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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Consultant Services Development of a Strategic Plan for Region Five Development Commission (R5DC) AND

North Central Economic Development Association (NCEDA) Introduction R5DC/NCEDA are seeking professional services related to the development of a singular 5-year strategic plan that serves both organizations, as well as one vision and equity statement for each organization. A steering committee comprised of members from Staff, R5DC’s Commission and NCEDA Full Corporation members has been established to assist with this effort. It is expected that a public engagement effort will be completed to solicit input from local stakeholders not represented on the committee, including the community at large. The Consultant will work as a moderator and consensus-builder for this committee and will be tasked with producing a final strategic plan document. Organizational CONTEXT The R5DC was established via State Statute as a Local Unit of Government in 1973. Area governments came together to establish the Regional Development Commission through the Regional Development Act of 1969. R5DC has exhibited extensive experience in working with underserved populations, community partners for almost 50 years. The R5DC Commission membership comprises 20 elected officials from county, city, townships, school boards, tribes and 6 public interest representatives from Soil & Water Boards, Workforce Investment Boards, Emerging Leaders, Higher Ed Community College and Camp Ripley Army camp.

R5DC’s Mission is to enhance the vitality and quality of life in Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena Counties

Our values include: Dynamic Capabilities, Collaboration, Growth, Integrity & Intention

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Current areas of work include -

The North Central Economic Development Association (NCEDA) is a 501c3 affiliate/subsidiary organization of Region Five Development Commission(R5DC). NCEDA was established in 1986 by R5DC in part due to the receipt of a U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration grant to administer a business gap lending revolving loan fund. NCEDA is governed by 15 private sector board representatives with finance (accountants and bankers), law and economic development expertise. NCEDA has provided lending assistance since 1986 but has put intentional focus on ADVANCED business technical assistance since 2006.

NCEDA’s mission is to provide assistance to cultivate new skills and resources that unite communities

and contribute to a prosperous economy.

NCEDA and the R5DC share the same staff. The team consists of 9 full time staff to offer project support and several contracted partners. The two organizations collectively serve as the region’s federally designated Economic Development District Governing Body which is an entity supported by the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA). This private/public partnership was initially mandated by EDA program agreements, has proven to be mutually beneficial for over 30 years, and matured to successfully serve the region’s access to capital and technical assistance needs. Both organizations complete annual audits and fulfill a multitude of fiduciary and contractual obligations to private, public and philanthropic partners. To date, R5DC/NCEDA have delivered over 700 loans totaling over $13 million in capital with a loan loss rate of less than 5%. This success is due to the significant high-touch business technical assistance to address needs and challenges for microenterprise entrepreneurs with an intentional focus on minority, veteran, women owned businesses and businesses owned by individuals with disabilities located in rural central Minnesota. NCEDA offerings

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Strategic Plan

Annual Workplan

Annual Performance Evaluations

Annual Report

The last Strategic Plan was done in 2016 for the period of 2017-2021. R5DC creates an annual workplan that includes activities that support the Strategic Plan for R5DC & NCEDA. Annual performance evaluations for each staff are based on the Strategic Plan and Annual Workplan. The Annual Report reflects progress made toward the workplan and the strategic plan.

STRATEGIC PLANNING TIMELINE Strategic plan is based on our Fiscal year July 1 – June 30 CURRENT plan is FY2017 through FY2021 - it expires end FY2021 which is June 30, 2021 Next plan will be from July 1, 2021 (FY2022) through June 30, 2026 (FY2026) – 5 years. To be prepared by July 1, 2021 with next plan - Plan for 6 months from- January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021 (term is within FY2021) Tasks with primary responsible party identified. November 2020 – complete RFP by Nov 15, 2020, post from Dec 1, 2020 - Jan 1, 2021

January 1, 2021 - establish Steering Committee (Cheryal) Mid-January 2021 – review proposals January 30, 2021 - Hire Consultant (Steering Committee) – execute consultant contract (Cheryal)

February 28, 2021 • Set outreach meetings/locations (consultant & R5DC team) • Design invitations (Angela) Variable dates - Send out public input invites at least 4 weeks before each meeting

March 30, 2021 • Data collection (Intern w/Staci oversight) • create a graphic template for finished report (Angela) • Public input, outreach meetings and surveys (consultant) • Steering Committee and staff create vision and equity statements as part of the Strategic Plan update

(consultant led with Steering Committee)

April 30, 2021 • photo collection (Angela) • creation of Strategic plan goals, objectives and success measures. (consultant led with Steering committee)

May 30, 2021-

• May 1- May 20 final design (Angela) • R5DC & NCEDA consider approval May 20, 2021

June 30, 2021 – last day of current SP July 1, 2021 – first day of new SP

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Draft list of Stakeholders to interview via zoom

1. Staff 2. NCEDA Full Corp (lending stakeholders) 3. R5DC Commission 4. Transportation stakeholders- MNDOT, RTCC, TAC, public transit, SRTS communities 5. Economic Development stakeholders- Chambers of Commerce, small business owners, county/city EDA,

growers, Women’s Fund 6. Mix of other regional leaders: CLC, IF, Sourcewell, M State, Lakewood, FWAC 7. Consultant/other partners: A&A (storytellers), JBJ (environmental advocates), Artists and Art Orgs, Video/ Dying

to Film, 8. County Administrators, City Mayors 9. Community Dev. stakeholders – LLBO, JSC members, Sweet Grass, Widseth, Youth, Veteran Services, Teachers,

100 Rural Women, WCAGs, Regional Yellow Ribbon 10. Funding partners - this will likely be an online survey

Final list to be crafted by steering committee and is expected to range between 10 – 12 group zoom meetings and an online survey.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS/CONTENT

Proposals are limited to 15 pages printed single sided including proposal narrative and illustrative graphics. Resumes and forms may be included as appendices and do not count toward the technical proposal 15-page limit. Cover letter may also be included and not counted toward the page limit. Each resume shall be no longer than 1 page. Proposals must include:

1. A detailed scope of work that identifies the major tasks to be accomplished and how the Consultant

plans to accomplish the work. See additional detail below. 2. A detailed schedule for completing the project within the offered timeline on page 3 of this RFP. 3. Qualifications and experience of the personnel working on the project and the role each will play including

the expected number of hours each is expected to spend on the project. 4. Related project experience with strategic plan development. Please provide examples of projects of similar

size and scope of this project. 5. References from similar projects completed in the last three years. 6. Fee structure for each output, additional detail offered below.

SCOPE OF WORK

R5DC & NCEDA would like the Consultant to propose their scope of work for the project. At a minimum, the scope of work must include:

• Introductory meeting with the steering committee • History, Context Mapping, Portfolio Review (or similar activities) • Covid friendly public engagement stakeholder process/strategy • Visioning, consensus-building – plan development (including vision and equity statements for each org), • presentation of the final document at a meeting of both R5DC and NCEDA Full Corporation.

Proposals will be evaluated largely on the creativity and expertise in creating an effective scope of work to meet the project goals. Due to Covid pandemic all work is expected to be done remotely via zoom with possible exception of presentation of final plan.

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FEES The Consultant shall provide an estimated breakdown on labor hours to complete the various phases of work. Fee structures may be in any form, however, a “not to exceed” rate will be required to consider the proposal eligible. Last consultant payment will be held until July 1, 2021 and made by July 30, 2021.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION All qualified proposals received by the deadline will be evaluated by R5DC. R5DC reserves the right to reject any and all proposals not deemed to be in the best interest of R5DC, whether financially or operationally. The factors on which proposals will be judged are:

• Professional qualifications/experience of those assigned. • Specialized experience in similar scope and dates of those projects. • Familiarity with the project requirements and conceptual approach proposed to address those

requirements. • The proposed public engagement strategy. • Quality of past performance on similar projects. • Current volume of work that could affect ability to complete the work on time.

Prospective responders who have any questions regarding this request for proposal are encouraged to connect with R5DC/NCEDA Executive Director; Cheryal Hills prior to submitting a proposal and can be reached at chills@regionfive.org and 218-270-0188.

One electronic proposal submitted to Staci Headley at sheadley@regionfive.org no later than 5:00 p.m. CST January 1, 2021 All costs incurred in responding to this RFP will be borne by the responder.