Notice+of+Intent.docx

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

DEPARTMENT OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

600 E. BLVD AVE., DEPT. 270

BISMARCK ND 58505-0610

NOTICE OF INTENT TO MAKE A

NONCOMPETITIVE PURCHASE

06/19/2025

The State of North Dakota intends to make a purchase for which we believe there is no competition. The purpose of this notice is to determine if other sources are available and whether the procurement method is appropriate.

Vendors are permitted to submit bids or proposals for equivalent commodities or services in response to this notice. A party interested in providing these commodities or services is instructed to submit a written response to the Procurement Officer by the response deadline.

PURCHASING AGENCY: Department of Career and Technical Education

PURCHASE DESCRIPTION:

The State intends to make a noncompetitive purchase.

The North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education (NDCTE) intends to enter into a sole source contract with Fluxx Labs, Inc. for the continued provision of a secure, cloud-based grant management platform tailored to the department’s specific operational, compliance, and reporting needs. Fluxx will provide a comprehensive suite of grant lifecycle management tools including configurable application workflows, automated review and scoring functionality, real-time reporting dashboards, applicant portals, document and communication tracking, and customizable compliance checkpoints.

Additionally, Fluxx is responsible for data migration, onboarding, security, training, and technical support, as well as ongoing system optimization and maintenance. The platform also integrates with NDCTE's financial systems and meets all federal and state security standards, including FedRAMP-moderate alignment. This solution enables NDCTE to manage multiple state and federal grant programs with enhanced transparency, consistency, and efficiency across all stakeholders, including applicants, reviewers, program managers, and auditors.

The current NDCTE grants system is fully customized but it is sunsetting this year and will no longer be supported by NDIT. Looking for a replacement system that can meet all functionality of the previous custom system while also allowing CTE to improve other processes. A need for a single vendor solution that combines software licensing, tailored onboarding, advanced reporting, document and data migration, and managed post-Go-Live support.

Platform needs to support intricate, configurable workflows - from pre-award application intake to post-award reporting to mirror NDCTE’s grant lifecycle, form configurations, multi-step approval tracks, compliance checks, and budgeting tools.

The new platform will need to be able to support data migration of previous years data for archival purposes and well as archive future data.

An urgent contract is being obtained to secure current-year funds by the end of June 2025 and to ensure that onboarding and training of staff are in place prior to the next grant cycle.

INTENDED SOURCE:

Fluxx Labs, Inc.

2261 Market Street #4060 San Francisco CA 94114

PRICE:

JUSTIFICATION:

Fluxx Labs, Inc. provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform uniquely designed for government grantmakers. This grant management platform and associated implementation services is not available through resellers or alternative channels. The company delivers all technical services, including onboarding, configuration, data migration and support internally. Fluxx brings extensive experience working with state and local government agencies, especially in the education and workforce sector. They are also willing to work with NDCTE on urgent fiscal constraints requiring immediate execution.

Given that Fluxx Labs is the proprietary provider of this custom-configured grant management system, and that no other vendor can replicate the configured system or provide access to its infrastructure, services, or data environment, the use of alternate vendors would result in duplication of cost, loss of functionality, and disruption of critical agency operations.

QUESTIONS

A vendor may contact the Procurement Officer to discuss whether its proposed solution meets the requirements. Submit any questions or requests for clarification to the Procurement Officer as soon as possible and before the response deadline.

Lorie Ruff Procurement Officer E-mail: lruff@nd.gov Telephone: 701-328-3180 TTY Users call: 7-1-1

RESPONSE FORMAT:

Vendors interested in submitting a response to this notice must provide the following information for consideration:

· Company Information: Provide the name of the firm, address, and website, if available.

· Contact Information: Provide the name of a contact person, telephone number, and email address.

· Specifications: Vendors are instructed to examine the Purchase Description included in this notice. When preparing your response to this notice, provide a point-by-point response to each of the described requirements. Provide detailed specifications demonstrating that the offered solution meets or exceeds the requirements stated in this notice. Provide any available documents and links to information available on the vendor’s website.

· Value-Added: Vendors may provide information about value-added features, functionality, alternatives, and additionally available components or services that are not specifically identified in the purchase description within the notice.

· Cost: Provide detailed cost information, including any applicable shipping and handling. Responses may include pricing for any offered value-added options.

RESPONSE DEADLINE: Issued June 20. Response Deadline: June 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM CT

RESPONSE INSTRUCTION:

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIRED: An interested party must electronically submit their response through the State Procurement Office Online system (SPO Online) by the response deadline. This solicitation is posted on SPO Online: https://apps.nd.gov/csd/spo/services/bidder/main.htm. Upload instructions are provided below. Make sure to include your name and e-mail address when uploading responses to SPO Online.

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE “LAST MINUTE” TO SUBMIT A RESPONSE. We recommend uploading responses 24 hours prior to the response deadline.

Bidder must begin the electronic submission process well in advance of the response deadline to allow for transmission and resolution of any technical difficulties. Be advised that the STATE is not responsible for a vendors failure to timely submit a response due to any technical difficulties. If you experience any technical difficulties, contact the Procurement Officer listed in this notice or the State Procurement Office at infospo@nd.gov or 701.328.2740.

If documents are in the process of being uploaded when the response deadline occurs, the upload process will stop. The attempted submission will not be uploaded successfully and is ineligible for consideration. The STATE takes no responsibility for electronic submissions that are captured, blocked, filtered, quarantined, or otherwise prevented from uploading by any anti-virus software or other security software.

1. This solicitation is posted on SPO Online at: https://apps.nd.gov/csd/spo/services/bidder/main.htm

2. Select “Recent Solicitations” and find this solicitation. Solicitations are listed by close date.

3. Use “Upload Response” to upload a maximum of five (5), clearly labeled documents before the response deadline.

4. Offerors must upload their response as requested in the response instruction section of this notice.

5. The maximum file size allowed is 50mb per file.

6. There is a 50 character file name limitation for the document being uploaded.

7. There is 75 character limit in the TITLE field within SPO Online.

8. All SPO Online field entries must be alphanumeric. Dashes and underscores are allowed; however, the system does not accept other special characters such as apostrophes, & symbols, or quotation marks, etc.

9. DO NOT submit documents that are embedded (zip files), movies, wmp, encrypted, or mp3 files.

10.The vendor will receive an email confirmation from infospo@nd.gov that the upload response was received including the “File Description” for the uploaded files. Review this email to ensure all files were successfully uploaded. If the vendor does not receive an email confirmation, the upload was not successful, and you will need to upload the files again. If the vendor does not receive an email confirmation after the reattempt, contact the Procurement Officer listed in this notice or the State Procurement Office at infospo@nd.gov or 701.328.2740.

Visit https://www.omb.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/doing-business-with-the-state/procurement/spo-electronic-response-external-job-aid.pdf for the SPO Electronic Response Job Aid which describes how to submit an electronic response.

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