518-25_Bid_Document.pdf

SECTION I. GENERAL OVERVIEW

1.1 Overview

Background The State of Ohio, Department of Transportation (ODOT), is seeking a vendor to provide

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) companies with consulting “supportive services” in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 23 CFR Part 230 External Programs, Subpart B. Through the CFR, it is the policy of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (who provides funding for the DBE Supportive Services program to ODOT) to promote increased participation of minority business enterprises in Federal-Aid highway contracts through the development and implementation of cost-effective supportive services programs through state highway agencies (Federal funding is provided from FHWA to ODOT to implement DBE supportive services programs). It is the intent of ODOT to move toward a business development model of supportive services to DBEs.

Objective Through the Supportive Services Program, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) companies seek assistance to grow their company into self-sufficient firms with the ability to compete, on an equal basis, for contracts and sub-contracts.

ODOT seeks a consultant to assist with developing and administering a DBE supportive services consulting program to assist companies with growing their business in order to secure and work on ODOT contracts and sub-contracts.

The Department will accept all responsive bids submitted on or before the specified bid opening date and make an award to a responsive bidder who has the capacity, experience, and resources to handle the consulting services to qualified Ohio DBEs.

Engineering companies

SECTION II. SCOPE OF WORK & SPECIFICATIONS OF DELIVERABLES

2.1 Scope of Work –

The selected vendor must have a qualified team of individuals to manage consulting services to

Ohio DBEs (remotely and in person).

• Provides an assessment (needs assessment) to each company interested in supportive services (no less than 25 companies) which includes an outline / report / recommendations of actions to assist the DBE company.

• Each assessment must be provided to ODOT as they are completed for review and comment.

• Provides consultation on estimating, bidding, and developing technical skills – This includes review of job costing (materials and staff), review of blueprints and construction documents, submitting bids, negotiation and award, and change orders.

• Provides services to develop and improve the immediate and long-term business management, recordkeeping, and financial accounting capabilities of DBEs. Accounting assistance includes a review of income statements, ratios, costs, statement of expenditures, net worth, cash flow, and use of funds.

• Provides services to assist with bonding and financial assistance.

• Assists companies with business plans, capability statements, websites, and marketing plans.

• Assists companies with how to grow their business and how to network with prime contractors.

• Provides support to DBEs in professional services on how to bid on letters of interest.

• Offers presentations to DBE companies on topics such as estimating, bidding, business management, accounting, bonding, financial assistance, business plans, capability statements, websites and marketing plans. Marketing for training must adhere to ODOT branding guidelines. Presentations must have prior approval from ODOT.

• Compiles call logs and activity logs about the services offered and results obtained and submits to the ODOT Supportive Services Manager. Call logs and activity logs must be submitted on a monthly basis (and as requested) with the monthly invoice.

• Provides reports on DBE data and accomplishments

• Researches and corrects issues in service offerings to DBEs.

Vendor’s Responsibility:

The selected vendor is responsible for delivery of consulting services to DBEs. Assessment tool development must be pre-approved by ODOT. Consulting services include:

1.) Developing a capability assessment tool.

2.) Performing an assessment of each DBEs capabilities. Assessments must be provided to

ODOT as completed and as requested for no less than 25 companies throughout the duration of the contract.

3.) Determining which consulting services to offer to the DBE based on the capability assessment.

4.) Offer business development consulting services to the DBE firms.

5.) Keep detailed records for each DBE who receives consulting services to report back to ODOT.

6.) The vendor’s team must be able to meet in person (as needed) with DBE firms.

7.) The vendor must have meeting software to conduct meetings and trainings remotely.

8.) The vendor must have the capability to work with ODOT to obtain specific information to provide to the DBE.

9.) The vendor must provide an invoice monthly along with a detailed pipeline (activity) report which shows all DBEs that have received consulting services, where they are in the process, including next steps. The process and activities for each DBE must be clearly detailed.

Contract Dates and Deliverables The selected vendor(s) will be responsible for delivering the consulting services to DBEs from the time of contract execution to December 31, 2025.

SECTION III. VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

3.1 Mandatory Requirements – vendors MUST meet, at minimum, ALL the following qualification requirements:

• Vendor must have a team of consultants with at least three (3) years of experience who have experience evaluating small businesses internal business practices, capabilities, and developing small businesses in the heavy highway construction industry. The vendor must have the ability to assess future growth opportunities and provide a plan to help the DBE build capacity.

• Vendor must provide resumes for team of consultants

• Vendor must have at least 3 years of experience providing consulting on estimating, bidding, marketing, bonding and financial assistance.

NOTE: Vendors who do not meet ALL the above experience and qualifications will be disqualified from further consideration for contract award.

3.2 Organizational Experience and Capabilities – vendors will be evaluated based on the following:

• Past and current experience providing business development consulting services in the heavy highway transportation industry.

• Name(s) of any subcontractor(s) that will be involved in working with the vendor, and their experience/qualifications and references.

3.3 Staff Experience and Capabilities – proposals should demonstrate significant expertise by identifying staff in key leadership roles. Proposals must include, at minimum:

• Identified staff, by name and position, who are considered key to the project/program’s success

• Resumes/curriculum vitae of those key staff that describe appropriate education, experience and expertise needed for the project/program

Sensitive Personal Information: It is the sole responsibility of the vendor submitting a proposal to remove all personal confidential information (such as home addresses and social security numbers) of vendor staff and/or of any subcontractor and subcontractor staff from resumes or any other part of the proposal package. Following submission to ODOT, all proposals submitted may become part of the public record.

ODOT reserves the right to disqualify any vendor whose proposal is found to contain such prohibited personal information.

Proposal Submission Requirements

OhioBuys

Vendors must submit their Bid Responses electronically in OhioBuys before the published deadline date & time, Columbus, Ohio local time on the Proposal due date. Vendors will not be able to submit Bid Responses, or unsolicited Proposal amendments after the deadline.

Vendors must allow adequate time for uploading a Bid Response prior to the due date and time.

ODOT recommends that vendors submit Bid Responses as early as possible. If a second round is issued for any reason, vendors must resubmit their bid if they had already submitted in a previous round, as the previously submitted Bid Responses do NOT carry over to the new round.

The Signature process takes place after the award now. The email will come from documents@esign.ohio.gov and will go to the signatory that was identified in the bid submission.

The subject line will be the bid # Signature Request, (example: 101G-25 Signature Request).

No contract can be issued to your company until we receive your signature to complete the process.

And you must have an OAKS Payor ID before a contract can be issued. To obtain that, you will need to go into https://ohiopays.ohio.gov.

Proposal Response

The RFP Proposal response must contain information on how the Proposer intends to perform the services outlined in the RFP. Omission of required information may render a Proposer ineligible, and incomplete responses may result in the loss of points. The selected Proposer will become the Vendor of record with ODOT.

Proposers must submit a response for the following areas:

A. Implementation/Management Plan/Work Plan B. Organizational Structure/Staffing Plan

A. Implementation/Management Plan

The Proposer shall submit a statement of the Proposer’s understanding of the scope and his/her/their capabilities to perform the requirements of the RFP, along with a narrative of how the mailto:documents@esign.ohio.gov https://ohiopays.ohio.gov/

Proposer intends to implement and manage each of the tasks in the scope of work set forth in this RFP. Provide a technical description of the methodology anticipated in the performance of the requirements in the scope of work. Other good innovative and creative approaches to accomplish the goals of the contract will be given consideration and should also be included in this section.

Additionally, the proposer must submit the following information:

1.) A detailed flow chart describing services from ODOT to the vendor to the DBE 2.) An explanation of services provided 3.) An explanation of how the proposer will work with ODOT and have in-state representation to meet with companies as needed 4.) An explanation of how the proposer will work remotely/virtually with companies 5.) A timeline for execution, implementation, and on-going management of the consulting services 6.) Details on how the proposer will report DBE consulting activity /services provided/outcomes achieved

B. Organizational Structure

The Proposer must provide the names and résumés of everyone that will be working on the RFP.

Designate the individual who will be committed to ensuring performance of all tasks under the prospective contract (Project Manager). Provide a résumé and contact information for the Project Manager. Please provide a staffing plan that lists any other professionals who will be given key responsibilities in fulfilling the requirements necessary to perform the services. Provide supporting documentation, such as a résumé, for everyone summarizing their experience on similar assignments or projects. Each résumé must identify each employee with the years of service, educational background, the duties and responsibilities for that employer, and a phone number for a contact person. Identify each individual and the percent of time that each person would be assigned to each major task in the Scope of Services.

Technical Proposal Score Sheet

Scoring of Technical Proposal

Technical Proposals will be collectively scored by a Proposal Review Team (PRT) appointed by ODOT. For each of the evaluation criteria given in the score sheet, reviewers will collectively judge whether the technical proposal does not meet, partially meets, meets or exceeds each criterion, and assign the appropriate point value. The scoring will be by consensus and one official score sheet will be completed for each technical proposal that is scored.

Criteria for Considering the Cost Proposal

The cost proposal will be reviewed by the PRT. The Offeror with the highest point total from all phases of the evaluation (Technical Points + Cost Points) will be recommended for the next phase of the evaluation.

ODOT may, at its sole discretion, negotiate with all technically qualifying vendors for a revised cost proposal. Vendors may then: 1) Submit one last and best offer; 2) request that ODOT view its original cost proposal as its last and best offer; or 3) May formally withdraw from further consideration. The vendor shall formally indicate its choice according to directions provided by ODOT at that time. Upon receipt of all last and best offers, ODOT will then consider those vendors’ revised cost proposals.

PHASE I: Initial Qualifying Criteria

The proposal must meet all the following Phase I proposal acceptance criteria in order to be considered for further evaluation. Any proposal receiving a “no” response to any of the following qualifying criteria shall be disqualified from consideration.

ITEM

Mandatory Requirements YES NO

1 Vendor must have a team of consultants who can provide consulting services to DBEs in the heavy highway construction industry

2 Vendor must have a team of consultants with at least three (3) years of experience who have experience evaluating small businesses internal business practices, capabilities, and developing small businesses in the heavy highway construction industry. The vendor must have the ability to assess future growth opportunities and provide a plan to help the DBE build capacity.

3 The company must have at least 3 years of experience providing DBE consulting services in the areas such as estimating, bidding, bonding/finance, accounting, marketing, website development.

4 Vendor demonstrated knowledge and experience with providing consulting services to DBEs in the heavy highway construction industry

PHASE II: Criteria for Scoring of Technical Proposal

Qualifying technical proposals will be collectively scored by a Proposal Review Team (PRT) appointed by ODOT. For each of the evaluation criteria given in the following score sheet, reviewers will collectively judge whether the technical proposal exceeds, meets, partially meets or does not meet the requirements expressed in the RFP, and assign the appropriate point value, as follows:

0 6 8 10 Does Not

Meet Requirement

Partially Meets

Requirement

Meets Requirement

Exceeds Requirement

Technical Performance Scoring Definitions:

“Does Not Meet Requirement”- A particular RFP requirement was not addressed in the vendor’s proposal, Score: 0

“Partially Meets Requirement”-Vendor proposal demonstrates some attempt at meeting a particular RFP requirement, but that attempt falls below acceptable level, Score: 6

“Meets Requirement”-Vendor proposal fulfills a particular RFP requirement in all material respects, potentially with only minor, non-substantial deviation, Score: 8

“Exceeds Requirement”-Vendor proposal fulfills a particular RFP requirement in all material respects, and offers some additional level of quality in excess of ODJFS expectations, Score:

A technical proposal’s total PHASE II score will be the sum of the point value for all the evaluation criteria. The review team will collectively score each individual qualifying proposal.

The top scoring vendors (up to three (3)) may be invited in to present an interactive demonstration. These demonstrations will be collectively scored by a Proposal Review Team (PRT) appointed by ODOT.

ITE

M #

EVALUATION CRITERIA Weightin g

Doesn ’t

Meet

Partially Meets

Meets

Exceeds

WORK REQUIREMENTS

Company Profile The Offeror must submit a detailed Offeror Profile that describes the company history, past similar project experience and current capability and capacity to perform the work under this RFP.

Number of years’ experience in performing training courses similar to work under this RFP.

Staffing plan and resumes. 5

References

Offeror must provide a minimum of three (3) references from previous jobs similar to this project and provide details of similarities.

Work Plan

Offeror explains how they intend to develop and implement the requirements in the statement of work

Offeror demonstrates a detailed timeline and contents for implementation and management of the plan.

Offeror demonstrates detailed information for reporting of services back to ODOT

Column Subtotal of "Partially Meets" points

Column Subtotal of "Meets" points Column Subtotal of "Exceeds" points

TECHNICAL SCORE:

Cost Per Quality Point

Vendors Total Submitted Cost: ________________ / Grand Total Technical Score:

Cost per Quality Point: _______________

The Technical Proposal with the lowest Cost per Quality point will be recommended for award of the contract.

If ODOT finds that one or more Proposals should be given further consideration, ODOT may select one or more of the highest-ranking Proposals to move to the next phase. ODOT may alternatively choose to bypass any or all subsequent phases and make an award based solely on the Proposal evaluation phase.