2025 Holiday Catering

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), serving Hamilton County and Cleveland City, Ohio, is seeking qualified catering vendors to provide holiday meal services for its Operations and Maintenance staff on December 17 and 18, 2025. The contract requires catering services at three garage facilities: Queensgate Garage, Bond Hill Garage, and Access Paratransit Facility, with meal requirements including turkey, chicken, potato, macaroni and cheese, vegetable, salad, bread, and dessert options. The catering services must encompass delivery, setup, and cleanup across multiple shifts, with anticipated service volumes ranging from 14 to 235 staff members per shift, totaling approximately 1,130 staff across 14 service instances. Proposals will be evaluated based on three primary criteria: project approach and understanding (40%, 400 points), pricing (40%, 400 points), and firm/staffing qualifications including experience and references (20%, 200 points). Key procurement dates include a question submission deadline of October 27, 2025, with responses provided by October 30, 2025, and a proposal submission deadline of November 10, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EST through the e-Procurement Portal.

While no formal small business participation goal has been established, SORTA encourages the inclusion of small and disadvantaged businesses where feasible. Proposers must submit two proposal volumes: a Technical Proposal detailing project approach, firm qualifications, and staffing information (without pricing), and a Business Proposal containing insurance certificates, property tax affidavit, and anti-lobbying certificates. All proposed pricing must remain valid for a minimum of 120 days from the proposal deadline. The contract will be awarded to the firm offering the best value to SORTA, considering both cost and evaluation factors, with SORTA reserving the right to reject any or all proposals. Specific insurance requirements include maintaining workers' compensation, general liability ($1,000,000), automobile ($1,000,000), owner's protective liability ($1,000,000), crime ($1,000,000), and professional liability/errors and omissions ($1,000,000) coverage, with SORTA to be named as an additional insured on most policies. The contract term extends through the completion of services, with no specified renewal options mentioned in the procurement documents.