LINQ Sole Source

The Colorado Department of Education is procuring enhancements and modifications to the LINQ Data Analytics platform from EMS LINQ, LLC under a sole-source procurement, with a proposal due August 28, 2026. This is a sole-source intent, justified by LINQ's exclusive ownership and development of the proprietary LDA platform currently serving all of CDE's nutrition program administration.

The scope spans two primary components: development of a Local Food Program Tracking System to transition CDE from manual Google Sheet tracking to an automated system managing local food purchasing grants for approximately 200 School Food Authority Sponsors across Colorado, supporting compliance with the Healthy School Meals for All Act and mandated biennial legislative reporting; and several enhancements to the existing Child Nutrition Portal, including modifications to SFSP Site Application functionality, updates to Severe Need Breakfast eligibility and 2-cent differential reimbursement calculations, implementation of new override controls, addition of a "Claim ISP" column to CEP Schedule Reports, and creation of unique lifetime site codes to maintain data continuity during sponsor transfers.

The total estimated cost is $392,800 over a three-year contract term from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2029. This comprises $167,150 for the Local Food Program Tracking System (design, development, and implementation), $142,150 for other enhancements, and annual maintenance costs of $33,400 per year beginning in FFY 2027. LINQ will be compensated at $150 per hour for enhancement work up to established maximums per deliverable, rates established through the original RFP 2019000046 fair-and-open solicitation process. The contract aligns with the expiration of LINQ's existing contract (CMS 128677 / CORE CT 2020-0035). CDE intends to re-solicit the entire Child Nutrition Portal through a competitive RFP in upcoming years, into which the Local Food Program tracking functionality will be incorporated.