Economic_Development_Strategy,_Advisory,_Capacity_Building,_and_Project_Delivery.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

2026-RFI-058

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, ADVISORY, CAPACITY

BUILDING, AND PROJECT DELIVERY

City of Palm Desert

73-510 Fred Waring Drive

Palm Desert, CA 92260

RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2026

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: September 1, 2026

RESPONSE DEADLINE: September 16, 2026, 2:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/cityofpalmdesert https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/cityofpalmdesert

City of Palm Desert

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Economic Development Strategy, Advisory, Capacity Building, and

Project Delivery

1. Introduction

2. Purpose and Objectives

3. Potential Service Areas

4. Consultant Qualifications

5. Required Statement of Qualifications Contents

6. Evaluation Criteria

Request For Information #2026-RFI-058 Title: Economic Development Strategy, Advisory, Capacity Building, and Project Delivery

1. Introduction

1.1. Summary

The City of Palm Desert (“City”) invites Statements of Qualifications from highly experienced economic development professionals or firms to provide strategic advisory, economic development capacity-building, business attraction, developer and real estate advisory, transaction support, and project delivery services.

The City seeks a senior-level practitioner or team with 15+ years of experience, that can function as an extension of the City's existing Economic Development team—augmenting current services and capacity while simultaneously strengthening long-term internal capability.

The selected consultant will provide both strategic advice and hands-on implementation support. The consultant will not replace the City's Economic Development function or exercise governmental decision-making authority.

Augment. Accelerate. Develop. Transfer.

• Augment current Economic Development staff services and capacity.

• Accelerate priority business, development, real estate and investment opportunities.

• Develop staff judgment, skills, confidence, relationships and professional sophistication.

• Transfer knowledge, systems, tools, relationships and responsibility to City staff.

1.2. Background

Palm Desert is a dynamic Southern California community with a significant visitor economy, established commercial base, major development opportunities and ambitious plans for continued economic diversification and investment. The City is seeking to strengthen its economic development function so that it can operate with the sophistication, market awareness and project-delivery capability required to compete for high-quality investment and respond effectively to increasingly complex opportunities.

The City anticipates a need for both additional capacity and specialized expertise. The selected consultant will therefore work closely with existing staff, City leadership and other departments rather than operating as a separate outsourced economic development organization.

The City values practical implementation, strong private-sector relationships, sound fiscal judgment, effective interdepartmental coordination, and measurable transfer of capability to staff.

1.3. Contact Information

Project Contact:

Veronica Chavez

Deputy City Manager

73510 Fred Waring Drive

Palm Desert, CA 92260

Email: vchavez@palmdesert.gov

Phone: (760) 346-0611 Ext: 344

Procurement Contact:

Celina Cabrera

Senior Management Analyst

73510 Fred Waring Dr

Palm Desert, CA 92260

Email: ccabrera@palmdesert.gov

Phone: (760) 776-6449

Department:

CMO - City Manager

1.4. Timeline

Release Project Date August 25, 2026

Question Submission Deadline September 1, 2026, 2:00pm

Question Response Deadline September 4, 2026, 2:00pm

Proposal Submission Deadline September 16, 2026, 2:00pm

2. Purpose and Objectives

2.1. Overview

The City seeks to augment its existing Economic Development team with experienced, specialized expertise and additional capacity while simultaneously developing the people, processes and systems necessary to build a sophisticated, high-performing and sustainable municipal economic development function.

• Provide senior-level economic development expertise and additional capacity.

• Advance priority economic development opportunities and projects.

• Develop proactive business attraction, recruitment and retention capabilities.

• Strengthen developer, broker, investor and site-selector relationships.

• Improve real estate, land, development and transaction capabilities.

• Provide hands-on economic development project delivery support.

• Build staff strategic judgment, business acumen and professional sophistication.

mailto:vchavez@palmdesert.gov tel:(760)346-0611;ext=344 mailto:ccabrera@palmdesert.gov tel:(760)776-6449

• Establish repeatable operating systems, CRM/data practices and project management tools.

• Improve the City's ability to advise the City Manager and City Council on economic development opportunities.

• Transfer knowledge, relationships, tools and responsibility to City staff.

2.2. Guiding Principles

Augment, Not Replace

The consultant will serve as an extension of the City's Economic Development team and may provide temporary augmentation during periods of increased workload or specialized need.

Results + Capacity

Performance will be evaluated on both economic development results and measurable growth in City staff capability.

Coach Through Real Work

Staff development should occur primarily through actual projects, meetings, deal reviews, analysis, negotiations and project delivery.

Progressive Transfer

The preferred model is Demonstrate → Coach → Co-lead → Transfer Responsibility→ Advise.

City Ownership

City staff retain ownership of projects, relationships, decisions and institutional knowledge.

Practical Implementation

Recommendations should be actionable, appropriately scaled to municipal government and tied to real opportunities.

Institutionalization

Tools, processes and knowledge created during the engagement should remain usable after the consultant's engagement ends.

3. Potential Service Areas

3.1. Overview

The service areas below describe the range of capabilities the City may draw upon during the engagement. They are intended to help the City evaluate the depth and relevance of each respondent's qualifications and are not a prescribed work plan or commitment that every listed activity will be performed. Specific assignments, priorities, sequencing, work products, and level of effort will be established collaboratively with the selected consultant based on City needs, opportunities, and available resources.

3.2. Economic Development Strategy & Strategic Positioning

• Evaluate existing strategy and priorities.

• Define competitive advantages, vulnerabilities and value proposition.

• Identify target industries, businesses and investment opportunities.

• Develop short-, medium- and long-term priorities and a 3–5 year opportunity pipeline.

• Benchmark Palm Desert against competitive jurisdictions.

• Teach staff how to evaluate strategic opportunities.

3.3. Market & Economic Intelligence

• Demographic, socioeconomic and consumer analysis.

• Retail leakage/capture, commercial real estate, hotel, tourism, employment and workforce analysis.

• Development trends, competitor-city benchmarking and site-selection intelligence.

• Identify emerging opportunities.

• Train staff to interpret and apply market intelligence.

3.4. Business Attraction, Recruitment & Retention

• Target-business identification and prospecting.

• Business recruitment strategies, meetings and site-selection responses.

• Business retention and expansion strategy.

• Existing-business relationship development.

• Prospect pipeline management.

• Coach staff on sophisticated private-sector engagement.

3.5. Developer, Real Estate & Land Strategy

• Strategic opportunity-site identification.

• City-owned property evaluation and disposition strategy.

• Highest-and-best-use and redevelopment analysis.

• Developer outreach, solicitations and selection support.

• Property owner/developer engagement.

• Public/private partnership opportunities.

3.6. Deal Structuring, Financial Analysis & Incentives

• Review developer pro formas and project economics.

• Analyze sources, uses and feasibility.

• Evaluate public investment and incentives.

• Performance-based incentives, reimbursements and revenue structures.

• Risk allocation, performance requirements and clawbacks.

• Negotiation strategy and transaction advisory, coordinated with Finance and legal counsel.

3.7. Economic Development Project Delivery

• Evaluate and prioritize projects.

• Develop project delivery plans and critical paths.

• Coordinate developers, businesses and City departments.

• Support meetings, negotiations, approvals and agreements.

• Troubleshoot entitlement, infrastructure, financing, ownership, regulatory and market barriers.

• Create an Economic Development Project Delivery Playbook.

• Coach staff toward independent project leadership.

3.8. Economic Development Operating System & Process Improvement

• Map current processes and bottlenecks.

• Establish opportunity intake, evaluation and prioritization.

• Create deal-review and project-management processes.

• Improve interdepartmental coordination and project velocity.

• Establish documentation, communication and reporting standards.

3.9. CRM, Business Intelligence & Institutional Knowledge

• Business, developer, broker and property databases.

• Project and prospect pipelines.

• Relationship, activity, opportunity and outcome tracking.

• Dashboards and reporting.

• Data ownership and maintenance standards.

• Institutional knowledge preservation.

3.10. Staff Development, Coaching & Professional Sophistication

• Assess staff capabilities and development needs.

• Develop a team professional-development plan.

• Coach strategic thinking, commercial real estate, market analysis, financial literacy, negotiation, executive communication, business recruitment, project management and professional judgment.

• Use shadowing, role-play, deal reviews, joint meetings and real-world assignments.

• Provide presentation and executive-presence coaching.

3.11. Broker, Site Selector, Investor & Private-Sector Relationships

• Identify priority relationships.

• Develop outreach and engagement strategies.

• Facilitate introductions.

• Prepare staff for high-level meetings.

• Institutionalize relationships within the City.

• Move from reactive to proactive relationship management.

3.12. Economic Development Marketing & Storytelling

• Develop economic development value proposition.

• Create investor/developer and recruitment messaging.

• Improve site-selection response materials.

• Develop data-driven storytelling.

• Coach staff to communicate the City's opportunity to sophisticated audiences.

3.13. Executive, City Manager & City Council Advisory

• Executive briefings and opportunity assessments.

• Council presentations and workshops.

• Economic Development staff reports.

• Deal summaries and risk/reward analysis.

• Policy recommendations.

• Confidential negotiation and decision support.

3.14. Organizational Capacity, Staffing & Succession

• Assess staffing levels, roles and skill mix.

• Identify competency gaps and workload issues.

• Recommend organizational improvements where appropriate.

• Support succession and institutional knowledge planning.

• Identify functions best performed internally versus externally.

3.15. Performance Management & Economic Development Outcomes

• Establish activity, pipeline and outcome measures.

• Track prospects, projects, investment, jobs and other relevant outcomes.

• Develop dashboards and regular reporting.

• Evaluate economic value created or facilitated—not merely activity volume.

3.16. Knowledge Transfer & Long-Term Capacity Building

• Progressively transfer knowledge, relationships, tools and responsibility.

• Conduct periodic capability assessments.

• Document processes and playbooks.

• Measure what staff can independently perform.

• Provide a final Economic Development Capacity & Knowledge Transfer Assessment.

4. Consultant Qualifications

• Senior-level municipal economic development experience, with strong California experience.

• Substantial business attraction, recruitment and retention experience.

• Significant developer, commercial real estate and land strategy experience.

• Complex development transaction, negotiation and public/private partnership experience.

• Strong understanding of development economics, municipal finance and incentives.

• Experience working directly with City Managers, elected officials and executive leadership.

• Demonstrated staff coaching, mentoring and organizational capacity-building experience.

• Experience advancing projects from concept through implementation.

• Established relationships with developers, brokers, site selectors, investors or major businesses.

• Ability to provide both strategic and hands-on implementation support.

• Strong communication, facilitation and executive presentation skills.

5. Required Statement of Qualifications Contents

5.1. Proposal*

Respondents shall submit a Statement of Qualifications that is clear, concise, and organized in the order presented below. Responses should focus on demonstrated qualifications, relevant experience, proposed personnel, professional judgment, and examples of comparable work. The City is not requesting a fully developed project solution or detailed implementation work plan at this stage.

1. Content and Format Requirements

The Statement of Qualifications should be organized in a manner that allows the City to easily evaluate the respondent’s qualifications and experience.

At a minimum, the SOQ should:

• Follow the section order identified in this RFQ.

• Clearly identify each required section and subsection.

• Be concise and focused on information relevant to the services described in this RFQ.

• Identify which proposed team members were responsible for the experience and project examples provided.

• Avoid the inclusion of extensive marketing materials, generic corporate information, or unrelated project examples.

• Include all required attachments, forms, and certifications identified in the solicitation.

• Be submitted electronically through the City’s designated procurement platform in the format specified in the solicitation instructions.

Where requested, respondents should provide sufficient detail to allow the City to evaluate the firm’s qualifications, but should not submit a detailed project work plan unless specifically requested.

2. Firm Qualifications and Experience

Provide an overview of the respondent’s organization and its qualifications to perform the services described in this RFQ.

The response should include:

• Legal name of the firm or individual.

• Primary office location.

• Number of years in business.

• Organizational structure.

• General areas of economic development specialization.

• Experience providing economic development services to municipal or other public-sector clients.

• Experience working in California, where applicable.

• Experience providing senior-level advisory and implementation support.

• Description of the firm’s ability to provide both strategic guidance and hands-on project delivery assistance.

Respondents should explain how their overall experience aligns with the service areas identified in

Section 5.

3. Understanding of Palm Desert’s Economic Development Context and Needs

Provide a concise discussion demonstrating the respondent’s understanding of Palm Desert’s economic development environment, opportunities, and potential challenges.

The response should demonstrate an understanding of topics such as:

• Palm Desert’s existing commercial and visitor economy.

• Opportunities for economic diversification and investment.

• Business attraction, retention, and expansion.

• Development and redevelopment opportunities.

• Commercial real estate and land strategy.

• Private-sector engagement.

• Organizational capacity building.

• The importance of strengthening the City’s long-term internal economic development capability.

This section is intended to demonstrate the respondent’s understanding of the assignment and municipal economic development context. A detailed strategic plan or project solution is not requested at this stage.

4. Proposed Team and Availability

Identify the personnel proposed to perform the work and describe their anticipated roles.

For each key team member, provide:

• Name and title.

• Proposed role.

• Relevant education, certifications, and professional credentials.

• Years of relevant economic development experience.

• Municipal economic development experience.

• California experience, where applicable.

• Specialized expertise relevant to the services described in this RFQ.

• Representative projects or engagements.

• Anticipated availability and capacity to support the City.

The City is particularly interested in the qualifications of the individuals who will actually perform the work. Respondents should clearly distinguish between firm-wide experience and the experience of the proposed team members.

Any proposed subcontractors or specialized consultants should also be identified, along with their anticipated roles.

5. Relevant Project Experience

Provide representative examples of projects or engagements that demonstrate the respondent’s ability to perform services comparable to those contemplated by this RFQ.

At a minimum, respondents should provide the project examples, including:

• At least three examples in which proposed team members personally helped advance an economic development opportunity or project from concept toward implementation.

• At least two examples demonstrating measurable improvement in the capability or effectiveness of a municipal economic development organization or staff.

For each example, provide:

• Client name.

• Project or engagement name.

• Dates of service.

• General project scale or value, where relevant.

• Services performed.

• Specific role of the proposed team member(s).

• Challenges addressed.

• Outcome or measurable result.

• Whether the client was a municipality or other public agency.

• Client reference information.

6. Staff Development and Knowledge Transfer Experience

Describe the respondent’s experience helping municipal economic development staff develop stronger internal capabilities.

The response should address experience with:

• Coaching and mentoring staff.

• Developing strategic judgment and decision-making skills.

• Economic development training.

• Commercial real estate and development knowledge.

• Market and financial analysis.

• Negotiation and deal evaluation.

• Business recruitment and private-sector engagement.

• Project management.

• Executive communication and presentation skills.

• Developing repeatable processes, tools, playbooks, and operating systems.

• Transferring relationships and institutional knowledge to public agency staff.

Respondents should provide examples demonstrating how prior engagements resulted in City staff becoming more capable of independently performing economic development functions.

7. Business Attraction, Developer, and Real Estate Experience

Describe the respondent’s experience in private-sector-facing economic development activities.

The response should address relevant experience in areas such as:

• Business attraction and recruitment.

• Business retention and expansion.

• Target business identification.

• Developer outreach and engagement.

• Commercial real estate and site strategy.

• City-owned property analysis.

• Redevelopment opportunities.

• Site-selector engagement.

• Broker and investor relationships.

• Public-private partnerships.

• Development feasibility.

• Developer pro forma review.

• Incentive evaluation.

• Transaction structuring.

• Negotiation support.

• Moving stalled or complex development projects toward implementation.

Respondents should identify specific examples where proposed team members personally performed this work and describe the results achieved.

8. References

Provide references for clients for whom the respondent has performed services comparable to those described in this RFQ.

References should preferably include municipal or other public-sector clients and should identify:

• Client organization.

• Contact name and title.

• Telephone number.

• Email address.

• Services provided.

• Dates of engagement.

The City reserves the right to contact any client or reference identified in the respondent’s SOQ and may also independently verify information provided in the response.

9. Conflicts of Interest

Identify any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may arise from performing services for the City.

Respondents should disclose, as applicable:

• Current or recent representation of developers, property owners, businesses, investors, brokers, or other parties that may have economic development interests within Palm Desert.

• Relationships that could affect, or appear to affect, the respondent’s ability to provide independent advice to the City.

• Any other circumstances that could create an actual or potential conflict during the engagement.

Respondents should also describe how any identified conflict would be managed or mitigated.

If no conflicts are known, the respondent should affirmatively state that no known conflicts exist.

10. Rate Information

Provide current rate information for the personnel or classifications anticipated to perform services under the engagement.

Rate information may include:

• Hourly rates by individual or classification.

• Proposed reimbursable expenses.

• Other standard pricing information relevant to future negotiation.

Rate information is requested for informational and negotiation purposes only and will not be scored as part of the qualifications evaluation.

The City anticipates that detailed scope, level of effort, compensation structure, and final pricing will be addressed during the subsequent proposal and/or negotiation phase.

*Response required

5.2. Question #1*

How would you augment existing staff without creating long-term consultant dependency?

*Response required

5.3. Question #2*

How would you transfer sophisticated economic development judgment to staff?

*Response required

5.4. Question #3*

How would you approach a developer who says a project does not pencil?

*Response required

5.5. Question #4*

How would you determine whether the City should pursue an economic development opportunity?

*Response required

5.6. Question #5*

Describe your approach to moving a stalled project forward.

*Response required

5.7. Question #6*

How will you help staff build relationships with sophisticated private-sector decision makers?

*Response required

5.8. Question #7*

What do you believe the greatest challenge in accomplishing the City's objectives?

*Response required

5.9. Question #8*

What should the City expect to be able to do independently after 18 months?

*Response required

6. Evaluation Criteria

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Relevant Senior-Level Economic Development

Experience

Demonstrated depth and relevance of senior-level economic development experience, including municipal economic development, strategic advisory services, economic development program implementation, and experience working with executive leadership and elected officials. California municipal experience should be considered where applicable.

0-5 Points 25 (25% of Total)

2. Business Attraction, Developer, Real Estate &

Transaction Experience

Demonstrated experience with business attraction, recruitment and retention;

developer and property-owner engagement;

commercial real estate and land strategy;

development feasibility; incentives; public-private partnerships; transaction structuring;

and negotiation support.

0-5 Points 20 (20% of Total)

3. Project Delivery Experience

Demonstrated ability to advance economic development opportunities and complex projects from concept toward implementation, including identifying and resolving barriers, coordinating stakeholders, managing priorities, and supporting successful project delivery.

0-5 Points 15 (15% of Total)

4. Staff Development, Coaching & Capacity-

Building Experience

Demonstrated experience developing municipal staff capabilities through coaching, mentoring, hands-on project work, knowledge transfer, process development, and creation of tools or systems that allow staff to independently perform increasingly sophisticated economic development functions.

0-5 Points 20 (20% of Total)

5. Understanding of Palm Desert's Needs and

Opportunities

Demonstrated understanding of Palm Desert's economic development environment, opportunities, challenges, and organizational objectives, including the City's desire to increase capacity while strengthening long-term internal capability.

0-5 Points 10 (10% of Total)

6. Team Qualifications, Availability & Private-

Sector Relationships

Qualifications and experience of the proposed personnel; relevance of individual team members' experience; availability and capacity to support the City; and demonstrated relationships with developers, brokers, site selectors, investors, businesses, and other private-sector economic development partners.

0-5 Points 10 (10% of Total)

6. Evaluation Criteria