Addendum_1-_FY24-DORS-063__12.27.24_Final.pdf

MarylandPublicSchools.org

Addendum #1

RFQ: FY24-DORS-063

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

REACH INDEPENDENCE THROUGH SELF-EMPLOYMENT (RISE)

December 27, 2024

This addendum is being published to respond to vendor questions, extend the proposal due date and addition to scope of work. Please consider this information when submitting your bid. You must acknowledge this addendum by using the attached form with your submission.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. The deadline for questions has passed and Q&A session has closed.

2. Proposal Due Date has been extended until January 9, 2025 10:00 a.m. (Local Time)

3. Submissions will only be accepted via eMaryland Marketplace Advantage. No mailed, e-mailed, hand delivered, or faxed bids will be accepted.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

ADDITION TO ORIGINAL SCOPE OF WORK

Business Coaching/Mentoring: Providing coaching/mentoring to consumers after their Business Plan has been approved. The coaching/mentoring will be individualized and maybe provided in small groups, and available to the consumer for at least one year after the business has become operational.

1. Is this a new contract or renewal of existing work?

Response: Yes, this solicitation is a new contract

2. If renewal, who is the incumbant?

Response: The incumbent is Psychometric Solutions

3. If new, what is the maximum allocated budget for the full term?

Response: The estimated contract value is $1.1 million dollars

4. Can vendors provide more than two full time positions on the assignment?

Response: Confirmed. See Section 2 of the Addendum RFP Staffing Requirements and Locations

5.Could you please let me know if nonprofits are allowed to bid on this project, either as the prime or as part of an SBR led team?

Response: Yes, nonprofits are allowed to bid on this project.

1. Rise Scope: In order to help with project design and budgeting, please provide information on the number of individuals that are referred to RISE annually in the last contract and the number that usually complete the program with an approved business plan. If available, or you can provide some rough percentages, please also let us know:

Response: 37 new referrals with 3 completing the program in Year 3; and 24 new referrals with 2 completing the program in Year 24.

1. The percentage of potential business owners that are agency supported (ie a person with IDD or another significant disability who would have their agency staff helping them develop and run the business)

Response: I don't have this data. My estimate is less than 10% of Referrals.

2. The percentage of potential business owners who are seeking to run their business on their own (without agency support other than the DORS in-kind supports)

Response: 90% (estimate).

3. The key types of businesses you see coming through the program now (ie product sales/arts, consulting or other professional services, landscaping/janitorial, IT/webdesign, etc.)

Response: Professional businesses make the majority, followed by sales/arts.

4. Are participants in the blind division's vendor program also participants in RISE or is that program separate?

Response: The MD Business Enterprise Program for the Blind is handled by a separate office within the Office for Blindness and Vision Services.

2. RFP staff requirements and location:

Staffing configuration: I understand from the bidders conference this morning that you are definitely requiring 2 full time, agency regular staff and are not open to 2 FTEs that may include several part time individuals with different skills/business expertise or from different regions. It also appears that these two staff needed to be employees of the prime contractor, not a prime/sub team. Please confirm.

Response: Confirmed

1. Delivery method: Derick stated this morning that DORS anticipates that all staff activities and trainings will be offered virtually, with staff housed at the contractor's location or elsewhere. However, RFP 2.1.1 states that services must be performed at Argonne drive. Please clarify.

Response: Unfortunately, some of the language from the prior RFP (2019) was copied into the current RFP. There is no requirement that RISE services be provided at Argonne Dr. Apologies for the confusion.

2. Travel: 3.3.4 states that travel will not be covered for this contract. Does that mean that you do not want any in-person trainings/intro to business events or counseling sessions if appropriate? In many cases, local travel is covered in the fully loaded rates for personnel.

Would that kind of travel support be allowed if in-person sessions for either RISE participants or DORS staff seemed appropriate?

Response: Any travel by the contractor in the performance of RISE responsibilities will not be billed/invoiced separately. In the event in-person activities are needed for the consumer, the contractor will be responsible for those costs. Note that over the past 4 1/2 years, there have been no such requests from consumers.

3. Plan review committee: When I was a RISE participant, I think the plan review committee membership was established by DORS with the RISE contractor helping to find members with various characteristics. 2.3.1 states that the contractor forms this committee.

Response: Two of the committee members will be DORS staff, as determined by Derick Serra. The remaining members should include the contractor, consultants with whom the contractor works, and business professionals such as an Accountant, a Marketer, and are preferrably who self-employed in their occupation. No other state or federal representatives are necessary.

4. Please clarify if DORS has any criteria for the committee membership and DORS or other Maryland state staff will be expected participating members?

Response: Two of the committee members will be DORS staff, as determined by Derick Serra. The remaining members should include the contractor, consultants with whom the contractor works, and business professionals such as an Accountant, a Marketer, and are preferrably who self-employed in their occupation. No other state or federal representatives are necessary.

5. Do you expect compensation for these committee members as part of the budget? Would this be different for government staff vs private sector representatives?

Response: DORS will not provide compensation to the Business Committee members, above and beyond the actual award to the contractor.

1. Project budget: Please provide the budget range for this project, both annually and total budget. Are we correct to assume that the first year budget would be higher given start-up costs?

Response: The solicitation has an estimated contract value of $1.1 million dollars.

7. MBE goals:

Please clarify the rationale for the specific goals for Asian, Hispanic/Latino and women owned businesses in the proposal. Are you looking for Asian and Hispanic/Latino participation to provide other language capability? If so, which Asian languages are most needed?

Response: The Maryland Office of State Procurement has determined that there are a sufficient number of subcontractors within the designated minority categories to meet the participation goals. Please refer to Exhibit 1 for details on how the sub goals were determined. Additionally, refer to Appendix 4 for more information about the MBE or DBE program and its associated goals.

The participation goals are as follows:

0% for African-American MBEs 3% for Asian-American MBEs 2% for Hispanic-American MBEs 10% for Woman-Owned MBEs

The subcontractors listed on "Part 2 - MBE utilization and fair solicitation affidavit & MBE participation schedule form" must hold one of the following minority statuses: Asian American/Pacific Islander/Subcontinent firm, Asian American/Pacific Islander/Subcontinent female firm, Hispanic-American or Hispanic-American female firm, or a Woman-Owned firm.

8. Evaluation criteria:

1. In 6.2, we were surprised to see that the proposed scope and design of the project is not an evaluation criteria, only prior experience and price. Since the proposed project solution is usually a significant factor, please clarify if this is correct?

Response: The State prefers the Offeror’s Technical Proposal to illustrate a comprehensive understanding of work requirements and mastery of the subject matter including an explanation of how the work will be performed.

2. Please clarify the number of points for each evaluation criteria and the overall percentage of points for technical proposal and price.

Response: Technical proposals deemed susceptible will be rated and ranked adjectively.

9. Proposal timeline and RFP process:

Please note that counting today, there are only 6 or 7 business days before the proposal is due given holidays and that many organizations are closed between the 24th and 1st, making it very difficult to negotiate partnerships and complete proposal writing unless everyone works over planned vacations and closures. If questions are accepted until the 26th and it takes a couple of days to develop the addendum, proposers may only have 1 or 2 business days to create a proposal that meets the revised scope.

Response: The proposal due date is extended until January 9, 2025 10:00 a.m. Local Time

1. Participant list: Please provide a list of participants in the bidders conference with their contact information and any W/MBE and SBIR information as soon as possible to facilitate partnerships.

Response: See Addendum No. 1 for attendees list

2. Subcontractor participation: Please clarify if subcontractors could be included in bids on multiple proposals? This is standard practice on other Maryland state and County RFPs.

Response: Yes, subcontractors can be used on multiple pre bid proposals

3. W/MBE goals and timeline: Given that the W/MBE rules outlined by Nicole this morning stated that W/MBEs must be given 10 days to develop their bids to be included in proposals, how do you reconcile this short proposal development timeline with this requirement? The current timeline would make developing new partnerships and assembling the required MBE paperwork and commitment letters a challenge.

Response: For clarification, if a firm is identified as the apparent awardee, it must submit the D-3A Certified MBE Subcontractor Participation Certification and the E-3 VSBE Subcontractor Participation Statement within 10 days. The completed forms must be returned directly to the Procurement Officer listed in Section D within 10 days of receiving notice from the Prime Contractor regarding the State’s intent to award the contract.

Additionally, if the apparent awardee intends to use themselves to meet a portion of the MBE/VSBE goal the D-3B MBE Prime Project Participation Certification is required to meet the MBE participation goals or E1A VSBE Subcontractor Participation Schedule.

This form must be submitted within 10 business days of receiving notification of the apparent award. If the Offeror fails to submit the affidavit within the required time frame, the Procurement Officer may determine that the proposal is ineligible for contract award consideration.

1. Addenda released after submission deadline: 4.10 mentions responding to addenda released after the proposal due date. This is the first time I have seen this criteria in an RFP in Maryland or elsewhere. Please clarify if you anticipate that proposers would be expected to modify their proposals after they are submitted?

Response: Prospective offerors shall check eMaryland Marketplace Advantage for all addenda issued prior to the submission of proposals.

Opening proposals: 4.5 mentions that proposals will be opened publicly. Please clarify if this is a virtual event and how potential bidders will be notified of this event.

Response: Section 4.5 of the advertised RFP states proposals will not be opened publicly.

2. Proposal due date: Please clarify the rationale for the January 2nd 10 AM due date?

We would be grateful if you would consider extending the due date by at least a week or two given holidays and business closures between Christmas and New Years.

Response: The proposal due date has been extended until January 9, 2025 10:00 a.m.

10. May you put Ms. Nicole's and Mr. Derick's email address in chat if allowed please?

Response: derick.serra@maryland.gov & nicole.bohanan2@maryland.gov mailto:derick.serra@maryland.gov

ATTENDEES LIST FOR PRE-BID CONFERENCE

December 20 2024

9:00 a.m.

Will Holmes Will Holmes Consulting willholmesconsulting@gmail.com Andrea Andraschko - andrea.truuligroup@gmail.com Michelle Bell, SBR,MBE,WBE

1st Choice LLC Mbell@1stchoicegov.com

A Butler, Sr. ADB Ventures Greg2b.butler@adb-ventures.com Tisa Clark, MBE JD Clark tisa@jpclarkps.com Danielle Donnelly, MBE Advanced Building Performance danielle@abpcx.com Beth Lash, DORS Division of Rehabilitation

Services beth.lash@maryland.gov

Darlene Peregoy, DORS Division of Rehabilitation Services darlene.peregoy@maryland.gov

Derick Serra, DORS Division of Rehabilitation Services derick.serra@maryland.gov

Michelle Stewart, DORS Division of Rehabilitation Services michelle.stewart@maryland.gov

Mindy Ober, DORS Division of Rehabilitation Services mindy.ober@maryland.gov

Ashwnda Fleming, MBE A Marie Consultants ashawndafleming@gmail.com Joe Giodano, VSBA Consulting Training &

Developmental Services Joe.giodano@ctds.bz

Allison Hayden, SBE, MBE AAP Global Consulting aapglobalconsulting@gmail.com Jovan Jackson Good News Financial &

Investment Advisors LLC jovaninfo@@jacksondakota.com

Toni Johnson, SBR Toni Johnson and Reboot Hiring tonijohnson@reboothiring.com Dea Lott DivineSense dea@thedivinesense.com Breanne Martin Psychometrics Solutions bmartin@psychometricsolutions.org Adrain Pulliam-Smith MSDE, Procurement adrain.pulliam-smith@maryland.gov Brittany Owens MSDE, Procurement brittany.owens1@maryland.gov Nicole Bohanan MSDE, MBE Liaison nicole.bohanan2@maryland.gov Tameka Payton Psychometric Solutions tpayton@psychometricsolutions.org Shilonda Savage, SBR , MBE Dower Personnel Services ssavage8@dowerpersonnelsvs.com Jo Anne Schneider Chrysalis Collaborations joanne@chrysaliscollaborations.com Elizabeth Britt WOS Printing contact@wosbprinting.com Shuwanda Williams - - Jill Finizio, MBE AAA Recruitment Services jill@aaarecruitmentservices.com Jasmine Russell-Peter 5W Solutions, LLC 5Wcontractsllc@gmail.com mailto:willholmesconsulting@gmail.com mailto:andrea.truuligroup@gmail.com mailto:Mbell@1stchoicegov.com mailto:Greg2b.butler@adb-ventures.com mailto:beth.lash@maryland.gov mailto:darlene.peregoy@maryland.gov mailto:derick.serra@maryland.gov mailto:michelle.stewart@maryland.gov mailto:mindy.ober@maryland.gov mailto:ashawndafleming@gmail.com mailto:tonijohnson@reboothiring.com mailto:dea@thedivinesense.com mailto:bmartin@psychometricsolutions.org mailto:adrain.pulliam-smith@maryland.gov mailto:brittany.owens1@maryland.gov mailto:nicole.bohanan2@maryland.gov mailto:tpayton@psychometricsolutions.org mailto:joanne@chrysaliscollaborations.com mailto:contact@wosbprinting.com mailto:jill@aaarecruitmentservices.com mailto:5Wcontractsllc@gmail.com

Acknowledgement

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(Print Name)

Signature Date

Vendor

Telephone No. Email:

This concludes Addendum No. 1

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200 WEST BALTIMORE STREET | BALTIMORE, MD 21201 410-767-0100 | 410-333-6442 TTY/TDD