Professional Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Services for Economic Development

Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners is requesting proposals for professional advertising, marketing, and public relations services to support the County's Economic Development Office under RFP 26-062, with proposals due October 12, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time and questions due October 2, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.

The scope encompasses strategic marketing initiatives and brand positioning to attract business investment and high-wage job creation in targeted sectors including Aviation/Aerospace & Defense, Advanced Manufacturing, and Transportation/Logistics & Warehousing. Deliverables include annual and long-range action plans, strategic communications toolkits, targeted asset collateral for county-owned industrial parks (Whiting Aviation Park and I-10 Industrial Park/Coastal Commerce Center), industry-specific campaign materials, trade show and conference assets, website enhancements, and analytics and ROI reporting. The selected consultant must submit quarterly performance reports to the County Administrator and maintain commercial general liability ($1 million per occurrence / $2 million aggregate), business auto liability ($500,000 per occurrence), and professional liability coverage ($1 million per occurrence) with Santa Rosa County as additional insured. Workers' compensation is required per Florida law.

The contract not-to-exceed amount is $125,000, with an initial term of three years and two optional one-year renewals at the County's discretion. Respondents must provide detailed budget allocations across strategic planning, toolkit and communications design, sector collateral production, event/trade show assets, and campaign media placement, with hourly rates by labor category and explicit identification of pass-through direct production costs.

Evaluation emphasizes firm qualifications and economic development experience (20 points), understanding of scope and strategic approach (30 points), local and regional knowledge within the Pensacola Metropolitan Statistical Area (15 points), cost and fee proposal reasonableness (20 points), and past performance with measurable outcomes (15 points). All respondents must provide Florida business registration, current insurance certificates, sworn statements regarding public entity crimes, scrutinized contractor certificates, and conflict-of-interest forms.