6-1. Specifications.pdf

Specifications

Neighborhood EV Outreach and Education in Support of Community EV Charging

Purpose This request for proposals (RFP) seeks a vendor to organize and conduct electric vehicle education and outreach events at neighborhoods in Boulder County. The eligible neighborhoods for EV education and outreach are those who have property owners participating in Charge Up Boulder County: Better Access for EV Charging. The selected vendor from this RFP will provide education and outreach events for these neighborhood residents.

Boulder County has conducted community engagement with property owners and the sites who are participating in Charge Up Boulder County are included in Attachment 1, Sites for Neighborhood EV Outreach and Education Events, to this RFP.

General Overview Boulder County is supporting the installation of publicly-accessible EV charging infrastructure to increase access for communities and areas that have gaps in EV charging.

High-priority locations for filling gaps in EV charging are low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, rural areas, and neighborhoods with multifamily housing in Boulder County.

The overall project includes the design and installation of an estimated 70-90 EV charging stations in total. Both Level 2 and DC Fast Charging are included in this project. The charging will prioritize serving existing properties. The project includes the installation of EV charging stations on public and private properties. Stations at multifamily housing must be unassigned parking and available to both residents and visitors. Assigned or deeded parking spots are not eligible for the EV charging infrastructure. Single family homes are not eligible sites. The site host’s property for the charging installation must be located in Boulder County.

This project is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) discretionary grant program, authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Boulder County was awarded $4.9 million in CFI federal funds for the deployment of EV charging stations to support community charging as well as education and outreach, and workforce development. Vendors participating in this project are responsible for compliance with federal funding requirements.

Boulder County issued a separate Request for Proposal, RFP-200-25 “Boulder County Community Electric Vehicle Charging,” in August 2025, which resulted in the selection of vendor Winn-Marion Barber, LLC to complete the design and installation of EV charging stations. Winn-Marion is currently conducting preliminary design at the property owner sites as part of the pre-construction phase of the project. The construction of the EV charging stations is anticipated to start in Quarter 1 of 2027 and the property owner at each site will make the decisions on whether to proceed to construction and installation.

Boulder County is now seeking a separate vendor to complete the education and outreach to those neighborhoods that are anticipated to receive those charging stations. The selected outreach and education vendor from this RFP will increase awareness of residents about both electric vehicles and EV charging so that the residents in these specific neighborhoods have an increased likelihood to purchase or lease new and used EVs and therefore increase the usage of the planned EV charging stations.

This project provides an excellent opportunity to disseminate information about electric vehicle education and EV incentives. In Colorado, there are two to three electric vehicle incentives, many of which are income-qualified and stackable. As part of the outreach and education under this project, the selected vendor will provide EV incentive information to ensure low-to-moderate communities and multifamily housing residents are aware of the financial opportunities. This approach to community engagement and education will increase the utilization of EV charging infrastructure funded by Boulder County’s CFI federal grant award.

Goals The goals for the work resulting from this RFP are the following:

• Enhance event attendees’ awareness and the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging in the prospective charging site neighborhoods

• Provide information about EV incentives and increase event attendees’ awareness of EV incentives available

• Increase event attendees’ awareness of EV charging and the planned charging stations in their neighborhood

Funding The total budget for this project is not to exceed $165,000, including federal funding and local government match funding.

The scope of work under this RFP is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), 23 U.S.C. 151 (Pub. L. 117-58, 11401 November 5, 2021).

The contract with the selected vendor under this RFP and the continuation of the contract are contingent on continued funding under Boulder County’s federal grant award.

Eligible Vendors Eligible vendors to this RFP are “private entities,” i.e. a corporation, partnership, company, or nonprofit organization. A vendor may partner with subcontractors.

Scope of Services The selected vendor will coordinate, manage logistics, and conduct events with up to 30 neighborhood sites. The planned EV charging sites include apartment buildings, condos, townhomes, city parks and parking lots, non-profits, and retail locations. The selected vendor will collaborate with any property owners/managers, property site staff, HOA members, and/or resident volunteers for event preparations and event implementation.

The selected vendor will cover topics during the neighborhood events including the benefits of EVs, EV incentives, types of EV charging, and time for questions and answers.

The following Scope of Services describes what is expected of the selected vendor.

1. Prepare for launch of events

• Identify the best event location for each site, working directly with each property owner. Event site locations will include both private properties and public properties. Event sites are anticipated to be community rooms, clubhouses, HOA meeting spaces, libraries, recreation centers, or other public-friendly meeting spaces. The goal is for the event space to be close to the location of the upcoming EV chargers and close to those living in that neighborhood.

• Finalize event content and structure.

• Collaborate with Boulder County, the respective site property owner, and Winn-

Marion to confirm the information available for the selected vendor to share with residents about the upcoming EV chargers (i.e., number of chargers, charging payment methods, sharing the amenity, etc.).

• Identify the marketing methods for the project to spread the word about each event, which may include digital marketing through the properties’ existing communications and posters around the property, or other creative ideas.

• Develop and distribute the marketing materials identified above. Boulder County will share brand guidelines and accessibility requirements. Boulder County will review and approve the materials developed by the selected vendor.

o The marketing materials (and any presentation materials, if necessary) will need to be in English and Spanish. Boulder County will manage the translation requirements because the county has a pre-existing contract with certified translators. The selected vendor from this RFP is not responsible for the translation of the materials and should not include translation costs in their cost proposal. However, the selected vendor must allow sufficient time in the project schedule to allow Boulder County adequate time for translation in advance of marketing and events.

2. Conduct events

• Coordinate, manage logistics (including but not limited to obtaining any required permits or other authorizations), and conduct events with up to 30 neighborhood sites. These sites include apartment buildings, condos, townhomes, city parks and parking lots, non-profits, and retail locations. The attendance size for each event is unknown at this time but is anticipated to be in the range of 10-50 people.

• Most, if not all events, will be physically conducted in-person. Unless a site property owner requests a virtual event or there is an extenuating unexpected situation, all events will be in-person.

• The event must be a reasonable duration to respect people’s time.

• Topics that must be covered during the neighborhood events include the following:

o Information about Electric Vehicles, including the benefits of EVs/why drive an EV, what types of EVs are there to fit my lifestyle, EV and PHEV definitions o Electric Vehicle incentives and discounts, including Colorado State Tax Credit, Vehicle Exchange Colorado, dealership lease examples, and any others o Types of EV charging o Coordinate with Boulder County and property owner on the status of the potential EV chargers for the neighborhood and timely information to share at the event. This will be a required topic assuming the charging station is advancing forward to implementation as planned. This will most likely include the site layout drawing for where the chargers are anticipated to be installed.

• Additional topics that are recommended to be covered during the neighborhood events include the following:

o Frequently asked questions such as tire wear and tear, DIY maintenance, and environmental considerations of gas vehicles and battery electric vehicles o The opportunity for existing EV owners to share their experience or a few case studies of EV owners o Resources to learn more

• Coordinate with Boulder County staff to provide simultaneous interpretation at some of the events. It is estimated that 6 events may include simultaneous interpretation and any language access needs will be determined when the selected vendor works directly with each property owner.

o Boulder County will manage the interpretation services for this project because the county has a pre-existing contract with certified interpreters.

The selected vendor from this RFP is not responsible for the language access services at the events and should not include language access costs in their cost proposal. However, the selected vendor must collaborate with the interpreter at the event since the interpreter will be coming to the event.

• Manage the refreshments/food for each event. The selected vendor must invoice Boulder County separately for food costs and Boulder County will pay for food costs with county funding, as food is not an allowable cost for Boulder County’s CFI federal grant.

• Vendors are encouraged to include creative ideas for how to make the event engaging, fun, and impactful.

• Conduct pre-event and post-event surveys of attendees’ impression of EVs and EV charging.

• Coordinate event space including set-up, take-down, and clean-up.

• Optional Add-on o The selected vendor may include the opportunity for residents to experience an electric vehicle first-hand, through an EV ride and drive or an EV showcase. If the vendor is hosting a ride and drive opportunity, vendor will be responsible for arranging for vehicles to be driven and obtaining all required waivers. The EV ride and drive and/or vendor showcase is limited to up to eight (8) events for those events with the highest expected attendance. For any vendor who wants to include this add-on in their proposal, the vendor must describe how they plan to organize and offer this as part of the six events, as well as any partners for the effort.

o If you include the optional add-on of EV ride and drive or an EV showcase in your proposal, please include costs associated with ride and drive or showcase in your cost proposal separate from the other event costs.

o Boulder County requests that lower-cost vehicles are included in the drive/showcase options and that one particular brand cannot be promoted.

o Exhibit A includes the additional insurance requirements that would be required by a selected vendor to implement the ride and drives.

o The selected vendor must obtain a Certificate of Insurance from any dealership it engages for a drive event that names the County as an additional insured.

Deliverables

• Neighborhood events completed with electric vehicle and EV charging information provided

• Post-survey results of attendees’ impression of EVs and EV charging

Eligible Costs Funds can be used for the following:

• Educational activities to support the use of zero-emission vehicles and associated infrastructure. To encourage thorough public participation, eligible education costs can include information dissemination.

NOTE: Funds cannot be used for food, as that is not permitted under Boulder County’s federal grant. The selected vendor will provide separate invoices to Boulder County to be paid with non-federal and non-match funding.

Costs must adhere to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 2 CFR 200: Title 2 “Federal Financial Assistance,” Part 200 “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.”

Federal Requirements The selected vendor shall ensure that the scope of services is completed in accordance with all Federal laws, regulations, and policies that are applicable to the scope of services.

These requirements include, but are not limited to, Uniform Administrative Requirements, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1

Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Parts 200, 1201); the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) standards and requirements (23 CFR Part 680); Buy America requirements; Build America, Buy America Act; Davis Bacon federal wage rate requirements; the American with Disabilities Act (ADA); Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act; the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The selected consultant will be required to comply with the FHWA’s Terms and Conditions and Exhibits for Boulder County’s CFI grant award agreement.

The FHWA is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C 552. The vendor selected for award under this RFP should be aware that proposal and contract materials may become FHWA records subject to public release.

The Recipient, in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d-4) and the Regulations, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that for any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

Timeline All times below are mountain time zone.

Item Deadline Release Request for Proposals June 5, 2026 Deadline for submitting questions June 12, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Addendum - Answers to questions June 18, 2026 Proposal submission due July 6, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Interviews with finalists (if necessary) July 9-13, 2026 Anticipated notice of award July 21, 2026 Anticipated project start August 21, 2026 Conduct outreach and education events for up to 30 neighborhoods (estimate of 1-2 events per week)

September 14 – December 18, 2026

Application Submission and Format Submittal Instructions Submittals must be through the online EUNA (formally Bonfire) Procurement Portal on or before 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time on July 6, 2026.

Application Content and Format The proposal must include the following documents in the table below. Vendors must describe how they will perform the education and outreach services in the Description of Services. Vendors are encouraged to showcase in the Qualifications and Experience how they are uniquely qualified to conduct the education and outreach services.

Proposal Checklist:

Document Details Required or Optional Description of Services Include purpose, tasks, schedule, and deliverables.

Maximum of 8 pages.

Required

Qualifications and Experience

Include the qualifications and relevant experience of the key personnel

Required

Cost Proposal Provide the cost proposal to complete the requested scope of services. It is anticipated that EV events will occur in-person at 30 neighborhood sites, so cost proposals should be based on this assumption.

Required

Resumes Provide resumes of key personnel (maximum of two pages each)

Required

Example Event Flier for marketing

Include an example education event flier

Required

References Include the name, title, organization, email address, and phone number for each reference.

No more than 3 references.

1 page only.

Required

Vendor Information Form See Vendor Information Form provided

Required

W-9 W9 dated within the past 12 months

Required

Sam.gov See sam.gov information provided

Required

Certificate of Good Standing with the Colorado Secretary of State

Colorado Secretary of State Business Database Search and Business FAQs

Optional

Signed Lobbying Certificate See Lobbying Certificate provided

Required

Certificate of Insurance See Exhibit A, Insurance Requirements, for more information.

Required

Boulder County Contract template

Only if you are requesting any changes to the template contract, submit a red-lined version of the Boulder County contract with your proposal.

Optional https://coloradosos.gov/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.do?quitButtonFlg=Y https://coloradosos.gov/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.do?quitButtonFlg=Y https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/business/FAQs/foreigns.html