Construction Trade Pipeline Program Service Provider

The Greater Louisville Workforce Development Board (KentuckianaWorks) is soliciting proposals through Request for Proposal 260177 for a Construction Trade Pipeline Program Service Provider to administer and staff a comprehensive construction trades recruitment, training, and placement initiative across seven Kentucky counties: Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble. The service provider must recruit and document 240 potential participants, assess 125 individuals, complete 80 successful training courses (with a minimum of 50 percent minorities and 20 percent women), and place 64 participants in construction trades employment positions at an average wage of $17 per hour. The program operates within the Kentucky Career Center system and must achieve specific WIOA performance targets including a 77 percent adult employment rate in the second quarter after exit, 78 percent in the fourth quarter, median earnings of $8,722 in the second quarter, and credential attainment of 74 percent within four quarters after exit. Eligible bidders may be for-profit, non-profit, private, or public organizations, either as single entities or consortiums. The mandatory bidders conference is scheduled for February 27, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. via Google Meet, with the question period running from February 20, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. EST through March 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. EST. Proposals must be submitted through the Bonfire Hub portal by March 20, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. EDT, not exceeding 20 pages, double-spaced, in 12-point font with one-inch margins, and must include HRC Good Faith Effort documentation, organizational capacity, staffing plan, scope of work, budget narrative, training dates, vendor information, W-9, ban the box certification, and acknowledgements and preferences forms. Oral interviews are scheduled for March 26, 2026, with contract award anticipated on or about April 13, 2026, and service delivery commencing July 1, 2026.

The contract is available to for-profit entities with negotiable profit not to exceed 5 percent of the total contract value, as well as non-profit, private, and public organizations. Louisville Metro Government offers two optional preferential scoring considerations: a 5 percent cost reduction for minimum wage businesses certifying that all full-time employees earn at least $10.10 per hour, and a 5 percent cost reduction for local vendors established in the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area for at least twelve consecutive months prior to proposal submission. All bidders must complete Good Faith Efforts documentation demonstrating solicitation of certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Female Business Enterprise (FBE), and Historically Black Enterprise (HBE) subcontractors and suppliers, with diversity goals of 15 percent for MBE, 5 percent for FBE, and 0.5 percent for HBE. Additionally, all vendors must comply with Louisville Metro Codified Ordinance Section 112.30 regarding ban the box hiring practices, prohibiting initial employment applications from requesting prior criminal history disclosure, with seven specified exceptions available for positions involving cash handling exceeding $500, confidential information access, unsupervised work with minors or vulnerable populations, residential home access, legally mandated background checks, federal or state felony hiring prohibitions, or sole source contracts. The annual funding available is $450,000 per year derived from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, with the initial contract term running through June 30, 2027, and renewal possible for up to four additional one-year terms based on performance, funding availability, and local needs.