Rural Community Concert & Education Engagement Project

The State of Utah Division of Purchasing, in conjunction with the Division of Arts & Museums and Cultural and Community Engagement unit, is conducting a Request for Statements of Qualifications (RFSQ) for rural community concert and education engagement services under Utah Procurement Code 63G-6a Part 15. The procurement seeks a Design Professional Service Provider or Consultant to deliver fully produced, high-caliber performing arts events and comprehensive educational outreach activities to underserved rural communities across six targeted Utah counties: Beaver, Daggett, Morgan, Piute, Rich, and Sevier. The selected vendor will serve as the primary point of contact for all project logistics, including artist booking, technical production, community relationship development, and promotional outreach. Key deliverables include a complete schedule of public concerts and educational activities due by September 15, 2026; quarterly reports detailing attendance and community feedback submitted within 15 days following each quarter; high-resolution photographs (minimum three per event) within 14 days of each event; and comprehensive annual final reports due August 30th each year. The contract extends for five years, with initial fiscal year activities commencing May 1, 2026, or upon contract award, and subsequent annual cycles running from July through June for years two through five. Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: Experience & Past Performance (30%), Technical Approach & Methodology (35%), Key Personnel Qualifications (20%), and Administrative & Reporting Capacity (15%), with proposals required to achieve a minimum technical score of 70 percent (350 of 500 possible points) to advance to negotiations. Mandatory minimum requirements include a minimum of five years of experience managing multi-city performing arts tours in rural or frontier communities and documented production service capabilities including portable audio/visual equipment for non-traditional venues such as gymnasiums and parks. Key personnel must include a dedicated project manager with 5+ years of experience serving as the single point of contact, a technical lead experienced in remote troubleshooting and diverse acoustic environments, and a community liaison with demonstrated relationships in local government and schools. The solicitation posted on April 16, 2026, with a qualifications submission due date of April 23, 2026; vendors must submit statements of qualifications without pricing information and may only communicate with the procurement officer through the designated U3P procurement portal during the established Q&A period.

No set-aside designations, disadvantaged enterprise restrictions, or incumbent contractor information is identified in the procurement documents. The contract is funded at $150,000 per year for the five-year contract period, totaling $750,000 over the full term, with compensation to be negotiated at fair and reasonable rates following vendor selection under the Part 15 qualification-based selection process. The highest-ranked vendor will be selected for contract negotiations; if fair and reasonable compensation, contract requirements, and contract documents cannot be agreed upon, the state may proceed with negotiations with the next highest-ranked vendor. All resulting contracts will be governed by the State of Utah Agency Standard Terms and Conditions, which require vendors to maintain workers' compensation insurance, commercial general liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$3,000,000 aggregate, and commercial automobile liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence if applicable. Vendors must comply with E-Verify employment verification requirements, comply with anti-boycott provisions under UCA 63G-27, certify non-use of forced labor products, and provide FedRAMP or GovRAMP compliance evidence if processing state data. No award constitutes a binding contract until a fully executed purchase order or contract is received, and vendors may not commence work until such execution occurs. Vendors must submit redacted and non-redacted versions of their proposals if claiming business confidentiality protection under Utah Code 63G-2-305 and 63G-2-309.