This RFP was awarded on Dec. 9, 2022. Read the intent to award letter.

Update - We added two attachments (an FAQ and a draft potential contract) on Nov. 15, 2022. These PDFs are linked at the bottom of the page.

Proposal Due Date and Time: November 18, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. (Late proposals will not be accepted or considered.)

Submit Written Proposals to:

Debbie Simons
Chief Human Resources Officer
Northwest Regional ESD
5825 NE Ray Circle
Hillsboro, OR

Electronic responses will NOT be accepted or considered.

Direct Questions to:

Debbie Simons
Chief Human Resources Officer
dsimons@nwresd.k12.or.us

See the sequence of selection process events for deadline for questions

Pre-Qualification:

☐ Required
☒ Not Required

Pre-Proposal Meeting:

☐ Mandatory
☒ Not Required

See the sequence of selection process events for location and time of any Mandatory Meetings

NWRESD complies with provisions of the various civil rights laws, such as the Fair Employment Practices Act, Title IX Regulations, the Americans with Disabilities Act and section 504 of PL 93.112 in employment and educational programs and activities.

RFP Table of Contents

I. Overview of RFP and Project Requirements

A. RFP Overview
B. Statement of Work to be Performed

II. Conditions Governing the Procurement

A. Schedule of Events
B. General Conditions

III. Proposal Preparation and Submittal

A. Proposal Submission Requirements
B. Proposal Content Requirements

IV. Proposal Evaluation

V. Contract and Work Performance

Attachments:

Attachment A: Proposed Contract

I. Overview of RFP and Project Requirements

A. RFP Overview

Northwest Regional ESD (NWRESD) is requesting competitive sealed proposals with the intent of entering into a contract with a firm able to provide qualified substitute personnel Services. All potential Proposers are to read, understand and accept the requirements of this Request for Proposals (RFP), especially the mandatory requirements.

This is a qualifications-based selection with cost as a consideration. The Proposer is required to provide, as part of the Technical Proposal, the qualifications and other documents requested in this RFP. The Price Proposal will be evaluated separately from the Technical Proposal.

The award of a contract for services shall take into consideration certain contractor qualification and performance factors that add value to a procurement contract. Factors such as contractor past performance, technical expertise and experience, management capabilities and resources, will form the basis for the criteria to be considered, in addition to price to perform the scope of work. Award shall be made in accordance with the terms conditions, and requirements stated herein.

Behavioral Policies Apply To Contractor’s Personnel

All current behavioral policies of the NWRESD Board of Education such as, but not limited to, “no smoking” and “no alcoholic beverages” on NWRESD property, shall be deemed to be in force for the Contractor’s work forces when they are on NWRESD property, including the project work sites.

Background Check/Criminal History Check

Because contractor’s employees will have unsupervised contact with students, Contractor agrees to cause Contractor's employees and/or subcontractors to receive background checks and criminal history checks prior to assignment.

B. Statement of Work to be Performed

Project Description/Statement of Work to Be Performed

Northwest Regional ESD is seeking proposals from firms hereafter called “proposer(s)” who can provide temporary staffing services providing substitute employees for licensed and classified staff to fill vacancies for when ESD & School District employees are absent or positions are vacant. The ESD has approximately 400 licensed and about 400 classified staff; and may add upwards of 100 positions depending on funding.

In addition, the ESD currently provides substitute services to an additional 12 school districts across the four counties identified below, as well as Multnomah ESD. The ESD provides for approximately 1,220 licensed staff and 1,174 classified staff who may need substitute coverage; and approximately 1,429 licensed staff and 1,670 classified and other staff who may be absent at any time. The majority of the licensed positions would require substitutes should employees be absent while classified employees who work directly with students or who provide student supervision; would be eligible for substitutes due to an absence. The substitute provider should be willing to offer pricing offered to the Northwest Regional ESD to other School Districts in Washington, Clatsop, Columbia, and Tillamook Counties; as well as Multnomah ESD.

The Substitute Employee Service Provider will:

a. Recruit, screen, interview, and assign its employees (“assigned employees”) to perform duties as specified by the ESD;
b. Collect and process all required information for new hire employee substitutes;
c. Pay the assigned employees’ wages and provide them with the benefits that Contractor agrees to pay or provide to them;
d. Perform all payroll functions including withholding and transmitting payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers compensation payments;
e. Process unemployment insurance and workers compensation claims involving assigned employees;
f. Grant paid and unpaid leave time pursuant to federal and state law and Contractor’s policies and procedures;
g. Provide the ESD software support, integration and development services in the implemented substitute system application including but not limited to:

i. Maintaining required licenses
ii. Maintaining required backup records
iii. Communicating with substitute system vendor regarding system concerns
iv. Providing substitute system administrative support
v. Providing training to assigned employees on use of substitute employee system
vi. Maintaining and updating records of certificates, training and licenses, mandated by federal and state law and ESD requirements for all assigned employees.

h. Provide or secure necessary and/or required training for all assigned employees including first aid, OIS/CPI restraint training, child abuse training, blood-borne pathogen training and sexual conduct (misconduct) training; as well as other applicable training for substitute employees to be successful;
i. Ensure all assigned employees possess all required licenses and certifications prior to assignment in the ESD;
j. Ensure all assigned employees who will have direct, unsupervised contact with students have required background checks completed prior to assignment in the ESD;
k. Coordinate and manage substitute placement and calling software application;
l. Coordinate with the ESD the preparation of all federal and state reports regarding substitute/temporary employees and/or ESD contractors;
m. Attend team meetings with ESD personnel as requested by the ESD;
n. Provide technical support to ESD-employed substitute employees in the same manner as provided to the Contractor’s assigned employees and;
o. The Contractor agrees to pay assigned employees no less than the salary/daily rate/hourly wage earned during the 2022-23 fiscal year prior to contract being awarded.

II. Conditions Governing the Procurement

This section lists the major events of the Selection Process and specifies general requirements.

A. Schedule of Events

Item, Event and Due Date

1. Issue RFP: October 24, 2022
2. Final Questions Due on November 14, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.
3. Last Addenda Issued November 16, 2022 by 4:00 p.m.
4. Proposals Due November 18, 2022 by 4:00 p.m.
5. RFP Committee to Review Proposals November 21, 2022 through November 30, 2022
6. Assignment of Interview/Presentation Appointments: November 23, 2022
7. Finalist Interviews/Formal Presentations (In Person): November 30, 2022
8. Notice of Intent to Award December 2, 2022

NOTICE: NWRESD reserves the sole right, without incurring any liability, to change any aspect of the proposed procurement described above, including the right not to proceed with the procurement and/or the right to proceed in a different manner or on a different timeline.

B. General Conditions

Proposals: All proposals shall be addressed to the attention of the Chief Human Resources Officer, 5825 NE Ray Circle, Hillsboro, OR 97124. Proposals shall be placed in an envelope, which is sealed and which clearly states the name of the bidder, the date of the proposal opening, and appropriate wording to indicate definitely the nature of the contents. Do not send proposals by FAX. Proposals submitted via FAX will not be accepted.

Cost of Proposal: Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of proposer’s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the RFP. This RFP does not commit the ESD to pay any costs incurred for this proposal. Special production such as bindings, colored displays, and promotional material are not necessary; however, the proposer should be prepared to present to a selection panel onsite at the ESD offices. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of the content.

Cancellation: The Northwest Regional ESD reserves the right to cancel this invitation or reject any and all proposals submitted or to waive any minor formalities of this call, if in the judgment of the School Board the best interest of the ESD would be served. No proposer may withdraw his/her proposal after the hour set for the opening thereof, unless the award of contract is delayed for a period exceeding thirty (30) days.

Late Proposals: Proposals received after the scheduled closing time will be returned to the respondent unopened.

Questions and Clarifications: Questions, interpretations or clarifications of this RFP must be requested in writing. All questions should be directed to Debbie Simons, Chief Human Resources Officer at dsimons@nwresd.k12.or.us. Oral instructions or information concerning the RFP given out by ESD employees or agents to prospective Respondents shall not bind the ESD.

Addenda: The ESD shall make interpretations, corrections, or changes of the Proposal Documents in writing by published Addenda. Any changes and/or addenda to this solicitation will be posted on the Northwest Regional ESD (NWRESD) website. Failure to acknowledge all addenda may result in declaration of your proposal as non-responsive.

Insurance: Successful Respondent shall be required to provide the ESD with a certificate of insurance verifying that the successful Respondent has all of the following insurance coverages and endorses the ESD as an additional insured: professional liability insurance, commercial general liability insurance, automobile liability insurance, and worker’ compensation insurance, each in an amount not less than required by the ESDs Policies.

Certification as an EEO Affirmative Action Employer: Successful Respondent must abide by a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action.

Equal Opportunity Employer: The Northwest Regional ESD is committed to providing equal opportunities to State of Oregon licensed Minority, Disadvantaged and Women's Business Enterprises in contracting activities. (OAR 445-050- 0001 to 445-050-0090, State of Oregon).

Protest of Award: Contract term will be one year with options to renew for up to four additional one- year terms.

*NOTE: Please read all of the RFP documents carefully for mandatory requirements.

The ESD’s written notice of intent to award shall constitute a final decision of the ESD to award the contract or proceed with the purchase if no written protest of the contractor award is filed with the ESD’s Human Resources Department within seven (7) calendar days following issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award.

Following the Notice of Intent to Award, the public may view proposal documents. However, any proprietary information so designated by the Proposer as a trade secret or confidential information and meeting the requirements of ORS 192.501, 192,502 and/or ORS 646.461 will not be disclosed. At this time, any Proposers not awarded the contract may seek additional clarification or debriefing, request time to review the selection procedures or discuss the scoring methods utilized by the evaluation committee. If a protest of contract award is timely filed by an adversely aggrieved proposer, the award documents shall constitute a final decision of the ESD only upon issuance to the protesting proposer of a written decision denying the protest and affirming the selection or the award.

All protests must be received by the deadline as specified in the Sequence of Solicitation Events.

Right to Protest: In order to be an adversely affected Proposer with a right to submit a written protest, a Proposer must itself claim to be eligible for Award of the Contract in the event the Protest were successful and must be next in line for the Award. In addition, the adversely affected Proposer must demonstrate that the reason for the Protest is that:

(i) all higher-ranked Proposers are ineligible for Award of the Contract because their Proposals were non-responsive;

(ii) the ESD has failed to conduct the evaluation of proposals in accordance with the criteria or processes described in this RFP;

(iii) the ESD has abused its discretion in rejecting the Protesting Proposer's proposal as nonresponsive; or

(iv) the ESD's evaluation of the proposals or its subsequent determination of award it otherwise in violation of ORS Chapter 279A or 279B.

The written protest shall specify the grounds upon which the protest is based and suggested changes that may remedy the defects. An issue that could have been addressed by filing a request for change or protest of the solicitation specifications or contract provisions pursuant to Section 4 - REQUEST FOR CHANGE OR PROTEST OF SOLICITATION SPECIFICATIONS OR CONTRACT PROVISIONS ABOVE SHALL NOT BE GROUNDS FOR PROTEST OF AWARD.

Contents of Solicitation Protest: Protests must be timely, must include all legal and factual information regarding the protest, and include a statement of the form of relief requested. The protest must specify the grounds for the protest including the specific citation of law, rule, regulation, or procedure upon which the protest is based.

The protest must specifically state the reason for the protest and show how its proposal or the winning proposal was mis-scored or show how the selection process deviated from that described in the solicitation document. 

The exercise of judgment used by the evaluators in scoring the written proposals and interviews, including the use of outside expertise, is not grounds for appeal.

The prospective Proposer’s written solicitation protest must include all of the following:

1. Sufficient information to identify the solicitation that is the subject of the protest.
2. The grounds that demonstrate how the procurement process is contrary to law or how the solicitation document is unnecessarily restrictive, is legally flawed, or improperly specifies a Brand Name;
3. Evident or supporting documentation that supports the grounds on which the protest is based, and
4. A statement of the desired changes to the Procurement process or the solicitation document that the prospective Proposer believes will remedy the conditions upon which the prospective Proposer based its protest.

Envelopes containing requests for protests of solicitation shall be marked and addressed as follows:

Protest of Contract Award RFP Title:
RFP #: HR01
Northwest Regional ESD Human Resources
Attn: Debbie Simons
5825 NE Ray Circle Drive
Hillsboro, OR 97124

Authority to Resolve Protests: The superintendent or the superintendent's designee shall have the authority to settle or resolve a written protest. The Chief Human Resources Officer may waive any procedural irregularities that had no material effect on the selection of the proposed contractor, invalidate the proposed award, amend the award decision, request the evaluation committee re-evaluate any proposal or cancel the solicitation and begin a new solicitation.

Resolution: Once the protest has been reviewed, a revised notice of intent to award may be issued. Confirmation of the protest resolution will be sent to the initial Proposer(s) identified in the Intent to Award and the Proposer that submitted the protest. Protests not filed within the time specified or which fail to cite the specific law, rule, regulation, or procedure upon which the protest is based shall be dismissed. An issue that could have been raised by request for clarification or protest of the solicitation is not a ground for protest of an award.

NWRESD Board Approval: The Chief Human Resources Officer shall present the selected Proposer’s proposal to the Board of Education for approval at their next regularly scheduled meeting.

Contract Negotiations: The RFP shall be based on the requirements of the RFP documents. The Proposer shall not submit a proposal anticipating that any portion of the contract documents will be changed, modified, or not enforced. However, if the Proposer believes that any portion of the Contract Documents conflicts with, or is at variance with, any law, it shall immediately notify the ESD in writing so that the ESD can analyze the situation before Proposals are submitted.

Any Proposer desiring revisions or clarifications to the ESD’s form of contract must file such request during the protest of solicitation/question period set forth in the Schedule of Events of this RFP, in order for those suggested changes to the contract form to be considered by the ESD. By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP the vendor agrees, if selected to contract, to accept the standard contract terms and conditions shown in Attachment B, and modified by any addenda to this solicitation.

The ESD reserves the right to negotiate final contract terms with the awarded Proposer to the fullest extent allowed by law and as in the best interests of the ESD.

The Owner reserves the right to enter into negotiations with the apparent successful Proposer and will begin contract negotiations as soon as possible after the Notice of Intent to Award. If contract negotiations are not finalized within a reasonable period of time, the Owner may conclude negotiations with the selected firm and begin negotiations with the next ranked firm(s) based on final ranking.

III. Proposal Preparation and Submittal

A. Proposal Submission requirements:

Submit responses as follows:

1. Use 8.5” x 11” white bond paper.
2. Basic text information should not be smaller than 10- point type.
3. Responses must be typed.
4. All erasures, or other changes must be initialed by the person signing the response.
5. Use no more than 30 pages for the Technical Proposal – Cover letter, section dividers, title page, and table of contents do not count in the overall page count of the proposal.
6. Price proposal should be no more than 5 (five) pages.
7. Use both sides of paper for printing. In such cases that both sides of the paper are printed, it will be considered two pages.
8. All sections shall be separated by numbered tabs that correspond to the Proposal Content Requirements, 1 through 11. Pages within each Tab shall be numbered consecutively.
9. Tab Dividers do not count as pages provided the only text or graphics on the dividers are the tab numbers and section titles.
10. Any response that exceeds the referenced page limitation shall have a deduction of 20 points taken from each evaluation committee member’s Technical Proposal score.
11. If there are any questions regarding format requirements, please contact Debbie Simons on page 1 of this document, prior to submission of Documents.

All proposals will be evaluated on the completeness and quality of the content. Responses may not be submitted electronically or by facsimile. Responses must be received by the closing date and time stated on the face of this document. Submit responses via US mail, in person, or by other courier to the Human Resources contact in the Schedule of Events.

Number of Proposals

Each proposal shall be submitted in two parts:

Document 1: Price Proposal (One original)

Document 2: Technical Proposal (One original and five copies)

An original proposal is deemed to consist of one copy of document one and six copies of document 2. One copy of both documents is to be submitted on a CD or flash drive. Please be sure original and copies are marked respectively.

All copies shall be complete, individually bound, and one copy shall be identified as the original and bear the original signature of the party offering the response.

Only one (1) complete original proposal may be submitted by each Proposer and must be
marked as ORIGINAL on the COVER.

B. Proposal Content Requirements

Document 1: Price Proposal

Price proposals should be submitted with the following information:

1. Proposer information: Name of Contractor, RFP Number and Title
2. Contractor’s Costs and Fees:
   a. Provide a fee schedule or other description of each fee involved for each of the services requested in this RFP.
   b. Discuss the frequency in which these fees will be evaluated and the maximum amount of any increase(s) to be expected during the term of the proposed service contract.
   c. Describe how profit and/or overhead will be calculated.
   d. Provide the total annual (fiscal year July 1 – June 30) cost for commencing and providing services (include any one-time initiation fees and deposits).
   e. Total annual cost for system management, support and training.
   f. Total annual payroll costs.
   g. Any other fees or assessed costs for providing requested services.
   h. Original signature of person authorized to sign documents on behalf of the proposing firm.

General Terms for Price Proposals

1. Proposal price shall not include state gross receipts or local options taxes.
2. All costs for labor and materials shall be included in the proposal.
3. In submitting this proposal, each Proposer must satisfy all terms and conditions of the Proposal Documents. All work covered by this Request for Proposals shall be in accordance with applicable state laws. Before submitting a proposal, each Proposer shall carefully examine the RFP; and shall include in the proposal the cost of all items required by the RFP. If the contractor observes that portions of the Contract Documents are at variance with applicable laws, building codes, rules, regulations or contain obvious erroneous or uncoordinated information, the contractor shall promptly notify the specified Northwest Regional ESD Representative and the necessary changes shall be accomplished by addendum.
4. Additionally, the Owner will not pay for business licenses, professional affiliations and similar costs of doing business which are the Proposer's obligation to secure and maintain. The cost of all bonding will be paid by the Proposer and will not be paid by the
   Owner. These costs are to be included in Proposer’s Price Proposal.

Document 2: Technical Proposal

1. RFP Title
2. RFP Number
3. Name of Contractor submitting proposal
4. Identify the name(s), title(s), mailing address, telephone number(s), fax number(s) and email address(es) of the person or persons who have authority to negotiate and contractually obligate the Proposer for the purpose of this RFP and who has sufficient knowledge to fully address all matters and respond to all inquiries included in the RFP submittal. A legal representative of the Proposer, authorized to bind the Proposer in contractual matters must sign the Cover Letter
5. Date of submission
6. Period for which the proposal is effective (non-rescindable).

Section 2: Transmittal/Cover Letter

By submitting a response, the Proposer is accepting the General Instructions and Conditions of this Request for Proposal and the Standard Contract Provisions of the Professional Services Contract.

The Cover Letter must include the following: Each proposal must be accompanied by a submittal letter on the letterhead of the contractor submitting the response. Any submittal letter that omits any of the following information may be deemed ‘non-responsive’. The submittal letter shall include acknowledgment and, where appropriate, certification of the following:

1. If a joint proposal is being submitted, identify the firms, and disclose the percentage of the work/services to be executed by each firm, based on the dollar amount of the fee proposed in the Price Proposal.
2. List number of years the organization has been in business and has provided the services/goods for which the proposal is being submitted.
3. List the number of years your organization has been in business under its current business name and any other names the organization has operated under.
4. List the number of years your organization has conducted business in Oregon, and whether your organization is local, regional, national, or international.
5. Describe the categories of work your organization normally performs with its own staffing.
6. Provide certification and/or documentation that the firm possesses the necessary equipment, financial resources, technical resources, management, professional and craft personnel resources and other required capabilities to successfully perform the contract.
7. Provide a brief statement of the Proposer’s understanding of the objective of the services to be performed.
8. Provide a positive commitment to perform the services within the time period specified.
9. Provide the names of persons authorized to represent the Proposer and communicate with the ESD’s Chief Human Resources Officer, their titles, addresses and telephone numbers.
10. Describe any licenses held by your organization and/or your employees
11. Federal Taxpayer Identification Number.

Proposer’s Qualifications: This criterion is related to the Proposer’s capabilities and resources in providing substitute licensed and classified staff as described in the statement of work. The proposal should describe any similar work for other governmental agencies or similar work to that described in the RFP.

1. Describe your business philosophy.
2. Describe your experience with providing licensed and/or classified substitutes in both an early learning and K-12 educational setting.
3. Describe how your organization will provide the services required under the Statement of Work.
4. Provide the following information for at least three customers you have provided services similar to those requested in this RFP:

a. Organization Name, Location;
b. Start and End Dates;
c. Type of Contract;
d. Contact name, title, and phone number of reference for the project;
e. Description of services provided;
f. Provide the fill rates for each organization listed and,
g. Did your firm refuse to do any additional work requested by the owner? If so,
why?

For any work you anticipate subcontracting, please describe the work and why you would need to subcontract it.

Management Plan
Provide the following information:

1. Management Team: provide an organization chart of the Management Team.
2. Describe how the services will be organized, managed, and administered to meet the ESD’s requirements.
3. Describe management’s commitment to quality. If you have a written quality assurance program, please include a copy in this section of your proposal. Describe your internal procedures and policies associated or related to work quality and evaluating work quality.
4. How does your firm measure customer satisfaction? How does your firm respond to unhappy customers?
5. Describe how you will evaluate services provided to the ESD and how that evaluation will be presented to the ESD. Describe the number of service and other evaluations completed and reported each year for similar clients.
6. Describe how you will communicate with and receive feedback from ESD personnel.
7. Describe your organization’s philosophy on customer service.
8. Describe how you will continue to recruit and retain staff to provide seamless services to the ESD.

Project implementation

Proposals will be evaluated on the soundness and detail of presentation of transition and implementation strategies proposed. Proposals must describe a complete scope of work and detailed descriptions.

1. Describe in detail the transition timeline from ESD to organization services with narratives depicting major work activities.
2. Describe your ability to provide customer data/report requests from the ESD. Include expected timelines for turnaround of requests. Describe the process staff would use to call in a substitute.
3. Describe if and how staff could create and your organization would accommodate preferential substitute lists.
4. Describe the software application you are recommending staff use to schedule substitutes.

Litigation

Please attach a statement addressing the following:

1. Has the firm had any judgments against it during the past five (5) years?
2. Has the firm had any breach of contract other than for cause?
3. List all mediations/arbitrations in the last five (5) years. Who initiated? What was the outcome?
4. Has the firm been free of any determinations by a court or an administrative agency, of repeated or willful violations of laws and/or regulations pertaining to the payment of prevailing wages or employment of apprentices of public works projects?
5. Has the firm had any BOLI issues – complaints or findings against it? If so, please describe.
6. If your company is currently or has been involved in any litigation over the past five (5) years, please describe the litigation. 

W-9

Please include a copy of your firm’s W-9.

Acknowledgement of Addenda

Include in this section a signed copy of each addenda to the RFP.

Financial Standing

Please include your financial statement(s) for the past two years.

References/Reference Letters

Proposer should include at least three references; this may include Reference Letters from previous clients in this section. Reference letters should address the Proposer’s ability to meet deadlines, accuracy of cost estimates, customer service, and quality of work.

IV. Proposal Evaluation

Receipt and Opening of Proposals: Proposals, and modifications to proposals, received prior to or at the submission deadline shall be time-stamped upon receipt. Proposals shall be opened publicly for the purpose of identification of proposers.

Proposal Discussions: If mistakes are discovered after receipt of the proposal, The Evaluation Committee may request clarifications of information submitted by any or all Proposers in a written format with a specified deadline for response. Short-listed Proposers shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any clarification of proposals. If during discussions there is a need for any substantial clarification of, or change to, a Proposal, the Proposal shall be amended to incorporate such clarification or change. Any substantial oral clarification of a proposal shall be documented in writing by the short-listed Proposer.

Evaluation Committee: The Evaluation Committee shall consist of a team of persons appointed by the Owner. The Owner may use independent consultants or agents to support the Committee, provided appropriate precautions are taken to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

The Committee will require a minimum of five (5) working days to evaluate and score the written proposals.

All communications shall be through the contact(s) referenced on the cover of this RFP. At the ESD’s sole discretion, communications with members of the evaluation committee, other ESD staff for the purpose of influencing the outcome of this RFP may be cause for the Proposer’s proposal to be rejected and disqualified from further consideration.

Technical Proposal Evaluation: Northwest Regional ESD shall review each proposal to determine if it meets all of the mandatory requirements. Proposals that do not meet the mandatory requirements shall be considered “nonresponsive”. The Proposers shall be notified in writing of the determination.

Northwest Regional ESD will then distribute the proposals and individual score sheets to the Evaluation Committee, and will review how the proposals shall be scored. The Evaluation Committee members shall score the technical proposals individually.

Price Proposal Evaluation: The Price Proposal shall be initially evaluated to ensure that the price(s) offered is responsive to the RFP requirements and instructions.

Combining Scores and Ranking of Proposals: The individual scores on the Technical Proposals will be combined with the price proposal score. The point subtotals will be converted to a numeric ranking of all proposals per committee member. The individual member rankings per Proposer will then be totaled together to determine the overall ranking of the proposals. The Committee will then determine whether or not to conduct interviews based on the final ranking.

References: The ESD reserves the right to investigate references, including customers other than those listed in a Proposer’s submission. This inquiry may include without limitation investigation of past performance of any Proposer with respect to its successful performance of similar projects, compliance with specifications and contractual obligations, completion, or delivery of a project on schedule, and its lawful payment of employees and subcontractors.

Attachments:

• Cooperative Procurement Request for Proposals for Substitute Employee Staffing Services [PDF] 
• Frequently Asked Questions [PDF]
• Draft Potential Contract with Attachments A and B [PDF]