Consultant to Administer Grant Services

Chatham County, Georgia is soliciting proposals for a consultant to administer grant services to small and local businesses under the American Rescue Plan Act (RFP 21-0130-7), with proposals due December 7, 2021, and a pre-proposal conference on November 18, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. via teleconference. The County is committed to increasing minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) participation and requests proposers detail their MWBE utilization history and commitments for this project.

The consultant will develop marketing campaigns, process grant applications, conduct eligibility reviews, manage record-keeping systems, and provide comprehensive reporting on fund expenditures and business outcomes. The County has allocated $1.25 million and plans to disburse approximately 50 grants of up to $25,000 per business in unincorporated Chatham County. The selected consultant is expected to work with Seamless Docs, the County's existing software platform for internal and external reporting. The consultant may establish their own work schedule and location with flexibility for remote work, provided service delivery standards and availability during business hours are maintained.

The contract term is one year with options to renew for four additional one-year terms. Proposers must submit one original and five copies plus one electronic version including an executive summary, qualifications and experience, methodology and implementation plan, MWBE participation plan, itemized fee proposal, and references. Evaluation will be based on qualifications and experience (30 points), methodology and implementation plan (30 points), MWBE participation (15 points), fee proposal (20 points), and references (5 points), with possible interviews worth up to 30 points. Proposers must maintain commercial general liability insurance with minimum limits of $1 million per occurrence and provide current Chatham County business licenses. The County will fund this contract wholly or in part with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and requires compliance with federal regulations including equal employment opportunity provisions, Davis-Bacon Act requirements where applicable, debarment certifications, and anti-lobbying requirements. The County anticipates consultant selection by the first quarter of 2022, with implementation beginning immediately thereafter.