WORKFORCE ALLIANCE, INC

Transcription

1 WORKFORCE ALLIANCE, INC. PROCUREMENT INSTRUCTIONS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR ENTREPRENEUR TRAINING WORKSHOPS AND INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS PLAN COACHING IN THE WESTERN COMMUNITIES RELEASED OCTOBER 30, 2012 / DUE NOVEMBER 28, 2012 Workforce Alliance, Inc. (Alliance) is requesting sealed proposals from Vendors for the provision of services described in the Scope of Work for this procurement. I. ALLIANCE WEBSITE INFORMATION The procurement required Exhibit A Proposal Cover Page and three Certification Forms and Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form are to be downloaded from the Alliance website at and be fully completed by the Vendor and submitted as part of the proposal. The three Certification Forms are to also be fully completed and notarized. By submitting a proposal the Vendor agrees to Alliance s vendor contract terms and conditions which are posted on the Alliance website at the same location of the procurement. Alliance will use its website at as the only source of communication between Alliance and potential Vendors. Beginning at the time the procurement is released interested Vendors can download a copy of the procurement from the Alliance website. A procurement question and answer page will be established on the website at the same place as the procurement and will be updated as needed. It is the Vendor s responsibility to check the Alliance website frequently to stay informed and up-to-date throughout the procurement process. Beginning with the release of the procurement, Vendors may submit questions in writing to Alliance. Vendors who have a question regarding the procurement are to the question to Alliance at entrepreneurrfp@pbcalliance.com. When submitting a question restate the name of the procurement and then state your question. Answers will not be provided verbally or via reply, but rather will be posted on Alliance website ( for the benefit of all Vendors at the same place the procurement is posted. II. PROPOSAL SOLICITATION AND ACCEPTANCE After the published deadline for receipt of proposals, all proposals become public information and are available for inspection to any interested party. Duplication requests of any part or of an entire proposal submitted will be subject to the appropriate fees established by Alliance. No changes, modifications, or additions can be made to a proposal after the submission deadline unless required by Alliance of all Vendors. Alliance reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to waive any minor technical irregularity of any proposal submitted. ALLIANCE MAY REJECT ALL PROPOSALS IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION FOR ANY REASON AND IS NOT OBLIGATED TO AWARD ANY ONE OR MORE VENDOR CONTRACTS PURSUANT TO THIS PROCUREMENT OR TO ISSUE A NEW PROCUREMENT IF NO VENDOR CONTRACT IS AWARDED UNDER THIS PROCUREMENT. Page 1 of 5 Instructions RFP Entrepreneur Training Workshops And Individual Business

2 III. WITHDRAWALS Vendors who wish to withdraw a proposal that has been submitted to Alliance may do so by submitting a signed and written request to withdraw the proposal. A request to withdraw a proposal shall be sent to the attention of Alliance President/CEO at 315 South Dixie Highway, Suite 102, West Palm Beach, Florida Alliance will not return proposals, binders or exhibits. All proposals become the property of Alliance and will be a matter of public record subject to the provisions Section 165, WIA and of Chapter 119, Florida Statues. Vendor contracts awarded as a result of this procurement are subject to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Public Law , and subsequent amendments, the Florida Workforce Innovation Act of 2000, and subsequent amendments, the Welfare Transition Program and subsequent amendments, and other applicable State and Federal statutes and laws and other funding sources as applicable, regulations and directives promulgated thereunder. All costs must be included in the Vendor s proposal. This RFP and the successful Vendor(s) proposal shall be incorporated into the resulting contract. IV. COMPLIANCE & EX PARTE COMMUNICATION It is the Vendor s responsibility to make sure that all the required elements and Exhibit forms are included and in the proper format of their proposal. Proposals that do not include the required elements and Exhibit forms or are not in the proper format may be disqualified from consideration. It is the policy of Alliance to prohibit ex parte communication regarding this procurement between a potential and/or current contractor and any Alliance Board member, Alliance Committee member, Alliance staff and any other person serving as an evaluator during the procurement process. No Vendor shall discuss any proposal with an Alliance or Consortium staff member or evaluator or Alliance Board, Alliance Committee or Consortium member. Alliance reserves the right to reject the proposal of any Vendor who fails to comply with this provision. Any written communication to staff (with the exception of the questions and answers described in this procurement), a board member or evaluator from a potential and/or existing contractor shall not be distributed. V. PROPOSAL FORMAT Proposals shall be submitted as follows: 1. Electronically submitted, faxed or ed copies of a proposal shall not be accepted by Alliance. 2. Vendors are to submit one original of the proposal marked Original and six hard copies of the proposal marked Copy. Each copy of the proposal shall be marked in sequential order 1 of 6, 2 of 6, 3 of 6, 4 of 6, 5 of 6, 5 of 6, 6 of The original and each copy of the proposal must be submitted in a loose-leaf binder and assembled in the following order: Tab 1, Page 1: Exhibit A Proposal Cover Page (form provided by Alliance and placed as first page of proposal). This form is to be completed by the Vendor and placed as the first page of your proposal. Page 2 of 5 Instructions RFP Entrepreneur Training Workshops And Individual Business

3 Tab 1, Pages 2-5: Place behind the Exhibit A Proposal Cover Page the following three Certification Forms (forms provided by Alliance) to be completed and notarized by the Vendor: Certification & Sworn Statement Pursuant To Section (3)(A), Florida Statutes, On Public Entity Crimes; Suspension And Debarment Certification; Certification & Sworn Statement Lobbying. These three forms are to be completed by the Vendor and placed as pages 2 through 5 of your proposal Tab 1, Page 6: Place behind the three Certification Forms a completed Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form (form provided by Alliance). This form is to be completed by the Vendor and placed as page 6 of your proposal Tab 2, Pages 7+ Scope of Work: The proposal must address the questions stated in the Scope of Work. A copy in Word format of the proposal s Scope of Work is to be placed on an electronic storage device (compact disk or thumb drive) inside an envelope containing the original hard copy of the proposal. Do not submit the Scope of Work in scanned or PDF format. 4. The proposal is to be typed or computer written in 12 point Arial or Times New Roman type with 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left and right side of the paper and printed on only one side of each page. 5. Do not staple pages of the proposal. 6. Proposal responses are to contain a footer with the page number (example: 1 of 20, 2 of 20, etc) and the name of the Vendor. Page numbers should be consecutive from beginning to end. Alliance required vendor contract terms and conditions. By submitting a proposal the Vendor agrees to the Alliance required vendor contract terms and conditions included as part of the procurement, which are not subject to change or negotiation by Vendor. Vendor is not to sign or submit the Alliance s vendor contract terms and conditions with the proposal. Rather the required vendor contract terms and conditions will be signed by the Vendor after contract award at the time of contract execution. VI. ADDENDA TO THIS PROCUREMENT At the discretion of Alliance, if it becomes necessary to revise any part of this procurement, an addendum will be provided Vendors via posting on the Alliance website, at the same location the procurement is posted. Any clarification, including answers to questions raised by potential Vendors, will become an addendum to the procurement. VII. RESTRICTIONS ON DISCLOSURE To avoid conflict of interest, all Vendors who have any financial or and/or family/relative (defined in accordance with Section , F.S which states that a relative means any father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, motherin-law, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law") relationships with any Alliance or Palm Beach Workforce Development Consortium (Consortium) staff member or Alliance Board, Alliance Committee or Consortium member must clearly disclose such a relationship by attaching a letter to the original copy of the proposal. Financial or family relationships with Vendors will disqualify an Alliance or Consortium staff member or Alliance Board, Alliance Committee or Consortium member from participating in the discussion and Page 3 of 5 Instructions RFP Entrepreneur Training Workshops And Individual Business

4 voting to fund proposals and will also disqualify any individual from evaluating proposals. VIII. * PROCUREMENT TIMELINE Alliance has established the following *timeline for this procurement: 10/30/12 RFP released on Alliance website. Publicly noticed on various dates Palm Beach County s Channel 20. RFP packets available on the Alliance website: Click on the link Doing Business With Us. Then click on the link Procurements (RFPs/RFQs). 11/14/12 11/15/12 Deadline for Vendors to submit questions to Alliance regarding the RFP Final answers to RFP questions posted on Alliance website 11/28/12 Deadline for Proposal Submissions. All proposals must arrive on or before 10:00 a.m., EDT at: Workforce Alliance, Inc.: ATTN: Contracts Manager 315 South Dixie Highway, Suite 102 West Palm Beach, FL /28/12-12/31/12 Alliance review of proposals and contract award selection 1/13-6/30/13 Contract period * DISCLAIMER: The above Timeline is a best effort attempt to outline the dates involved in this procurement. Alliance may delay scheduled dates if it is to the advantage of Alliance to do so. Alliance will notify Vendors of all changes in the timetable via posting on Alliance website at at the same location the procurement is posted. Dates may be adjusted by Alliance, particularly if a protest is filed and processed. Alliance reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. ALLIANCE MAY REJECT ALL PROPOSALS IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION FOR ANY REASON AND IS NOT OBLIGATED TO AWARD ANY ONE OR MORE CONTRACTS PURSUANT TO THIS PROCUREMENT OR TO ISSUE A NEW PROCUREMENT IF NO CONTRACT IS AWARDED UNDER THIS PROCUREMENT. In the event that, following issuance of this procurement, additional funds become available for this procurement in excess of that announced or if not announced expected to become available, Alliance shall have the right to negotiate and contract with the successful Vendor(s) for additional services without the need for an additional procurement through June 30, 2015 depending upon Vendor s performance, funding availability and legislative requirements. Each year Alliance will evaluate the Page 4 of 5 Instructions RFP Entrepreneur Training Workshops And Individual Business

5 effectiveness of the Vendor s performance and determine if the services should be continued. Such renewal will occur at the sole and absolute option of Alliance. A contract will be executed after successful negotiations with the recommended Vendor. In the event Alliance is unable to successfully negotiate a contract with the recommended Vendor, as determined by Alliance in its sole and absolute discretion, Alliance may then negotiate with the second or third highest ranked Vendor and so on until a contract is executed, or may decide to terminate the selection process. If two or more proposals receive the same number of points, Alliance will accept the lower cost offer. Alliance reserves the right to negotiate all and any services and payments proposed by any successful Vendor. Proposals, which cannot be successfully negotiated, will not be funded. Alliance reserves the right to not proceed to contract, provided such action is in the best interest of Alliance and to reject a proposal selected by the Alliance, CEO/President and/or governing Board if Alliance is unable to negotiate terms and conditions necessary to finalize a contract. Alliance will engage the Vendor(s) to perform the services described in this procurement, and reserves the right to modify the procedures and services to be performed, as may be determined necessary, following award of the contract(s) as they relate to the Alliance s fiscal and program responsibilities. In the event a Vendor wishes to file a protest in connection with this procurement process. A protest process is available and can be found on the Alliance website pbcalliance.com at the same location the procurement is posted. Alliance is committed to assuring equal opportunity in the invitation to contractors and therefore complies with all laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age and sex. Responses shall be opened on the date and at the location indicated on the Timeline. Vendors may, but are not required to, attend. Alliance may choose not to announce prices or release other materials pursuant to Florida Statutes 119. Any person requiring a special accommodation because of a disability should contact the Alliance Contracts Manager at least five (5) workdays prior to the solicitation opening. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact Alliance by using the Florida Relay Service at (800) (TDD). Page 5 of 5 Instructions RFP Entrepreneur Training Workshops And Individual Business