Pre-Proposal Conference Summary_BPM036948.pdf

Title: Structured Cable and Wiring Materials and Services Inside Plant (Multiple Awards) Request for Proposal (RFP) #: BPM036948 Virtual Pre-Proposal Conference Summary

Pre-Proposal Conference a Via Google Meet

DATE: July 19, 2023, at 2:00 PM.

The State of Maryland Department of General Services, Office of State Procurement, conducted a Pre- Proposal Conference remotely on July 19, 2023, at 1:00 pm Local Time via Google Meet. This summary is being issued to document the Pre-Proposal Conference.

I) Welcome and Introduction:

Emmanuel Smith, the Department of General Services, Office of State Procurement (DGS-OPS) procurement officer for this project, welcomed everyone in attendance.

The Potential Offerors were asked to put their contact information in Google to constitute their introduction. Introductions were made by the other State employees in attendance. The State employees in attendance were.

Emmanuel G. Smith – DGS-OSP Christopher Hautala - DGS-OSP Sean Stinnett – DGS-OSP Johnny Harris – DGS-OSP Dan Berlin - DoIT

Number of Vendors in attendance via video: 45 Number of Vendors in attendance via Phone: 26

II) General Procurement Information:

Emmanuel, the Procurement Officer, told the group the purpose of the pre-proposal conference was to give everyone guidance on the State procurement process and to provide an overview of this RFP. He emphasized that today’s session is merely for guidance and attendees should not rely on verbal communications for information regarding the RFP. Questions and comments must be submitted in writing, by email, to the Procurement Officer for a formal response. He then gave an overview of the RFP, highlighting important portions of the solicitation.

He reminded everyone to review the Key Information Summary Sheet on page iii. He also indicated that any change or clarification to the RFP will be done through amendments posted on eMMA, and all amendments must be acknowledged/signed by the Offeror.

He reminded the Potential Offerors that the due date to submit questions is July 28, 2023, by 2:00 PM. He also emphasized the due date for this procurement as 2:00 pm on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.

Emmanuel suggested that Offerors allow plenty of time to submit their proposals on eMMA. He stressed that if the proposal is late, even by one minute, it cannot be accepted!

III) MBE Goal

This RFP has a 10% MBE goal.

The MBE/SBR Liaison, Sean Stinnett, informed that the Department identified the area that could potentially be subcontracted to MBE firms. Sean also explained that he is the liaison who serves as a point of contact for general MBE, VSBE, and SBE issues. He informed the group that there is a 10% goal on this procurement.

Sean stressed the importance of MBE forms being filled out correctly.

IV) Submission Requirements:

The Procurement Officer reviewed the importance of the submission instructions in

5.1 of the RFP. Proposals shall be submitted in two (2) separate volumes as described in Section 5.1

He also suggested that when creating a technical response, Offerors should keep their proposals in the same order as the RFP requirements in Section 5.3. By keeping the proposal in the same order, Offerors will be sure to have addressed everything required in the solicitation.

The technical portion must contain all of the required information, all forms, affidavits, etc. The attendees were informed that if all required forms are not included, their proposal may be deemed non-responsive or not susceptible for award.

Emmanuel also suggested that Offerors carefully list full, accurate, and current contact and reference information.

Further, the Procurement Officer explained that the Offeror must entirely fill out and sign the financial volume. Every blank in the price sheet shall be filled in with the relevant data. He noted that Offerors should provide prices for Contract years one through five on the Financial Proposal Sheet. These are the maximum prices the State will pay for all proposed Service categories. A Master Contractor will not be allowed to propose a service category to a Purchase Order Request for Proposal (PORFP) for which prices were not provided in its Proposal.

V) Technical Evaluation Criteria:

Emmanuel indicated that technical evaluation criteria in are:

1) Technical Response to the requirements and work plan,

2) Experience and Qualifications of proposed personnel,

3) Qualifications and capabilities of the company (offeror) and

4) Economic Benefit to the State of Maryland

Emmanuel informed the Offerors that the Technical and Financial will be weighted equally.

VI) Scope of Work

The Procurement Officer provided an overview of the scope of work described in the RFP, stressing the key points, functional areas, and service categories.

VII) Questions and Answers

At this point, the meeting was opened up to questions. There were questions that Emmanuel encouraged potential Offerors to submit in writing, and he explained that answers to those questions would be distributed as soon as possible. Also, Emmanuel reminded everyone again that only written answers should be relied upon. Any question for which an Offeror wishes to receive a formal response should be submitted in writing to Emmanuel via email.

VIII) Closing Remarks:

The Procurement reminded all potential Offerors to follow the layout in Section 4.2 of the RFP when creating their proposal. He reminded everyone that a Summary of today’s meeting and a list of all attendees will be distributed as soon as possible.

The Procurement Officer thanked everyone for their attendance, and the meeting concluded.

The pre-proposal conference adjourned at approximately 2:02 p.m.

Prepared By:

Emmanuel G. Smith Procurement Officer July 21, 2023