Scda agribusiness website design

The South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) is soliciting bids for a comprehensive agribusiness website redesign project through Invitation for Bid (IFB) 5400020844. The procurement seeks a qualified contractor to develop a new WordPress-based website for www.scagribusiness.com, which will serve as a resource for existing and prospective businesses in South Carolina's agribusiness sector. The website must include five initial pages: a home page, existing and targeted industries, information about South Carolina's agribusiness industry, incentives and assistance offerings, and partners and contact information. Key deliverables include market research, web development, copywriting, design, project management, and web launch, with the contractor responsible for maintenance and site changes beyond SCDA's internal capabilities. The website must incorporate SCDA's current logos, brands, and color palettes while maintaining cohesiveness with the main SCDA website. The original bid submission deadline was February 11, 2021, with award notification initially scheduled for February 15, 2021, though subsequent amendments extended the timeline. Questions were due by February 4, 2021, at 2:00 p.m., and the contract is estimated to run from February 16, 2021, through August 15, 2021.

The procurement includes specific restrictions that narrow the pool of potential bidders. Contractors must maintain a South Carolina home office as a mandatory minimum qualification, effectively excluding non-South Carolina companies from bidding. The maximum contract budget is $49,000, with bids exceeding this amount being rejected as nonresponsive. Pricing must be fixed for the contract duration, and the solicitation allows for resident vendor, resident contractor, or resident subcontractor preferences under South Carolina Code Section 11-35-1524. Subcontractors are not permitted on this contract. The website will be hosted on an existing Flywheel account, which is mandatory upon launch, and vendors cannot propose alternative server environments. The award will be made to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder, with nonresident taxpayers potentially subject to South Carolina withholding requirements. No pre-bid conference or site visit is required, and the contract is subject to standard state procurement terms, including compliance with applicable South Carolina laws, drug-free workplace certification, and ethics requirements.