The Metropolitan Park and Recreation District, doing business as The Great Rivers Greenway District (“GRG”) is seeking the services of qualified professionals to assist in the development of public and media relations strategies and execution of related tasks.
BACKGROUND
Great Rivers Greenway is a regional public agency serving the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County. Great Rivers Greenway connects the St. Louis region with greenways, making it a vibrant place to live, work, and play.
Great Rivers Greenway is operated by a 25 member staff governed by a 12 member board that is appointed by the Executives of St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County. Staff members work within three groups to Build, Promote and Sustain the greenways.
Great Rivers Greenway is requesting proposals from interested and qualified firm(s), organization(s), individual(s) and non-profit(s) to provide services to assist staff in supporting any and all public relations needs for the agency overall.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
This RFQ is meant to procure help with any or all of the following types of work, as it is needed:
- Coordinate with staff to inform and execute short and long term public relations strategies ranging from traditional media coverage, event promotion, brand/profile raising tactics.
- Coordinate with staff to write, edit and distribute press releases, media alerts, public service announcements to local, regional and national media including follow up and tracking of progress with various media outlets.
- Monitor coverage in real-time for alerts and opportunities.
- Provide quarterly reports of all media coverage, including analysis and recommendations.
- Assist in strategy and outreach for non-traditional public relations efforts like award opportunities, public speaking, etc.
- Serve as a consultant for crisis communications, media training or other communications efforts as needed and scoped.
Consultant will coordinate with staff to scope and track projects as needed, tracked against an overall contract for the 2019 calendar year, with the option to renew for up to two more calendar years.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING QUALIFICATIONS
Provide one (1) electronic copy. Submittals should contain the following information:
- A one-page letter of interest that includes a synopsis of the respondent’s qualifications, primary specialties of the respondent, the primary contact and the principal representing the contractual authority of the respondent.
- Profile(s) of respondent(s) including number of employees, location, and relevant experience working on similar projects within the last five (5) years. Include the respondent’s experience with local governments, special districts or other public agencies in the development of similar projects.
- Project descriptions for three (3) recent projects with a similar scale and scope performed by the respondent within the last five (5) years. Include the following:
- Name of the client (include contact information)
- Description of projects
- Key personnel involved and year the project was completed
- Disclose any material agreements, relationships, or employment your firm or team members have with Great Rivers Greenway that may create a conflict of interest or the appearance thereof.
- Include (as an appendix) copies of your firm’s most recent Equal Opportunity form (EEO-1) and Affirmative Action policies, if applicable.
- Outline proposed fees for the project as described and an outline of preferred payment timing.
- An hourly rate(s) for any additional follow up interaction.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Any contract awarded as a result of this RFQ will be awarded without discrimination on race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, or national origin. Great Rivers Greenway values diversity, equity and inclusion – you can read about their mission and business cases here.
Prospective consultants shall assure Great Rivers Greenway that they will comply with 2010 ADA Standards prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as all applicable regulations and guidelines issued pursuant to the ADA (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).
MINORITY AND WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE POLICIES
It is the policy of Great Rivers Greenway that minority and women-owned businesses shall have the maximum opportunity to participate in the performance of contracts utilizing taxpayer funds.
MBE/WBE firms included in the respondent’s submittal, either as prime consultants or sub-contractors, must be certified by one or more of the following agencies on or before the date of the submission of qualifications:
- Missouri Division of Purchasing and Materials Management
- City of St. Louis: Disadvantage Business Enterprise Program
- St. Louis Minority Business Council
SELECTION PROCESS
A review committee will evaluate all responses to this RFQ. From this review, Great Rivers Greenway may select a consultant(s) solely on the basis of submittals, or may additionally identify a short list of individual or team candidates for possible interviews. The committee may contact any or all respondents to clarify submitted information.
Upon selection of a firm, organization, non-profit or combination thereof, Great Rivers Greenway will negotiate a scope of services and other terms and conditions of an agreement with the selected respondent(s). If such negotiations are not successful, Great Rivers Greenway reserves the right to begin negotiations with other respondents. Respondents whose qualifications are not accepted will be notified in writing as soon as practical.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The committee will select the consultant team(s) or individuals that most closely satisfy the criteria listed below.
- Successful completion of project(s) of similar scope within the last five (5) years.
- Demonstrated experience and technical competence of the consultants or individuals relative to the task requirements outlined.
- Capacity of the consultant’s identified team members to provide the full range of skills needed for this project.
- Overall approach to the work and evidence of the consultant’s ability to generate creative solutions for the proposed deliverables identified.
- Any other relevant information offered or discovered during the evaluation process.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
Great Rivers Greenway reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to:
- Reject any or all submittals when, in its opinion, it is determined to be in the public interest to do so
- Waive minor informalities of a submittal
- Cancel, revise, or extend this solicitation
- Request additional information which is deemed necessary
- Extract, combine, and delete elements of individual submittals of qualifications
- Negotiate jointly or separately with individual firms, organizations and non-profits with respect to any or all elements of this request.
This Request for Qualifications does not obligate Great Rivers Greenway to pay any costs incurred by any respondent in the submission or in making necessary studies or design for the preparation thereof, or for procuring or contracting for the services to be furnished under this request for qualifications. Great Rivers Greenway will give preference to Missouri firms, organizations and non-profits when other considerations are equal.
SCHEDULE
RFP Released Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Questions Submitted Monday, October 22, 2018
Questions Answered Tuesday, October 23, 2018
RFP Submittals Due Friday, October 26, 2018
Interviews Week of November 5, 2018
Firm(s) Selected Week of November 12, 2018
QUESTIONS
Questions concerning this request for proposals should be made to the Communications Manager, Seth Treptow, streptow@grgstl.org.
SUBMITTAL DUE DATE: 4:00pm CDT on Friday, October 26, 2018
SUBMITTAL LOCATION: streptow@grgstl.org (PDF)
Any qualifications received after this deadline will be deleted unopened. All responses and any accompanying material will become the property of Great Rivers Greenway. By submitting a response to this request, firms, organizations, individuals and non-profits accept all the terms and conditions of the Request for Qualifications or “RFQ”.
Questions or information related to this request should be directed to: Seth Treptow, streptow@grgstl.org 314-932-4910
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
If an Agency cross over multiple RFQs, would you like to see one proposal (e.g. using one case study that shows off multiple capes?) or individual submissions for each category?
If an agency crosses over multiple RFQs, we are fine with a single response but would prefer the proposal to be clearly delinated between sections. We will likely have different people evaluating each RFQ so it would make it much easier (and more apples to apples) if those evaluations can be made without having to also understand and assess the additional services provided.
We’re happy to provide our hourly rates but we don’t have enough information to propose a budget.
We really don’t need a budget. We are only looking to learn about your qualifications and capabilities, what you bring to the table, and your ability to meet the scope of the RFQ. We want to know your rates, but this will not be the most critical thing we look at. Please just provide your general rate card.
Can you prioritize local, regional and national coverage? What will success look like when we are super successful?
Our first priority is local coverage. That said we do want to grow our coverage on the regional and national front. Success would look like increased placements in all three areas.
How regularly do you anticipate requiring press announcements?
This will fluctuate, as we often have projects that coincide in timing, resulting in multiple events and notable milestones during short spans of time. We also have events throughout the year and various partner activities that we utilize media announcements to promote. On the most frequent side of things it may be two to three in a week. On the slower end, it may be one or two a month.
If our final submission is too large to email, is it ok to email a Drop Box link so you can download our PDF?
Yes, that is quite acceptable as long as the email with the link to your files is received by 4PM Central Time on October 26, 2018.