4-RFQ Vol. 1-1 Introduction.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQ)

ISSUED: September 4, 2025

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

ACT Project No. 25-2-14401

1 Transit Way

Pontoon Beach, IL 62040 Telephone (618) 797-4600

Agency for Community Transit Investment Management Services No. 25-2-14401

RFQ

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Volume 1 of 3

1 INTRODUCTION

2 PROPOSAL DEADLINE, PREPARATION, AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

3 EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURES

Volume 2 of 3

SCOPE OF WORK

Volume 3 of 3

SAMPLE CONTRACT

RFQ Appendices

Appendix 1-1 Solicitation and Offer Form Appendix 1-2 Lobbying Certification Appendix 1-3 Federal Tax Liability and Recent Felony Convictions Certification

INTRODUCTION

Invitation Agency for Community Transit, Inc. (hereinafter "the Owner") is seeking offers from qualified investment firms who wish to be considered as an investment manager to oversee and maintain an assigned portion of the Owner’s portfolio. The selected firm will identify, evaluate, purchase, and sell investments on behalf of the Owner.

Background The Owner is a private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) agency incorporated in the State of Illinois. The Owner operates all fixed route and paratransit services for Madison County Mass Transit District (MCT).

Procurement Schedule Vendors are advised that Owner will make a good faith effort to adhere to the following schedule for this procurement:

Date Milestone

September 4, 2025 RFQ Issued

September 12, 2025 Deadline for written questions due 2:00 PM CDT

September 18, 2025 Addendum Issued, if any

September 25, 2025 Bid Deadline

October 13, 2025 Anticipated Contract Award

The Owner shall be under no obligation to comply with the procurement schedule shown above, provided that all prospective proposers or other interested parties known to the Owner shall be notified equally of changes made to this schedule by the Owner within a reasonable time after such changes are made. In no event shall any proposer have any redress to the Owner, be it financial or otherwise, in the event that the Owner alters this schedule in any way.

Pre-Proposal Meeting None.

Deadline for Questions Questions should be submitted through Bonfire by the stated deadline. Any conflicts within the RFQ found after this deadline should be submitted as soon as possible.

It is the responsibility of the proposer to identify and address any additional requirements or information needed to submit a proposal. No special consideration shall be given to any proposer, because of their failure to be knowledgeable of all the requirements after the deadline. Responses to any questions shall be similarly furnished to all prospective proposers in the summary form of an addendum if the lack of such information could reasonably be considered prejudicial towards uninformed proposers.

Owner’s Procurement Representative Name: J’Vaughn Williams Title: Procurement Project Manager Phone number: (618) 797-4600 E-mail: mctbid@mct.org mailto:mctbid@mct.org

Amendments to this Solicitation Any or all changes, additions, or clarifications in connection with this RFQ shall be issued by the Owner in the form of a written addenda posted in the project file at mct-act.bonfirehub.com. Proposer must acknowledge all addenda issued as part of their bid submittal on the Solicitation and Offer Form. Oral comments, responses and/or representations shall not be binding upon the Owner

Term of Contract The base contract term shall begin on January 1, 2026, and shall expire after 36 months. The Owner has the unilateral option to extend the contract for two additional 1-year periods. Each option year will be automatic unless the Owner advises the Contractor of their intent not to renew no less than 45 days prior to the expiration of the prevailing contract term.

Duration of Proposal Validity Proposals submitted shall remain firm for a period of 90 calendar days from the final due date for offers.

Modification or Withdrawal of Proposal A modification of a proposal already received will be accepted by the Owner only if the modification is received prior to the deadline for proposals, is specifically requested by the Owner, or is made with a requested BAFO.

All modifications shall be made in writing and executed and submitted in the same form and manner as the original proposal.

A vendor may withdraw a proposal already received prior to the deadline for proposals by submitting to the Owner by mail, fax, or in person, a written request for withdrawal executed by the vendor’s authorized representative. After the proposal due date, a proposal may be withdrawn only if the Owner fails to award the Contract within the proposal validity period prescribed in “Duration of Proposal Validity,” or any agreed-upon extension thereof. The withdrawal of a proposal does not prejudice the right of a vendor to submit another proposal within the time set for receipt of proposals.

Responsive and Responsible Vendor All proposals received in accordance with the requirements stated in this solicitation will be screened initially in order to confirm the responsiveness of the written proposal, including minimum qualifications, if any.

A responsive proposal complies with all material aspects of the solicitation, both as to the method and timeliness of submission, and as to the substance of any resulting contract. Owner will ensure that all proposals received prior to the deadline stated in the solicitation contain all required forms, signatures, attachments, and other information as specified herein. Proposals that do not comply with all material aspects of the solicitation will be rejected as non-responsive.

A responsible vendor is an individual, firm or team that exhibits adequate organization, financial condition, personnel qualifications, facilities, record of past performance, and other characteristics necessary to carry out work related to this solicitation with a high degree of quality and timeliness. Owner shall review responsive proposals to determine the capacity of the vendor to provide the goods and services described in this solicitation.

Confidentiality of Proposals Proposals will not be publicly opened. All proposals and evaluations will be kept strictly confidential throughout the evaluation, negotiation, and selection process, except as otherwise required by applicable law. Only the members of the Evaluation Committee and other Owner officials, employees and agents having a legitimate interest shall be provided access to the proposals and evaluation results during this period.

Evaluation Committee An Evaluation Committee, which may include employees and/or agents of Owner, will be established. The Evaluation Committee will carry out the detailed evaluations, including establishing the Competitive Range, carrying out negotiations and making the selection of the vendor, if any, that may be recommended for contract award.

https://mct-act.bonfirehub.com/

Law Governing Vendors shall recognize that all applicable federal and state laws, certifications, municipal ordinances, and rules and regulations of all authorities having jurisdiction over the services to be provided shall apply to the contract throughout, and they will be deemed to be included in the contract the same as though herein written out in full. All matters of law pertaining to this solicitation and any contract resulting there from shall be governed by, and construed according to the laws of the State of Illinois. It is the responsibility of the vendor to review this solicitation and contract obligations with the vendor’s legal counsel.

Organizational Conflict of Interest Unless specifically exempted from the conditions of this provision by the Owner, any contractor of the Owner, subcontractor, subsidiary, or other entity which is legally related and which develops or drafts specifications, requirements, statements of work, or solicitations, is excluded from competing for the directly ensuing procurement.

Consideration of Offers The Owner shall not be obligated to award a contract solely on the basis of any response made to this solicitation, nor does the Owner intend to, nor will it be obligated to pay for the information solicited or obtained. The Owner maintains the right, but shall be under no obligation, to award a contract to the responsive and responsible vendor whose offer is deemed by the Owner to be most advantageous. The Owner reserves the right:

a) To reject any offer and to remove from mailing lists for future procurements the names of any firm or team engaging in collusive or other unlawful practices.

b) To award contract(s) without discussion based upon the initial offers.

c) To waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received if it believes there is a sound documented business reason for doing so, and to negotiate matters of contractor performance and other matters prior to awarding a contract.

d) To reject any offer if, in the Owner’s sole discretion, the offer is incomplete, the offer is not responsive to the requirements of this solicitation, the proposer does not meet the qualification requirements set forth herein, if any, or it is otherwise determined to be in the best interest of the Owner to reject the offer.

e) To supplement, amend, substitute or otherwise modify the terms of this solicitation at any time prior to the execution of a final contract.

f) To accept or reject any or all of the items in any offer and award a contract for the whole or only a part of any offer if the Owner determines, in its sole discretion, that it is in the Owner’s best interest to do so.

g) To reject the offer of any proposer that, in the Owner’s sole judgment, has previously failed to perform satisfactorily under any contract with the Owner, is financially or technically incapable or is otherwise deemed to not be a responsible proposer.

h) To waive any informality, defect, non-responsiveness and/or deviation from this solicitation that is not, in the Owner’s sole judgment, material to the offer.

i) To permit or reject, at the Owner’s sole discretion, amendments (including information inadvertently omitted), modifications, alterations, and/or corrections to offers by one or more of the proposers following bid or proposal submission.

j) To request additional or clarifying information.

k) To investigate the qualifications of any and all individuals and firms under consideration, to confirm any part of the information furnished in an offer, and to require further evidence of managerial, financial or professional capabilities which are considered necessary for the successful performance of work described in this solicitation.

l) To cancel the procurement at any time during the process if it appears that the offers received are not suitable for any reason whatsoever.

m) To evaluate offers based on unit prices which will govern over extended prices.

n) To award this contract to a single or multiple service providers deemed to best meet the Owner’s specifications and needs.

Representations and Certifications By responding to this solicitation with a proposal, the vendor certifies the following:

a) It has no direct or indirect pecuniary or proprietary interest, and that it shall not acquire any interest which conflicts in any manner or degree with the work required to be performed and/or provided under this contract, and that it shall not employ any person or agent having any such interest. In the event that the successful proposer, its agents, employees or representatives hereafter acquire such a conflict of interest, the successful proposer shall immediately disclose such interest to the Owner and immediately take action to eliminate the conflict or to withdraw from this contract, as the Owner may require.

b) No person or selling agency except bona fide employees or designated agents or representatives of proposer or proposer has been employed or retained to solicit or secure this contract with an understanding that a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee would be paid; and no gratuities in the form of entertainment, gifts or otherwise were offered or given by proposer or any of its agents, employees or representatives, to any official, member or employee of the Owner or other governmental agency with a view toward securing this contract or securing favorable treatment with respect to the awarding or amending, or the making of any determination with respect to the performance required under, a contract with the Owner.

c) The number and amount of other contracts and awards pending which the proposer or proposer is or will be obligated to perform, now and during the course of this project, will not interfere with or hinder the timely prosecution of work.

d) The proposal price has been arrived at independently, without consultation, communications, or agreement for the purpose of restricting competition.

e) It has not offered any money or other valuable thing to any person to induce them not to bid or propose on this project, or as recompense for his not having bid or propose on this project.

f) The proposer is properly organized and qualified to do business in the State of Illinois and has any and all approvals, registration, and licenses to do business in the State and with the Owner and that the person executing the bid/proposal on behalf of the proposer is the duly authorized representative of the proposer and has the requisite authority to do so.

g) It will accomplish the work in accordance with the contract.

h) It will comply with the requirements of 2 C.F.R. part 180, subpart C, as supplemented by 2 C.F.R.

part 1200, while this offer is valid and throughout the period of any contract that may arise from this offer.

Execution of a Contract The acceptance of a proposal for a pending award, if made, shall be evidenced in writing by a Notice of Intent to Award delivered to the successful vendor. Within two weeks after the Notice of intent to Award is issued, the successful vendor shall deliver to the Owner two (2) signed contracts and proof of insurance.

After receipt of acceptable documentation from the successful vendor and expiration of the protest period, a notice of award, fully executed contract, and Notice to Proceed can be issued by the Owner.

Owner Tax Status The Owner is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes and is therefore exempt from the payment of Retailers’ Occupation Tax, Service Occupation Tax (both state and local), Use Tax, and Service Use Tax. The Owner’s Illinois tax exemption identification number is E99922355 (expires 02/01/2029).

Freedom of Information (FOIA) Access to Madison County Transit’s government records and the Owner’s records is governed by the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1). To the extent allowed by law, all proposals and supporting documents shall become public information held in custody of the Owner after the proposal deadline.

The Owner will employ sound business practices no less diligent than those used for the Owner’s own confidential information to protect the confidence of all licensed technology, software, documentation, drawings, schematics, manuals, data and other information and material provided by vendors pursuant to the contract that contain confidential commercial or financial information, trade secrets or proprietary information as defined in or pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act against disclosure of such information and material to third parties, except as permitted by the contract. The vendor shall be responsible for ensuring that confidential commercial or financial information, trade secrets or proprietary information — with such determinations to be made by the Owner in its sole discretion — bears appropriate notices relating to its confidential character.

Protest Procedures Any protest initiated by a protesting party concerning procurement actions will be administered in accordance with the agency’s Protest Procedures, which are available at www.mct.org/procurement.

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