to receive one hundred(100) bonus points.

To receive the bonus points, Offerors must:

• Clearly document the ownership and leadership structure, including race/ethnicity/gender of key personnel.

• Demonstrate how these characteristics influence the firm’s decision-making, staffing, and service delivery.

• Describe how their diversity directly supports the equity and inclusion goals of Milwaukee County.

Offerors who will utilize diverse non-certified firms, or firms which are majority-owned, led, or substantially staffed by individuals from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups (e.g., women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, veterans) are eligible to receive fifty (50) bonus points for demonstrated commitment to equity, even if they do not have TBE certification.

Scope & Requirements

• Minimum Qualifications

• Scope of Work

• Evaluation Criteria

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrate at least three (3) years of experience providing full-service Vending and unattended retail solutions to government or institutional clients (colleges and universities, hospitals, etc.) or clients comparable to Milwaukee County.

• Provide at least three (3) references for whom the Offeror provides or provided similar services within the last three (3) years.

• Comply with all requirements outlined in Section 6: Scope of Work and answer all questions and provide all requested information in Section 7: Proposal Content.

Scope of Work Section 6 of the RFP – pages 16-32

Timeline Timelines for any RFP are based on estimates. The County reserves the right to extend timelines as necessary to ensure fair, equitable, and transparent scoring processes for all Proposals.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

7-25-25

Offeror Questions

Due

8-1-25

County Issues Formal

Answers

8-8-25

Proposals Due

8-11-25 to

8-15-25

Preliminary Evaluations

8-18-25 to

8-29-25

Evaluation & Scoring

Week of Sept. 1

Shortlisted Offeror

Interviews

9-15-25 (est.)

Notice of Intent to Award

9-15-25 to

9-18-25

Protest Period

9-19-25 to

10-31-25

Contract Negotiation

Decemb er 2025

Board Approval

January

Service Start Date https://www.flickr.com/photos/josepha/15150332925 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

The Procurement Process

Using the RFP Documents as Tools & Guidance

Communicating with the County

Scope & Requirements

Submitting a Proposal

Proposal Evaluations & Award

The Procurement Process

Pre-Proposal Conference & Site

Tours

Submissions and Preparing a Response

Evaluations, Criteria, and Scoring

Notice of Intent to Award

Contract Negotiations

Using the RFP Documents

• RFP Document – available in Word and PDF

• Section 4 (Operations and Background)

• Section 5 (Request)

• Section 6 (Scope of Work)

• Section 7 (Proposal Content)

• Sections 8 – 10 (Process and Responsibilities)

• Section 11 (Preparing & Submitting a Proposal)

• Section 12 (Evaluation Process)

• Section 13 (Award Process)

Evaluation Criteria

Communicating with the County

• Asking Questions

• Exceptions

• Formal Changes

• Restrictions

Asking Questions Questions should be asked using the Bonfire Portal during the Q&A period.

Only questions asked via the Portal will be formally answered by the County.

Only formal answers will change the terms of the RFP and the RFP requirements.

The County will not answer business or operational questions once the Q&A period closes. If you have technical issues or questions after the Q&A period closes, you may contact the RFP administrator directly by email.

Questions are answered on a rolling basis. A digest of answers will be published on the due date (August 8, 2025).

Requesting Exceptions

• If you are requesting exceptions to any of the solicitation’s terms or to the Scope of Work, you MUST present those exceptions in your Proposal response.

• Please use Exhibit H: the Request for Exceptions Form, to make your request.

• During preliminary evaluations, if your request is not accepted, the RFP Administrator will contact you to advise the County will not accept your exception and offer you the opportunity to rescind the exception and continue to participate in the solicitation process.

• If you are unwilling or unable to rescind an unaccepted exception, your proposal will be considered non-responsive and you will be eliminated from consideration for award.

Formal Changes

Sometimes, a change to the RFP documentation is needed. A change may correct an error, resolve an omission or a conflict, make the RFP more accurate, or clarify how to propose or what to include in a proposal.

If you need a formal change to the RFP document, you must make the request in writing using the Bonfire Portal during the Q&A period.

The County will not consider formal changes outside the Q&A period unless there are exceptional circumstances and/or the formal change would be in the best interests of the County.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND https://digitaldoorway.blogspot.com/2016/12/hey-nurse-got-resistance.html https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Communication Restrictions

• During the solicitation process, Offerors should only communicate via the Bonfire Portal or by email with the RFP Administrator.

• You may not:

• Contact County staff or officials to discuss the RFP, RFP requirements, your Proposal, evaluations, or any other information related to the RFP or RFP process.

• Discuss the open RFP with your current contact(s) at Milwaukee County.

Communication Restrictions

The County expects current vendors to uphold the highest levels of ethical behavior during any RFP process.

Remember that even an appearance of bias, unfairness, or access to “insider information” is not acceptable, and conduct your communications accordingly.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC https://plainbibleteaching.com/2011/01/12/the-danger-posed-by-false-teachers/

Communication Restrictions If you have CURRENT business relationships with the County, you may continue to correspond with your contact(s) at the County for those contract(s) or relationship(s).

When in doubt, ask the RFP administrator. It is better to ask permission than beg forgiveness.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC https://calvaryga.com/acts/page/10/

Using the Bonfire Portal

Milwaukee County (bonfirehub.com)

Bonfire Vendor Support (gobonfire.com)

Vendor Registration and Submission [VIDEO] –

Bonfire Vendor Support (gobonfire.com) https://countymilwaukee.bonfirehub.com/portal https://countymilwaukee.bonfirehub.com/portal https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-

Questions