Notice of Intent to Award (NIA1) for RFP 190000001036

The State of Michigan Department of Military & Veterans Affairs issued RFP# 190000001036 for the procurement of awards, ribbons, and ribbon attachments to support military and veterans operations. The solicitation was posted on the SIGMA VSS platform on February 12, 2019, with a 29-day response period and proposals due on April 10, 2019. The procurement sought qualified ribbon suppliers capable of delivering all specified items meeting technical requirements, with evaluation conducted by Solicitation Manager Timothy Cole and Subject Matter Experts including Advisory SSG Julia Wolf from the Michigan Army National Guard and Jason Hawkins from the Michigan Youth Challenge Academy. The evaluation criteria prioritized lowest-cost bids that met all specifications, with both responsive vendors achieving perfect technical evaluation scores of 100 out of 100. The contract structure included a three-year base term with up to two renewal options. Three vendors submitted proposals; however, Arrow Safety Devices was deemed nonresponsive due to incomplete documentation, including missing Vendor Questions Worksheet, Schedule A, and Schedule B pricing components. Non-selected bidders were encouraged to schedule debriefing sessions with the Solicitation Manager to review the award decision rationale.

Vanguard Industries was recommended for award as the responsive and responsible bidder offering the lowest overall price of $198.50, resulting in a total contract award value of $21,000.00. Patriot Solutions, identified as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, submitted a proposal at $502.07, which was adjusted to $482.22 to reflect the Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business price adjustment; however, this entity was not selected due to the higher pricing despite meeting all technical requirements. The procurement did not appear to include specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, though the evaluation process did account for service-disabled veteran-owned business status through price adjustments. Vanguard Industries, located in Norfolk, Virginia, was selected as the incumbent contractor for this awards and ribbons procurement. The Notice of Intent to Award was issued on April 29, 2019, with a protest period deadline of May 15, 2019.