The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, on behalf of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development, is requesting proposals for design, development, implementation, and operations of the Find Your Future Portal, a statewide digital platform integrating education and workforce resources across multiple state agencies, with proposals due November 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM and a pre-proposal meeting scheduled for October 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM EST via web conference.
The portal will function as an experience and coordination layer serving multiple user personas — students, job seekers, employers, educators, advisors, parents, counselors, and state agencies — across K-12, postsecondary, adult education, and workforce development systems. The scope encompasses single sign-on integration with MySC.gov, ID.me, and Login.gov; federated data and analytics architecture; case management interoperability; digital wallet and credential registry services; and user community and mentorship functions. The solution must comply with South Carolina's DIS-200 and DIS-210 security frameworks; adhere to FERPA, HIPAA, and state data privacy laws; meet Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility standards; and support AI governance aligned with NIST SP 1270 and the South Carolina Statewide AI Strategy. The contractor must configure, test, and transition a secure, centralized platform capable of unlimited state-approved integrations without product-tier limitations, maintain production-representative non-production environments throughout the contract lifecycle, and provide comprehensive integration planning, configuration, security review, documentation, monitoring, and operational support at no additional charge beyond fixed pricing.
The contract is structured as firm fixed-price with a three-year base period, a two-year option period, and two one-year option periods. All costs for integration setup, connector enablement, partner onboarding, interface configuration, and transition assistance are included in the fixed price with no separate per-connection fees. Implementation fee reductions of 5% to 40% apply for failure to meet critical SLRs or quality gates; operations and maintenance fee reductions of 2% to 5% apply to monthly recurring service fees for critical O&M SLR failures. The State retains sole ownership of all data, custom software, configurations, integrations, and deliverables. Offerors must demonstrate fifteen years of continuous operation, ten years of experience delivering enterprise-scale multi-agency digital platforms, and successful implementation of at least two state or federal government contracts within the past ten years. A minimum of two references from similar public sector implementations in North America are required. Key personnel, including Program Lead, Enterprise Architect, Business Process Architect, Functional Leads, UX/Design Lead, Technical Development Lead, Testing Lead, OCM & Training Lead, Reporting & Analytics Lead, and Data Migration Lead, must be identified and approved by CCWD prior to contract award, with day rates established at inception remaining unchanged throughout the contract term. Vendors must commit to on-site staffing with a dedicated project manager and implementation team for no fewer than three days per week throughout implementation and hypercare periods. Questions are due October 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM. Award is expected February 16, 2027.