Economic Development Strategy, Advisory, Capacity Building, and Project Delivery

The City of Palm Desert is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from economic development professionals or firms to provide strategic advisory, capacity-building, business attraction, developer and real estate advisory, transaction support, and project delivery services, with responses due September 16, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. This is an RFI issued August 25, 2026, with a question deadline of September 1, 2026.

The City seeks a senior-level practitioner or team with 15+ years of experience to function as an extension of the existing Economic Development team while building long-term internal capability. The selected consultant will augment current staff services and capacity, accelerate priority business and development opportunities, develop staff judgment and professional capability, and transfer knowledge, systems, tools, and relationships to City staff. The consultant will not replace the City's Economic Development function or exercise governmental decision-making authority. Service areas include economic development strategy, market intelligence, business attraction and retention, developer and real estate strategy, deal structuring, project delivery, process improvement, staff development, and knowledge transfer.

Evaluation will be based on six criteria: relevant senior-level economic development experience (25 points); business attraction, developer, real estate, and transaction experience (20 points); project delivery experience (15 points); staff development, coaching, and capacity-building experience (20 points); understanding of Palm Desert's needs and opportunities (10 points); and team qualifications, availability, and private-sector relationships (10 points). Respondents must address eight specific questions on staff augmentation strategies, knowledge transfer, developer engagement, opportunity evaluation, project acceleration, relationship-building, anticipated challenges, and expected independent capabilities after 18 months.

The RFI does not establish a specific contract award date or final contract term at this stage. Rate information is requested for negotiation purposes only and will not be scored as part of qualifications evaluation. Specific scope, level of effort, compensation structure, and final pricing will be addressed during the subsequent proposal and negotiation phase. Responses must be submitted electronically through the City's procurement platform at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/cityofpalmdesert.