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West Michigan Works! /ACSETStaffing Services for Work

Experience Programs

Contract PeriodOctober 1, 2015 -

September 30, 2016

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

(RFP 2015SSWE)

Proposal Due Date: September 18, 2015

WMW/ACSET is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Michigan Relay Center 1-800-649-3777

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTIO N I: G ENER A L PRO PO SAL STI PU LATIO NSA. PURPOSE AND SCOPE1. LIMITATIONS2. PROPOSAL OWNERSHIP3. CONFIDENTIALITY4. WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSAL5. EQUAL OPPORTUNTIY6. CONTRACT7. EXTENSION8. SERVICE DELIVERY SITES9. FUNDING SOURCE & ADMINISTRATION10. COST 11. INDEMNIFICATION/ASSURANCES AND CERTIFICATIONS12. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES13. MONITORING14. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE15. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION16. PROPOSAL EVALUATION / REVIEW CRITERIA17. REVIEW AND APPEAL PROCESS18. TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE19. CHOICE OF LAW20. INSURANCE

SECTIO N II: SER VI CES REQ UI REDA. DESCRIPTION

SECTION III: BIDDER’s PROPOSA LA. PROPOSAL CONTENTS B . WRITTEN RESPONSE C. BUDGET

ATTA CHME NT S:Exhibit A Proposal Cover SheetExhibit B Budget Sheet

WMW/ACSET is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Michigan Relay Center 1-800-649-3777

1550 Leonard NE Grand Rapids, MI 49505 ACSET Council Administration (616) 336-4100Fax (616) 336-4118

SECTION I: GENERAL PROPOSAL STIPULATIONS

A. PURPOSE AND SCOPE: West Michigan Works!/Area Community Service Employment and

Training Agency (WWMW/ACSET) is soliciting proposals from Independent Contractors to

serve as qualified suppliers of Staffing Services for its Work Experience Programs located in

Allegan, Barry, Kent, Ionia, Montcalm, Muskegon and Ottawa Counties. Such Services

include, but are not limited to: performing background checks, running drug screens, hiring and

payroll services and providing appropriate Workers’ Compensation insurance for participants

enrolled in these programs and working on the premises of volunteer employers.

1. Description of the Work Experience Programs: The WMW/ACSET Work Experience

Programs find organizations that are excited about supervising the employment of

participants for a three (3) to six (6) month period. Program participants include: youth

between the ages of 14-24 (fourteen through twenty-four) and adults 18 (eighteen) and

older, Partnership Accountability Training Hope (PATH) participants, Prisoner Reentry

participants, and other WMW/ACSET program participants who want to work but have not

yet acquired the skills or work history to obtain a job.

B. LIMITATIONS1. WMW/ACSET assumes no contractual obligation as a result of the issuance of this RFP,

the preparation or submission of a response by a Respondent, the evaluation of an

accepted response, or the selection of finalists. This request for proposals and

information does not commit WMW/ACSET to pay any costs incurred in the

preparation of responses, to procure or contract for any service or services

whatsoever, or to award a contract. The WMW/ACSET shall not be contractually

bound until the WMW/ACSET and the successful Respondent have executed a written

contract for performance of the work. WMW/ACSET reserves the right to accept or

reject any or all bids received as a result of this request, to negotiate with any

sources WMW/ACSET deems qualified, to fund qualified bidders through

alternative funding sources if the WMW/ACSET deems such alternative funding to be

available and appropriate, or to cancel, in part or in its entirety, the request if it is in the

best interest of WMW/ACSET to do so. WMW/ACSET may require the proposing agency to

participate in negotiations and to submit any price, technical, or other revisions to their

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proposals as may result from negotiations.

The terms and conditions of the RFP supersede and control those of the proposal or of any

exhibits or attachments submitted by the bidder/respondent.

2. PROPOSAL OWNERSHIPAll proposals, including attachments, supplementary materials, addenda, etc. shall become the

property of the WMW/ACSET and will not be returned to the Respondent.

3. CONFIDENTIALITYAll responses, inquiries, and correspondence relating to this RFP and all reports, charts,

displays, schedules, exhibits, and other documentation produced by the Respondent that are

submitted to the WMW/ACSET, as part of the proposal or otherwise, shall become the

property of the WMW/ACSET when received by the WMW/ACSET and may be considered

public information under applicable law.

4. WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSALProposals may be withdrawn in person by a bidder, or authorized representative, provided their

identity is made known and a receipt is signed for the bid, but o n l y if the withdrawal is made

prior to the stated bid deadline. In case of error by the bidder in making a bid, the

Evaluation Committee may, by discretion, reject such a proposal upon presentation of a letter by

the Bidder which sets forth the error, the cause thereof, and sufficient evidence to substantiate

the claim.

5. EQUAL OPPORTUNITYThe WMW/ACSET will make every effort to ensure that all Respondents are treated fairly and

equally throughout the entire review, and selection process. The procedures established herein

are designed to give all parties reasonable access to the same basic information.

6. CONTRACTWMW/ACSET may award a contract or contracts, based on proposals received, without

discussion of such offers. Accordingly, each proposal should be submitted on the most favorable

terms from a price and technical standpoint, which the respondent can submit to WMW/ACSET.

However, WMW/ACSET reserves the right to request additional data, oral discussion or

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presentation, in support of written proposals. Requests for additional information regarding the

proposal have a three (3) working day limit on the time allowed to respond. All responses must

be in writing. Failure to comply with this stipulation may result in an adverse consideration of the

proposal.

The terms and conditions of the final contract awarded supersede and control those of the RFP

and of any proposal or of any of the exhibits or attachments submitted by the Respondent.

7. EXTENSIONThe initial contract period is from October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016. However,

WMW/ACSET may offer two (2 ) one (1 ) year extensions of this contract based on

performance, cont inued need , adequate funding, and subsequent approval by the

Workforce Development Board (WDB). However, in the event that changes in Federal and/or

State legislation or administrative directives should require significant changes in program

operation, the WDB may decide that a new competitive procurement is warranted.

8. FUNDING SOURCE & ADMINISTRATIONAll programs and services to be operated under this Request for Proposal will be funded

under the Workforce Investment a n d O p p o r t u n i t y Act (WIOA), Temporary Assistance to

Needy Families (TANF), or other applicable funding as allowed by law. Reductions or

increases of the budget level may be necessary during the course of the contract based on

increased or decreased levels of funding.

9. COSTPlease provide a detailed, itemized budget for the contract period: October 1, 2015 - September

30, 2016. Only costs directly related to the delivery of services and properly supported with

back-up data and records will be allowable charges.

10. INDEMNIFICATION/ASSURANCES AND CERTIFICATIONSOrganizations or agencies submitting a proposal must be willing to sign a contract, which will

provide a full indemnification and hold harmless of any liability of WMW/ACSET or its

governing bodies for any services conducted by the contract agency. The contract will include

a full statement of responsibility for reimbursing WMW/ACSET for any costs or

expenditures which are disallowed in an audit, or for any other claims which might be made

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against the program operator by a customer or other interested party.

11. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESRespondents who are awarded a contract shall not discriminate against an employee or

applicant for employment with respect to hire, tenure, terms, conditions or privileges of

employment, or a matter directly or indirectly related to employment or participation

because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, disability, height, weight, marital

status, political affiliation, beliefs, or citizenship.

12. MONITORINGWMW/ACSET will be monitoring, auditing, and evaluating all services throughout the contract

period.

13. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCEAssistance will be available via email as required to develop responses to this RFP.

Organizations are, however, responsible for the content and for the development of their own

proposals. Questions may be emailed to [email protected] until September 16,

2015. Responses will be posted to WMW/ACSET’s website.

14. PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONTo be considered, four (4) copies (one with original signatures) of the proposal must be received

in the WMW/ACSET office at 1550 Leonard NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505 by 4:00 p.m.,

September 18, 2015. A CD containing the proposal in MS Word may also be submitted along with

the hard copies, but is optional. Instructions provided in this RFP document should not be

submitted with the response. Responses should use affirmative language “will or shall” so that

proposals may be easily converted to contract form. The Proposal Cover Sheet (Exhibit A)

must be attached at the beginning of your submission. Review and sign all appendices where

appropriate and submit with your proposal. Signatures shall be signed in blue ink. Any

proposals received after the submission date and time will be considered void and

unacceptable. The WMW/ACSET is not responsible for lateness of mail, carrier, etc., and the

date/time stamp in the WMW/ACSET Administrative Offices shall be the official date and time

of receipt. Proposals are sealed bids and no changes will be made after submission.

15. PROPOSAL EVALUATION / REVIEW CRITERIAAll proposals will be rated by a review team that may include Workforce Development

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mailto:[email protected]


Board members and WMW/ACSET staff.

The selection of a proposal or proposals for contract award shall be made after a careful

evaluation of the proposals received by members of the Review Team. Each proposal will be

evaluated for acceptability with emphasis on the various factors enumerated under Section III,

Bidder’s Proposal, Narrative and Budget, assigning to each factor a numerical weight as

indicated. These proposal ratings will be used to formulate the committee’s funding and bidder

recommendations. WMW/ACSET staff will then complete contract negotiations with the selected

provider.

NOTE: All proposals will be subject to a cost/price analysis.

16. PROPOSAL FUNDING APPEAL PROCESS

a. A party who has submitted a proposal in response to this RFP may appeal the

decisions of the WMW/ACSET Workforce Development Board (WDB) and the

WMW/ACSET Governing Board with respect to funding proposals to the RFP. An

appeal must be in writing, signed by the person who signed the RFP and be received

by the Executive Director of WMW/ACSET within three (3) business days after the

appealing party received notice of the funding decisions of the WDB and the

Governing Board. The notice of the funding decision shall be presumed to have

been received three (3) days after mailing upon which mail is regularly delivered. All

appeals are to be addressed to:

Jacob Maas

Executive Director of MW/ ACSET

1550 Leonard NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49505

b. An appeal must state a factual and/or legal basis for the appeal and not merely

subjective opinions. An appeal that includes information not contained in the

appealing party’s original proposal will not be considered; provided, that an appeal

may allege that a successful respondent has made a false certification regarding

debarment, suspension, ineligibility, voluntary exclusion, or lobbying, or has had a

grant or contract terminated by, or been sanctioned by, a public funding agency.

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c. WMW/ACSET may summarily dismiss an appeal, which does not comply with

sections a or b, and shall send the appealing party written notice thereof within 5

business days of its receipt of the appeal. Such a summary dismissal is final.

d. WMW/ACSET shall notify the successful respondent in writing that an appeal has

been filed within three (3) business days of its receipt of the appeal, unless it is

dismissed pursuant to section c. If an appeal contains allegations concerning the

successful respondent as described in section b, WMW/ACSET shall also send a

copy thereof to the successful respondent with notice that it may send WMW/ACSET

a written response to such allegations within 5 business days. The Executive

Committee of the WDB shall meet within 15 business days of WMW/ACSET’s

receipt of the appeal to consider it, together with any response received from the

successful respondent. The Executive Committee shall present its

recommendations thereon to the WDB at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

e. The WDB shall make a decision upon the appeal, which shall be presented to the

WMW/ACSET Governing Board at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The

Governing Board shall consider the appeal, as well as any response from the

successful respondent/respondent, and make a decision thereon. An appeal shall

not be successful unless it receives a favorable decision from both the WDB and the

WMW/ACSET Governing Board. WMW/ACSET shall provide the appealing party

and the successful respondent with copies of the decision of the WDB and the

WMW/ACSET Governing Board within 5 business days after the meeting of the

Governing Board.

f. In the event that the Governing Board and the WDB reach different decisions upon

an appeal, the Governing Board and the Executive Committee of the WDB shall

each appoint 3 members of their respective bodies to a conference committee, which

shall meet within 10 business days after the meeting of the Governing Board, and

reach a decision of the appeal. The committee shall provide the appealing party and

the successful respondent with written copies of its decision within 3 business days

of its meeting. The decision of the conference committee shall be final.

17. TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE (TFC)

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The WMW/ACSET may terminate any contracts awarded pursuant to this RFP for convenience

(TFC), which is an express termination right, in whole or in part, if the WMW/ACSET determines

that cancellation is in WMW/ACSET’s best interest. WMW/ACSET will not be liable for any

anticipatory profit in the event of a TFC. Reasons for termination will be left to the sole

discretion of WMW/ACSET.

Any such termination shall be instituted by delivery to the Subrecipient/Contractor of a written

notice specifying the extent to which performance of the work under the contract is terminated

and the date on which termination becomes effective.

18. CHOICE OF LAW.Any Contracts awarded pursuant to this RFP will be executed in the State of Michigan and shall

be governed by Michigan law.

19. INSURANCEThe provider must maintain the insurance coverage required by the WMW/ACSET while any

agreement is in force, including automatic renewal terms, and shall provide documentation of

such insurance in a form satisfactory to the WMW/ACSET when required.

SECTION II: SERVICES REQUIREDA. The successful respondent will provide staffing services for the Programs described in

Section I, A., including, but not limited to, performing background checks and drug screens

on program participants; maintaining personnel and payroll records on assigned

participants; paying them, withholding and transmitting payroll taxes; making unemployment

contributions; and handling unemployment and workers’ compensation claims with respect

to compensation that respondent has agreed to pay.

B. The respondent will implement procedures to insure that assigned participants’ timesheets

are obtained from the employer in a manner which insures timely payments to all qualified

program participants. Respondent shall provide the Work Experience Coordinator, or other

designated staff with records of the timesheets for each participant by the payroll date.

C. Respondent will provide workers’ compensation insurance for assigned program

participants. Respondent must agree to defend, indemnify and hold the WMW/ACSET and

its officers, departments, and employees harmless as to any and all work related injuries,

and provide the worker’s compensation insurance to cover any and all work related injuries.

D. Respondent will screen the assigned program participants based on the specific checks and 9


tests set by WMW/ACSET, if any. The actual cost of screening will be passed through to

WMW/ACSET.

E. Respondent will cooperate fully and assist in the investigation and resolution of any

complaint, claims, actions or proceedings which may be brought by or involve any assigned

program participants. The respondent will immediately notify WMW/ACSET of any injury or

accident occurring while assigned program participants are performing program related

work and any claim for worker’s compensation benefits.

F. The respondent will disseminate to program participants any OSHA or safety-related

information supplied by WMW/ACSET.

G. Respondent will meet with WMW/ACSET staff at regular and mutually acceptable times to

discuss and resolve any issues with the respondent’s performance.

SECTION III: BIDDER’S PROPOSAL

GENERAL

All respondents must comply with the instructions below in preparing their proposal documents.

A. PROPOSAL CONTENTS

Each proposal must include (see check sheet, page 2):

Completed cover sheet (See Exhibit A)

Proposal Summary

Organizational background and capabilities

List Three References from current or former organizations the bidder has serviced

Completed budget proposal (see Exhibit B)

B. WRITTEN RESPONSE FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

The following documents should be completed in Double-spaced, Times New Roman; font size

11. Use affirmative language (words like “shall” or “will”) so the narrative can be easily converted

into contract language.

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B1. Proposal Summary:Provide a concise summary or your proposed services and methods of delivery, not to exceed 1

page.

B2. Proposal Narrative

The following sections must be addressed in your proposal. Points will be awarded based upon

the quality of the responses to each section. There are a total of 100 points available.

WMW/ACSET staff will score the proposals.

DELIVERABLES

1. Describe how you will provide staffing services for the Programs described in Section I, A.,

including, but not limited to, screening program participants (including background checks

and drug screens); maintaining personnel and payroll records on assigned participants;

paying them, withholding and transmitting payroll taxes; making unemployment

contributions; providing workers’ compensation insurance, and handling unemployment and

workers’ compensation claims with respect to compensation that respondent has agreed to

pay. (25 points)2. Describe the process which your organization will follow to insure that qualified participants’

timesheets are obtained from the employer in a manner which insures timely payments to

all qualified program participants. (10 points)3. Describe your organization’s policy limits for worker’s compensation insurance and general

liability insurance. (25 points)4. The Work Experience Programs may require placing applicants who have some barriers to

employment such as criminal records and learning disabilities; describe how you will modify

your normal screening procedures to accommodate participants with these barriers and

ensure that they receive opportunities to obtain work experience. (10)5. Describe the procedures your organization follows to insure dissemination of safety-related

information to assigned participants. (5 points)

C. BUDGETSubmit your Itemized Budget as Exhibit B. Provide a breakdown of costs by each separate

line item, i.e., screening costs, Workers’ Compensation costs, and Mark-up rates . Only costs

directly related to the operation of the contracted service and properly supported with data will

be allowable charges to the program. Provide both Straight Time Pay-Rate and a Mark-up over 11


Pay-Rate. (25 points)

Exhibit A.

A. PROPOSAL COVER SHEET

PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE SERVICESTO WMW/ACSETCOVER SHEET

Agency Name: _______________________________________________________________

Agency Address: ______________________________________________________________

Contact Person: _______________________________________________________________

Phone #:___________________________ Fax #:___________________________________

Email Address: _______________________________________________________________

Web Address: _________________________________________________________________

LEGAL STATUS OF ORGANIZATION:

____Governmental ___ Private, non-profit

____ Educational ___ Private, for-profit

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PROPOSED SERVICES:

Staffing Services Work Experience Programs

Proposing Entity Certification

The proposing entity certifies by the signature below that the information in this application is

correct, that the entity meets the requirements of the program, and that all services provided under

a subsequent Contract will meet the requirements detailed in the RFP Instructions. The person

whose signature appears below certifies the information given in this application is true and correct

and that they are authorized to bind the proposing organization; certifies this application is a firm

offer binding the organization for a period of 90 days, and understands that approved applications

are subject to negotiation.

Authorized Representative:

____________________________________________Printed Name Title

____________________________________________Signature Date

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Exhibit B

Itemized Budget

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