IFB 24-00015 Fish Food.docx

Invitation For Bids (IFB) No. 24-00015 Fish Food for WDFW Hatcheries - Statewide

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) issues this IFB (a.k.a. Solicitation) under the authority of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 39.26. WDFW reserves the right to change portions of this IFB, including modifying the dates and times set forth immediately below. Any changes will be sent electronically as Amendments to all users of Washington’s Electronic Business Solution (WEBS) who downloaded this IFB.

Posting Date May 6, 2024

Bidder’s Conference Wednesday, May 22, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, local Olympia WA time

Vendor Questions Are Due Before 4:00 pm (PDST) on May 23, 2024

Bids Are Due Before 4:00 pm (PDST) on Monday, June 17, 2024

Anticipated Award Date June 24, 2024

Deliver Bids to:

Contracts and Purchasing

IMPORTANT: Send complete proposal to the IFB Coordinator listed above. Email transmission is required Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Page 1 of 15 IFB No. 24-00015 Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Page 14 of 15 IFB No. 24-00015 Contents

Appendix A: WDFW Additional Terms and Conditions Appendix B: Specifications Appendix C: Vendor’s Price Sheet Appendix D: Bidder Profile Appendix E: Complaint, Debrief, and Protest Procedure Appendix F: WDFW Fish Hatcheries Appendix G: Five Year Fish Feed History (to be published) Appendix H: PCB Testing Report Appendix I: Certifications and Assurances

AUTHORIZED OFFER & CONTRACT SIGNATURE PAGE 15

SUMMARY OF OPPORTUNITY

Purpose of the IFB The purpose of this invitation for bids is to provide fish food for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fish hatcheries statewide. WDFW operates the largest public fish hatchery system in the world, operating 81 fish hatchery facilities statewide releasing millions of fish annually for harvest by recreational and commercial fisheries. A list of all WDFW fish hatcheries is contained in Appendix F (WDFW Fish Hatcheries). For additional information on WDFW’s fish hatcheries see WDFW’s website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/hatcheries/.

The procurement will result in multiple optional use contracts with different fish food vendors. The intent of this procurement is to place fish food vendors that meet WDFW’s standards as stated in this document under contract to provide WDFW fish hatchery staff the most flexibility in determining the type and manufacturer of fish food most beneficial to each fish stock being raised at a specific hatchery. Entering into a contract with WFDW for fish food under this procurement is not a guarantee of any purchase by WDFW of the vendor’s products.

WDFW fish hatchery managers develop annual fish feed plans. As a part of the planning process, hatchery managers will review vendor fish food products that are under these contracts with WDFW prior to review and approval of the plan by WDFW Fish Program management. Once the plans are approved hatchery managers will place orders for fish food with vendors as detailed in the approved plans. A five year history of fish feed used by WDFW fish hatcheries will be included with this IFB as Appendix G (Five Year Fish Feed History); the appendix will be added via an amendment to this document.

Vendors submitting proposals in response to this procurement will identify the fish food products offered for WDFW purchase by completing Appendix C (Vendor’s Price Sheet). Vendors will be allowed to update their price sheet once every six months throughout the term of the vendor’s contract with WDFW. All vendors under contract will be required to report on their testing program for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and submit it with their updated price sheet; see Appendix H (PCB Testing Report) as an example of the type of information being requested.

WDFW uses a variety of fund sources to purchase fish food, including state, federal and local funds.

Minimum qualifications Potential bidders must be in the fish feed producing business for at least five years and have supplied one or more fish hatcheries that annually produce over 50,000 pounds of fish, using their diets.

IFB OVERVIEW

2.1 Announcement and Special Information

The IFB, its appendices, attachments, amendments and any incorporated documents will comprise the entire IFB which will become the resulting Contract between WDFW and the awarded Contractor when it is countersigned by WDFW.

By responding to this IFB, a Bidder acknowledges having read and understood the entire IFB and accepts all information contained within the IFB without modification.

NOTE: The Competitive Procurement Standards is an Appendix to this IFB which consists of general provisions and terms for Solicitations issued by WDFW. Should a term within the Competitive Procurement Standards conflict with a term elsewhere in the IFB, the latter will prevail.

2.2 Complaint, Debrief, and Protest (General Information)

See Appendix E - Complaint, Debrief, and Protest Procedure located in the Appendices section below. This document contains important additional and expanded details, such as rules, timing, criteria, form, etc.

2.3 Washington’s Electronic Business Solution (WEBS)

Bidders are solely responsible for:

· Properly registering with Washington’s Electronic Business Solution (WEBS) at www.des.wa.gov , and maintaining an accurate Vendor profile in WEBS.

· Downloading the IFB packet consisting of the IFB, all Appendices, and incorporated documents related to the IFB for which you are interested in Bidding.

· Downloading all current and subsequent Amendments to the IFB to ensure receipt of all IFB documents.

Notification of Amendments to the IFB will only be provided to those vendors who have registered with WEBS and have downloaded the IFB from WEBS. Failure to do so may result in a Bidder having incomplete, inaccurate, or otherwise inadequate information and Bid.

2.4 IFB Amendments

Prior to the Bid due date and time, WDFW reserves the right to change portions of this IFB. All changes will be issued in writing by WDFW as an Amendment and incorporated into the IFB. If there is any conflict between Amendments, or between an Amendment and the IFB, the document issued last in time will be controlling. Only Bidders who have properly registered and downloaded the original IFB directly via WEBS will receive notification of Amendments and other correspondence pertinent to the procurement.

2.5 Pre-Bid Conference and Vendor Questions

Bidders wishing to submit a proposal for this procurement may attend an optional Pre-Bid Conference on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, local Olympia WA time. This conference will be held virtually via a Microsoft Teams meeting; the link to this meeting is below:

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Specific questions concerning the procurement should be submitted in writing to the Procurement Coordinator not later than May 23, 2024 by noon local Olympia WA time, so that representatives of WDFW may prepare preliminary answers in advance of the conference. Additional questions will be entertained at the conference; however, responses may be deferred and provided later. Any oral answer given at the conference is to be considered as tentative. All questions submitted prior to or discussed during the conference will be researched and the official answers published to the WEBS as an amendment to this procurement by noon on May 30, 2024. This will assure accurate and consistent responses to all Bidders. Only the written answers will be considered official.

2.6 Bidder Communication Responsibilities

During the IFB process, all Bidder communications concerning this IFB must be directed to the Procurement Coordinator. Unauthorized contact regarding this IFB with other state employees involved with the IFB may result in disqualification. All oral and written communications will be considered unofficial and non-binding on WDFW. Bidders should rely only on written Amendments issued by the Procurement Coordinator.

Bidders are encouraged to make any inquiry as early in the process as possible to allow WDFW to consider and respond; however, no response is required from the Procurement Coordinator.

Additionally, if a Bidder does not notify WDFW of an issue, exception, addition, or omission, WDFW may consider the matter waived by the Bidder for protest purposes.

If Bidder inquiries result in changes to the IFB, written amendments will be issued and posted on WEBS.

2.7 Bidder Responsiveness

Bidders are to respond to each question/requirement contained in this IFB. Failure to comply with any applicable item may result in disqualification for non-responsiveness.

WDFW reserves the right to determine the actual level of Bidders’ compliance with the requirements specified in this IFB and to waive informalities in a Bid. An informality is an immaterial variation from the exact requirements of the competitive IFB, having no effect or merely a minor or negligible effect on quality, quantity, or delivery of the supplies or performance of the services being procured, and the correction or waiver of which would not affect the relative standing of, or be otherwise prejudicial to Bidders.

2.8 Pricing

Bid prices must include all cost components needed for the delivery of the goods and/or services as described in this IFB. Failure to identify all costs in a manner consistent with the instructions in this IFB is sufficient grounds for disqualification.

The proposed pricing levels should reflect the market provided by the Contract resulting from this IFB.

2.9 Non-Endorsement & Publicity

In selecting a Bidder to supply goods and services specified herein to contract Purchasers, neither WDFW nor the Purchasers are endorsing the Bidder’s goods and purchased services, nor suggesting that they are the best or only solution to their needs.

2.10 No Costs or Charges

Costs or charges under the proposed Contract incurred before a Contract is fully executed will be the sole responsibility of the Bidder.

2.11 No Mandatory Best and Final Offer

WDFW reserves the right to make an Award without further discussion of the Bid submitted. Therefore, the Bid should be submitted on the most favorable terms that a Bidder intends to offer.

2.12 Economic and Environmental Goals

In support of the state’s economic and environmental goals, although not an Award factor (unless otherwise specified herein), Bidders are encouraged to consider the following in responding to this IFB:

· Support for a diverse supplier pool, including Washington small, minority and women-owned business enterprises. Bidders may contact the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise to obtain information on certified firms or to become certified.

· Use of environmentally preferable goods and services to include post consumer waste and recycled content.

PREPARATION OF BIDS

· Signature (REQUIRED): Complete, sign and return the Authorized Offer & Contract Signature Page as instructed.

· Vendor’s Price Sheet (Appendix C) (REQUIRED): Complete and return a copy of the Vendor’s Bid and Price Sheet Appendix as instructed.

· Bidder Profile (Appendix D) (REQUIRED): Complete and return a copy of the Bidder Profile Appendix (sample provided) as instructed.

· PCB Testing Report (Appendix H) (REQUIRED): Complete and return a copy of the PCB Testing Report Appendix (sample provided) as instructed.

· Appendix I: Certifications and Assurances (REQUIRED): Complete, sign and return the Certifications and Assurances as instructed.

The completed Bid must be sent to the IFB Coordinator at the email address specified on Page 1 of this IFB. Email transmission is required.

Bids must be received by the IFB Coordinator no later than 4:00 p.m. local time for Olympia WA on Monday, June 17, 2024. Late proposals will not be accepted and shall automatically be disqualified from further consideration.

WDFW assumes no responsibility for delay in transmission of proposals. WDFW will use the “time stamp” on the email as the official time of receipt. Time extensions will not be granted. Bid documents must be in a common easily-readable format, such as Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF).

SUBMITTALS, EVALUATION AND AWARD

4.1 General Provisions

· Bidder Responsiveness and Responsibility will be evaluated based on the Evaluation Process described in this section.

· Contract Award will be based on the Evaluation and Award criteria established herein and will be subject to consideration of the criteria identified in the IFB.

· Bidders whose bids are determined to be non-responsive will be rejected and will be notified of the reasons for such rejection.

· To aid in the evaluation process, after the bid due date and time, WDFW may require individual Bidders to appear at a date, time and place determined by WDFW for the purpose of conducting discussions to determine whether both parties have a full and complete understanding of the nature of Contractual requirements. In no manner shall such action be construed as negotiations or an indication of WDFW’s intention to Award.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this IFB, WDFW reserves the right to:

(1) waive any informality in the solicitation documents or process;

(2) contact any Bidder for clarification of its bid;

(3) reject any or all bids, or portions thereof;

(4) accept any portion of the items bid unless the Bidder stipulates all or nothing in their bid;

(5) cancel all or any portion of the IFB;

(6) request best and final offers from lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder(s);

(7) award to the lowest responsive and responsible Bidder, taking into consideration:

References: WDFW reserves the right to use references to confirm satisfactory customer service, performance, satisfaction with service/product, knowledge of products/ service/ industry and timeliness; any negative or unsatisfactory response may be an adequate reason for rejecting a Bidder as non-responsible and unable to suit the needs of the state. WDFW reserves the right to waive the reference check. Bidders deemed non-responsible may be rejected.

4.2 Determination of Responsiveness

Bids will be reviewed initially on a pass/fail basis to determine compliance with administrative requirements as specified herein.

WDFW reserves the right to determine at its sole discretion whether a Bidder’s response to a minimum IFB requirement is sufficient to pass. However, if all Bidders fail to meet any single IFB requirement, WDFW may reject all Bids and cancel the IFB or waive the requirement from the IFB’s requirements for responsiveness.

Responsive Bids will be further evaluated based on the requirements in this IFB.

4.3 Determination of Responsibility

During evaluation, WDFW reserves the right to make reasonable inquiry to determine the responsibility of any Bidder. Requests may include, but are not limited to, financial statements, credit ratings, references, record of past performance, clarification of Bidder’s offer, and on-site inspection of Bidder's or Bidder's Subcontractor's facilities. Failure to respond to said request(s) may result in a Bid being rejected as non-responsive.

4.4 Selection of Apparent Successful Bidder

Responsive and responsible Bidders who meets all of the IFB requirements will be the Apparent Successful Bidders.

Designation as an Apparent Successful Bidder does not imply that WDFW will issue an Award to your firm. It merely suggests that at this moment in time, WDFW believes your bid to be responsive. This designation allows WDFW to perform a responsibility analysis and ask for additional documentation. WDFW is also at liberty to re-review and determine whether the bid is truly responsive as initially believed. The Bidder must not construe this as an Award, impending Award, attempt to negotiate, etc. If you act or fail to act in reliance of this notification, you do so at your own risk and expense.

4.5 Announcement of the Apparent Successful BidderS (ASB)

The announcement may be made by any means but WDFW will likely use email to the Bidder’s email address provided in the Bidder’s bid.

4.6 Award

Awards, in part or full, are made by WDFW signature on the signature page (Authorized Offer and Contract Signature Page). WDFW may include an Award Letter which further defines the Award and is included by reference in the Contract.

WDFW reserves the right to Award on an All or Nothing consolidated basis.

Following the Award, all Bidders will receive a Notice of Award; usually through a WEBS notification.

4.7 Bid Information Availability after Announcement of Apparent Successful Bidder After the Announcement of the ASB, information regarding results of the IFB may be obtained by contacting the Procurement Coordinator. Bidders may also schedule an appointment to review the bidding process.

CONTRACT INFORMATION

5.1 The Contract

A Bid submitted to this IFB is an offer to Contract with WDFW.

A Bid becomes a Contract only when awarded and accepted in writing by WDFW (when the Authorized Offer & Contract Signature Page is countersigned by WDFW).

The documents listed below are, by this reference, incorporated into a Contract resulting from this IFB as though fully set forth herein. No other statements or representations, written or oral, shall be deemed a part of the Contract.

a. The IFB

b. The awarded portions of the Bidder/Contractor’s Bid

c. All Appendices

d. IFB Amendments (if any)

e. Award Letter (if any)

5.2 Order of Precedence, Conflict and Conformity

In the event of a conflict in such terms, or between the terms and any applicable statute or rule, the inconsistency will be resolved by giving precedence in the following order:

a. Applicable Federal and state of Washington statutes and regulations

b. Mutually agreed written Amendments to the resulting Contract

c. The Contract, including all documents incorporated in the subsection immediately above.

Conflict: To the extent possible, the terms of the Contract shall be read consistently.

Conformity: If any provision of the Contract violates any Federal or state of Washington statute or rule of law, it is considered modified to conform to that statute or rule of law.

5.3 Parties

This Contract is entered into by and between the state of Washington, acting by and through WDFW and the awarded Contractor with the parties more fully described in the Authorized Offer and Contract Signature Page below.

5.4 Authority to Bind

The signatories to this Contract represent that they have the authority to bind their respective organizations to this Contract.

5.5 Counterparts

This Contract may be executed in counterparts or in duplicate originals. Each counterpart or each duplicate will be deemed an original copy of this Contract signed by each party, for all purposes.

5.6 Changes

WDFW reserves the right to modify the resulting Contract (including but not limited to adding or deleting products) by mutual agreement between WDFW and the Contractor. Alterations to any of the terms, conditions, or requirements of this Contract shall only be effective upon written issuance of a mutually-agreed Contract Amendment by WDFW. However, changes to point of contact information may be updated without the issuance of a mutually-agreed Contract Amendment.

5.6.1 Price Protection

The Contract prices are the maximum prices the Contractor may charge.

If lower pricing for similar quantities becomes effective for the Contractor, Purchasers must be given immediate benefit of such lower pricing. The Contractor may also offer volume and promotional discounts.

Contractor agrees all the prices, terms, warranties, and benefits provided in this Contract are comparable to or better than the terms presently being offered by the Contractor to any other governmental entity purchasing similar quantities under similar terms. If, during the term of this Contract, the Contractor enters into Contracts with other governmental entities providing greater benefits or more favorable terms than those provided by this Contract, the Contractor is obligated to provide the same to Purchasers for subsequent purchases, and WDFW will be notified of changes in Contract pricing.

Vendors will be allowed to update their price sheet once every six months throughout the term of the vendor’s contract with WDFW.

5.7 Miscellaneous Expenses

Since expenses related to day-to-day Contract performance (including but not limited to, travel, lodging, meals, and incidentals) will not be reimbursed to the Contractor, rates proposed by the Bidder must include these costs.

APPENDICES

Reminder: By responding to this IFB, a Bidder acknowledges reading, understanding, and accepting all information contained within the entire IFB without modification.

Appendix A: WDFW Additional Terms and Conditions Appendix B: Specifications Appendix C: Vendor’s Price Sheet Appendix D: Bidder Profile Appendix E: Complaint, Debrief, and Protest Procedure Appendix F: WDFW Fish Hatcheries Appendix G: Five Year Fish Feed History (to be published) Appendix H: PCB Testing Report Appendix I: Certifications and Assurances

AUTHORIZED OFFER & CONTRACT SIGNATURE PAGE

In submitting this Bid, the Authorized Signatory below acknowledges having read and understood the entire IFB and agrees to comply with its terms and conditions including the Certifications and Assurances. The Authorized Signatory also agrees to fulfill the offer made in this Bid and any subsequently awarded Contract.

In Witness Whereof, the parties hereto, having read and understood this Contract in its entirety, including but not limited to, the Bidder’s Authorized Offer (Firm Offer), Certification of Assurances, and all attachments, do agree in each and every particular and have thus set their hands hereunto.

This Contract’s first day of performances is this _________day of ______________, ______.

APPROVED (VENDOR/CONTRACTOR)

Department of Fish and Wildlife PO Box 43135 Olympia WA 98504-3135

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

Bidder’s Company Name & Address

X

Signature Date

Signature Date

Typed or Printed Name, Title

Typed or Printed Name, Title

WDFW Contract Number: _____________ Contract Period: ____________________

CONTACT INFORMATION

CONTACT INFORMATION

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