MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program 1-6-15.docx

MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program

Department: Massachusetts Gaming Commission, 101 Federal Street, 23rd Floor, Massachusetts 02110

Contact: Please submit all questions and inquires to Jill Lacey Griffin at jill.griffin@state.ma.us

Schedule:

Competitive grant applications are due: January 28, 2015

· All questions must be submitted in writing by 5pm on January 16, 2015

· Responses to questions will be posted by January 21, 2015

Program I. Announcement The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is pleased to announce that it is accepting grant applications for one grant of up to $20,000 intended to fund the MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program. MGC is seeking grant proposals for a capacity building and technical assistance program to focus on assisting small businesses including minority owned, women owned and veteran owned businesses located in the host and neighboring communities of the Massachusetts Category 2 (Slots Parlor) Licensee. The grant is intended to support primarily small businesses who intend to seek or have been awarded a contract with the Slots Parlor Licensee. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will award one grant intended to fund a program that 1) identifies a target audience, 2) involves key local organizations and members of the MGC Vendor Advisory Team and 3) plans a program that demonstrates how they are meeting a regional need and will assist local entrepreneurs and small businesses to obtain and or maintain a contract with the Category 2 licensee. The Class Category 2 licensee is a required partner in the program application.

Proposed grant programs shall identify individual and/or group counseling, training programs, loan packaging services or direct lending that may assist these small businesses to:

Achieve business stability and viability;

Business plan development Assess and secure new or increased financing for growth Business expansion planning Other measurable economic growth Foster partnerships with other small businesses

Grant proposals should define the communities they serve, the strategy to recruit potential participants, current and planned programs, and performance benchmarks. Proposals should also describe specifically how they intend to identify area Massachusetts businesses so that they may be positioned to provide identified goods and services to the Category 2 (slots parlor) Licensee. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how they plan to recruit Minority, Women and Veteran Owned Businesses to participate.

These grant proceeds may be used with additional funding sources. Organizations are encouraged to partner with other organizations, agencies or financial institutions.

II. Purpose of Grant The purpose of the MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program is to provide small businesses in the host and neighboring communities of the Slots Parlor Licensee in Plainville with the technical assistance and resources needed to meet the expected growth and supplier requirements of a Category 2 Licensee. The program is designed to complement and enhance traditional public and private small business assistance networks by providing technical assistance or training programs for businesses with 50 employees or less. The program seeks to facilitate small business economic viability and to improve their ability to secure and maintain vendor contracts with the Category 2 slot parlor licensee. An additional goal includes ensuring that our Category 2 Licensee can find the qualified businesses which have the capacity to support their operations. Grantee agencies should focus services on existing businesses or businesses who have entered into a collaboration to meet the needs of the Category 2 Licensee. Counseling and training programs should be designed to aid small business owners in stabilizing and growing their businesses in measurable ways through intensive individual counseling/coaching, selective group training, loan packaging and direct lending.

III. Grant Amounts and Distribution Maximum grant amount to programs including those proposed as a collaborative joint proposal (defined as two or more eligible organizations sharing costs and providing complementary services in coordination with each other) not to exceed $20,000.

Collaborative joint proposals must have one lead organization and one person responsible for the application and administration of grant monies, as well as all reporting and communication with MGC.

Additional funds may be made available depending on the final approved budget of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for FY 2015.

IV. Eligibility

1) Must be a host or surrounding community municipality and/or a not-for-profit, community based organizations located in or partnered with an organization located in the host or surrounding community of the Casino (including but not limited to chamber of commerce, municipalities, economic development organizations and community development finance institutions)

2) Only Massachusetts-based non-profit entity organized under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 180 and incorporated by the Secretary of State for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, whose mission includes facilitating a community driven economic development process for small businesses. Must hold a tax exempt status under the United States Internal Revenue Code.

V. Review Committee Small Business Assistance Grants will be awarded by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. A Review Committee, appointed by the MGC Director of Workforce, Supplier of Diversity Development, will review and recommend a proposal for approval by MGC. This Review Committee may include members of the MGC Vendor Advisory Team, individuals from other state agencies with economic development expertise, a technical assistance professional not applying for this grant and representation from the lending community.

VI. Grant Agreement Grants are expected to be awarded on or about February 9, 2015. Dates are subject to change. If a proposal is approved for funding, the proposal and the attached work plan and budget shall become the basis for MGC’s grant award negotiations with the applicant organization to determine the precise project scope, budget and use of funds. Grant Agreements will contain a requirement that grantees release names and contact information of clients served under the grant to MGC for the purposes of outcomes verification and other legitimate uses as defined by MGC. Upon receipt by MGC, all proposals become public documents, to the extent required under the public records law. Reporting requirements, including deadline for submission, will also be contained in the Grant Agreement.

VII. Use of Funds – Limitation of Administration Costs Administrative costs associated with the MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program may not exceed 10% of the proposed budget.

VIII. Selection Criteria:

Proposals must demonstrate the ability to meet the following small business assistance priorities in order to receive funding:

1) Provide direct services to small business clients including the following target populations: minority, women and veteran owned and operated businesses.

2) Ability to complete a final report (with information gathered from program participants via e-mail, telephone, etc.) regarding the businesses progress towards obtaining a contract, maintaining a contract, adding employees or other agreed upon outcomes.

In addition to the required criteria outlined above, proposals demonstrating the ability to meet these additional priorities will be given preference:

1) Have a well-defined service area or service population and a tested strategy to outreach to targeted businesses and entrepreneurs in that service area or population.

2) Involve members of the MassGaming Vendor Advisory Team where appropriate.

3) Implement collaborations, partnerships, or coordinated services that magnify the delivery of services in efficient, economical, and effective ways

4) Involve and receive endorsement from the Category 2 licensee in Plainville, Massachusetts.

Narrative: A proposal of not more than six (6) pages, exclusive of further attachments as per the checklist included in this RFP, must include the following information:

a) Overview: Describe the mission of the applicant organization or partnership, the communities they serve, and their outreach strategy. Describe activities and the steps taken by the grant applicant to demonstrate how the entity will provide technical assistance, training or lending/loan packaging to the small business community, in particular businesses with 50 or fewer employees from the target populations outlined in SectionVIII. Subsection 1 above.

b) Service Area: List the cities and towns that will be targeted in the proposed program.

c) Staff Qualifications: Describe the professional qualifications of any staff/consultants involved in providing services.

d) Business Community Challenges: Based on the applicant’s client profile and unique regional constraints or needs, describe the issues they face with business development, securing financing and achieving financial viability. Describe how program participants will benefit from the organization’s technical assistance role, training and counseling programs, or other initiatives with the small business community that create, maintain and grow the business’s financial viability, ability to obtain private or public financing and/or create jobs.

e) Partnerships and Collaborative: Detail partnerships and collaborations that support the applicant’s program, including but not limited to, how the applicant partners with the regional SBDC and other providers, including legal, accounting, tax professionals, marketing specialists non-government and for-profit financial entities and members of the MGC Vendor Advisory Team.

f) Specific Grant Program & Activities: Describe the proposed program and its related activities. The proposal must include a program description that is reflected in the work plan and explains clearly the proposed budget.

g) If applying organization(s) currently receives, or will receive, funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for its small business assistance program, articulate how those funds are being used and how funding from the MassGaming Small Business Capacity Building Program will not be duplicative.

1) Attachments to be provided by respondent:

a) Application Cover Sheet

b) Work Plan (Attachment A): Prepare a Work Plan that covers the dates of the proposed program activity beginning no earlier than signature date of the contract and ending no later than fiscal year end, June 30, 2015 unless additional funds are identified. The Work Plan must reflect the applicant’s proposed activities, as well as the tasks and staff necessary to achieve the proposed program’s objectives within the time allotted.

b) Program Budget (Attachment B) Prepare a budget for the proposed Capacity Building program

c) Certificate of Good Standing from the Secretary of the Commonwealth (Attachment C): One Certificate is needed for each organization submitting or participating in a proposal. This certificate demonstrates that the organization is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is in compliance with the necessary state filings. To apply for a certificate online please visit: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/corpweb/corcert/certinf.htm

d) Verification and Authorized Signature (Attachment D - Form included in RFP)

e) Current Board of Directors list (Attachment E)

f) U.S. IRS Tax Exempt Certification for non-profit organizations. (Determination Letter) (Attachment F)

g) Current year-to-date organizational financial statement (Income and Expense Statement and Balance Sheet) (Attachment G)

Small Business Capacity Building Program Grant Application Checklist To be included with Proposal:

· Application Cover Sheet (Form included in RFP)

· Narrative (6 page maximum)

· Application Checklist (Form included in RFP)

· Work Plan (Attachment A)

· Proposed Project Budget (Attachment B – Form Included in RFP)

· Certificate of Good Standing from the Secretary of the Commonwealth (Attachment C)

· Verification and Authorized Signature (Attachment D – Form included in RFP)

· Current Board of Directors list (Attachment E)

· U.S. IRS Tax Exempt Certification/ Determination Letter (Attachment F)

· Current year-to-date organizational Financial Statement: Income & Expense/Balance Sheet (Attachment G)

Application Cover Sheet

Small Business Capacity Building:

Zip Code

Telephone

Fax

Applicant Web Address

Name/Title of Primary Contact

Brief Summary of Applicant Agency/Partnership (100 words or less)

Brief Summary of Small Business Assistance Grant Program (100 words or less)

ATTACHMENT B

Small Business Capacity Building Grant Budget

(Lead) Agency:

(Partner Agency):

Personnel

Staff (include % of staff time on project)

Total Staff

Consultants (include pay rate)

Total Consultants

Total Personnel

Non-Personnel Direct Costs

Total Non-Personnel Direct Costs

Total Direct Costs

Administrative Overhead/ Indirect Costs (10% of total budget)

TOTAL PROJECT COST

NOTE: Above Columns A + B = C + D

Identified Sources

Projected Fees

Matching Funds

Contributions

Contracts/ Grants (list separately)

TOTAL Projected Revenue

Attachment D

Verification and Authorized Signature

I verify that I am authorized to commit my organization and to make this application on behalf of the organization. I certify that the above information is correct and that the statements made herein, including all attachments and exhibits, are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that this application may be disqualified if it does not contain all required information. I understand that all materials submitted as part of the application are subject to disclosure under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, to the extent that this law applies.

I acknowledge and agree that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has no obligation, and retains the sole discretion to fund or choose not to fund the proposal set forth herein, and that MGC’s receipt of the proposal does not imply any promise of funding at any time.

Signature

Name (print)

Title

Date

Organization Name

Organization Address