The file's text, extracted by GovTribe without its formatting.
REQUEST FOR RESPONSE
Groundfish Disaster Economic Assistance for Shoreside Businesses RFR #DMF-15018 / COMMBUYS Bid# BD-15-1046-DMF-FW003-00000004043
ISSUE DATE: May 4, 2015
| Purchasing Department |
| Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries |
| Address |
| 251 Causeway St., Suite 400 |
| City, State Zip Code |
| Boston MA 02114 |
| Procurement Contact Person |
| Melanie Griffin |
| Telephone Number |
| 617.626.1528 |
| E-Mail Address |
| Melanie.griffin@state.ma.us |
| RFR Name/Title |
| Groundfish Disaster Economic Assistance for Shoreside Businesses |
| COMMBUYS Bid Number |
| BD-15-1046-DMF-FW003-00000004043 |
| Procurement Category |
| 50-12-15, 93-13-18, 70-10-17 |
1. Description or Purpose of Procurement:
The Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) is soliciting applications from eligible shoreside businesses to qualify for Groundfish Disaster Economic Assistance. Funds are available based upon a federal fishery disaster declaration declared in 2012 reflecting ongoing deleterious declines in the New England region’s commercial groundfish quotas. Phase 2 previously included economic assistance for eligible groundfishermen and crew members. Limited funds are now available to aid qualified shoreside businesses recognizing their continued viability is critical to supporting the sustainability of groundfishermen and groundfishing communities.
The majority of commercial groundfish landed in the Commonwealth during the disaster aid period, Fishing Year (FY) 2009 to FY2013, were landed in the Ports of Gloucester and New Bedford with lesser amounts landed in Boston and Chatham and nominal amounts landed in forty (40) other coastal Massachusetts communities. A goal of the program is to support the continued viability and sustainability of the groundfish industry and communities in Massachusetts. As such, an objective is to have final distribution of funds to qualified businesses generally reflect the relative distribution of commercial groundfish landings by port.
Working with representatives from both Gloucester and New Bedford, communities both heavily dependent on commercial fishing, DMF has implemented a program for shoreside aid recognizing fishery disasters like the current groundfishery disaster have repercussions throughout those communities. Such ramifications are felt both in terms of immediate social and economic impacts but also in reducing the communities’ resiliency to future disruptions, fishery-based or other.
2. Instructions for Pre-qualification Application:
To complete an application for shoreside assistance fill in the fields on the attached Pre-qualification Application as thoroughly as possible. Only applicants who submit the Pre-qualification Application by May 31, 2015 will be assured of being evaluated by DMF.
Pre-qualification Applications may be filled out online or as a hardcopy but all Pre-qualification Applications must be mailed or hand-delivered to the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Boston office, c/o Samantha Andrews, at 251 Causeway St., Suite 400 Boston, MA 02114 by May 31, 2015. Mailed Pre-qualification Applications must be postmarked by May 31, 2015.
Additional information may be requested subsequently by DMF for evaluation purposes. Following a review by DMF of all received pre-qualification applications, shoreside businesses will be notified of their approval or denial for direct aid. A ten-day appeal period will follow afterwhich DMF will notify applicants of final qualification.
Should you have any questions about this application please contact Samantha Andrews, DMF Program Coordinator, by phone at (617) 626-1564 or by email at Samantha.n.andrews@state.ma.us.
3. Calendar of Important Dates
| Procurement Activity |
| Date |
| Time [Indicate: AM or PM; EST or EDT] |
| Announcement of Opportunity to Submit Prequalification Worksheets |
| May 4, 2015 |
| 5PM EST |
| Deadline for Submission of Prequalification Worksheets |
| May 31, 2015 |
| 5PM EST |
| DMF Follow-up inquiries of Applicants (estimated) |
| First week of June 2015 |
| Written Notification of Pre-qualification Status and Appeals period (estimated) |
| June 10, 2015 |
| Pre-qualification appeals deadline (estimated) |
| June 24, 2015 |
| 5PM EST |
| Written Notification of Final Qualification Status and Vendor Documents (estimated) |
| June 30, 2015 |
| Vendor Workshop |
| early July 2015 |
| Estimated Date of First Payments |
| July 10, 2015 |
4. Anticipated Payment Rates:
A maximum of $750,000 has been budgeted for the shoreside business economic assistance program. Qualified businesses will receive a flat rate that may be tiered depending on the final eligibility of pre-qualified businesses. Approved appeals may qualify for a lesser flat rate.
Payments to single entities may not exceed $32,500. A “single entity” means the existence of a common ownership interest, as determined by DMF, in two or more eligible businesses that warrants attributing such businesses to a single “owner,” notwithstanding that the businesses may be held in the name of separate corporations or other legal owners. In making such a determination, DMF will consider all relevant information including, but is not limited to:
| the name of the holder of any dealer permits issued by the National Marine Fisheries |
| Service (NMFS) and/or DMF associated with the eligible business; |
| the existence of a common ownership interest in two or more entities based on a review of the articles of incorporation and/or other corporation documents on file with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Corporation Database; |
| whether two or more legal owners seeking assistance are members of the same family household. |
Qualified entities must become a state vendor to receive any financial assistance. There are four documents that qualifiers will need to fill out: (1) a Standard Contract form, (2) a Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, (3) a W-9 form, and (4) a Commonwealth Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Authorization form. DMF will supply these forms at the appropriate time to qualified entities.
Once approved as a state vendor, DMF will be able to transfer eligible funds to qualifiers. Payments will be processed weekly; those received by Wednesday of a given week will be processed for payment that Friday, pending vendor status approval by the Comptroller’s office. It may take approximately 45 days for vendor status approval.
Based on the estimated qualification calendar the first round of payments may be processed on Friday, July 10, 2015.
5. Required Forms Responses to this RFR (applicants) must submit a Pre-qualification Application with a wet-ink signature. No additional forms are required at this time, but may be requested to both finalize qualification and upon final qualification by DMF.
6. RFR Attachments Appendix A contains the required Pre-qualification Application.
Appendix B contains a list of vessels that qualified for payment by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Phase 1 or 2 of the 2012 Groundfish Economic Assistance Program. This information is provided in support of filling out the Pre-qualification Application. For information on vessels qualified by other states as part of the 2012 Groundfish Economic Assistance Program contact:
| Maine Department of Marine Resources |
| Meredith Mendelson at (207) 624-6553 |
| New Hampshire Fish and Game |
| Cheri Patterson at (603) 868-1095 |
| Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management |
| Robert Ballou, 401-222-4700, ext. 4420 |
| New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Marine Resources |
| Steve Heins at (631) 444-0436 |
| Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection |
| Mark Alexander at (860) 434-6043. |
7. Applicable Procurement Law
| Check Appropriate Box (“X”): |
| Type of Purchase |
| Applicable Laws |
Executive Branch Goods and Services
| |_| |
| Goods and Services |
| MGL c. 7, § 22; c. 30, § 51, § 52; 801 CMR 21.00 |
| |_| |
| Human and Social Services |
| MGL c. 7, § 22, § 22N; c. 30, § 51, § 52; 801 CMR 21.00; 808 CMR 1.00 |
| |_| |
| Legal Services |
| MGL c. 30, § 51, § 52 and § 65; c. 7, § 22; and 801 CMR 21.01(2) (b) |
| |X| |
| Grants |
| MGL c. 7A, § 7; St. 1986 c. 206, § 17; 815 CMR 2.00 |
8. Acquisition Method:
| Check All Applicable (“X”): |
| Category |
| |_| |
| Rental (not to exceed 6 months) |
| |_| |
| Tax Exempt Lease-Purchase (TELP) |
| |X| |
| Other: Federal grant assistance to qualified entities |
9. Whether Single or Multiple Contractors are Required for Contract:
Check One (“X”):
a. Estimated Number of Awards The # of awards will depend on the # of qualified applicants.
10. Entities Eligible to Use the Resulting Contract
| Check One (“X”): |
| Eligible Entities |
| |_| |
| Limited User Contract – Restricted to Use by Defined Entities Only. Any Contract(s) resulting from this Bid will be open for use by the issuing Purchasing Department and the following other entities: |
The Purchasing Department reserves the right to add or remove additional authorized users during the contract term.
| |X| |
| Limited User Contract – Restricted to Use by Issuing Entity Only. |
11. Expected Duration of Contract (Initial Duration and any Options to Renew):
Qualified entities are required to contract with the Division of Marine Fisheries as state vendors to receive approved funds. Contracts approving a one-time transfer of approved funds will not extend beyond the grant end date, currently June 30, 2016.
Updated: April 2, 2014