Overview
The Development Corporation of Richmond (DCR) is requesting proposals from interested consulting firms to develop a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy ("Strategic Plan") that will guide the DCR’s economic development activities over the next five years.
The DCR Strategic Plan will be for the period of 2024 – 2028 and is to provide an analysis of the current economic climate, projects for future growth, and a new action plan to follow to support economic development growth for the next five years. This project is within the city limits/ETJ of Richmond and will involve an assessment of existing land use and transportation conditions. The outcome of this Plan will result in recommendations to attract desirable commercial, industrial, and quality of life projects to the area.
The DCR reserves the right to cancel this Request for Proposal (“RFP”) at any time and for any reason without any liability to any proposer or to waive irregularities at its own discretion. The DCR reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, or any portion thereof.
Delivery Requirements and Deadline
SEALED responses to this RFP shall be submitted as addressed below and clearly identify the consultant making the submission. The package must be marked as RFP # 2024-001 Consulting Firm for DCR “Strategic Plan 2024-2028 RFP”. One original and six copies must be submitted by each firm along with a digital electronic format.
The consultant is liable for any of the costs incurred in preparing and submitting a proposal. Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2024, to Mr. Jerry W. Jones Jr., Director of Economic Development at jjones@richmondtx.gov.
Any questions received that affect the RFP process will be addressed on the Development Corporation of Richmond website at www.developrichmondtx.com.
Any questions related to this RFP shall be addressed to the individual identified above. Contact with any other City employee or official is prohibited without prior written consent of the Director of Economic Development. All SEALED proposals must be received by the Development Corporation of Richmond by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Responses received after this date/time will not be considered. postmarked date will not constitute timely delivery. Mail or deliver proposals to: the Development Corporation of Richmond, 402 Morton Street, Richmond, TX. 77469.
All SEALED proposals must be received by the office of the Development Corporation of Richmond by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 21, 2024. Responses received after this date/time will not be considered. postmarked date will not constitute timely delivery.
Mail or deliver proposals to:
Development Corporation of Richmond TX Attention: Jerry W. Jones Jr. 402 Morton Street Richmond, Texas 77469
The Board of Directors of the Development Corporation of Richmond (DCR) decided in mid-2016 to revisit the Strategic Plan the Corporation had prepared and adopted in 2012-2013. The Board engaged a community planning firm to facilitate the plan update process. The DCR Strategic Plan was adopted on March 21, 2017. During the DCR Budget process of 2024 the Board of Directors decided to budget for a Strategic Plan that would move Richmond forward for 2024-2028.
Documents such as, DCR Strategic Plan (2017), Target Industry Study (2018), City of Richmond(COR) Land Usage Plan, the COR Unified Development Code, the COR Comprehensive Masterplan, Downtown Revitalization Plan and the City’s Zoning Map will each be made available as reference materials for this RFP. Additional relevant data will be provided as requested.
The proposed findings or recommendations from the Strategic Plan may result in updates to regulatory and policy documents such as, the COR Code of Ordinances. The recommendations and an implementation strategy shall be included in a Report document, which also serves as an executive summary of the Plan and shall include:
01 COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT
Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats ("SWOT") for the City of Richmond. Review and analyze the key demographics of the City such as social, economic, housing, and educational. Evaluate the factors that affect development within the City such as topography, flooding issues, land regulation, existing and needed infrastructure. Review and analyze future development and other needs for the City. This should include planned housing development, other housing types that are nonexistent or under-represented within the City (e.g. garden homes, multifamily), future economic growth, population growth, and infrastructure needs.
02 WORKFORCE AND EDUCATIONAL INTITUTION ANALYSIS
Evaluation and analysis of the local workforce, including demographics, trends, available resources, and training opportunities. Evaluate the role of workforce development agencies in the community including, but not limited to, Workforce Solutions, Central Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Wharton County Junior College, Texas State Technical College of Fort Bend, University of Houston Sugar Land, Lamar Independent School System and Fort Bend Independent School District. Provide recommendations on how relationships between the workforce development agencies and the City of Richmond and the DCR should be improved or expanded upon.
03 TARGET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Provide a current industry snapshot for the City of Richmond and identify key industries within the City. Identify the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the current industries within the City. Identify future trends for these key industries. Identify other key industries and niche markets that should be targeted for recruitment to the City of Richmond. Identify trade shows or other events to connect with leaders in these industries. Identify related companies within these industries that are looking to relocate or expand.
04 OTHER DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Identify other areas within the City that would be strategic locations for future economic development. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of these sites. Identify development and redevelopment “best practices” from other municipalities within the region and state. Identify the feasibility of “shovel ready” sites within the DCR’s current property portfolio. Suggest new or improved strategies for development and/or redevelopment within the City. Review and analyze current projects for redevelopment within the City (e.g. Downtown Revitalization Plan). Identify incentives that can be used (and will work) for development and redevelopment projects (e.g. TIRZ, TIF, and Land banking) and suggest locations throughout the City where implementation of these incentives could be beneficial.
05 BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION EFFORTS & STRATEGIES
Analyze current Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) efforts by the DCR. This includes BRE Meetings, Business Development Workshops, communication with existing businesses, and other efforts by the DCR, Central Fort Bend and Fort Bend Chamber to assist Richmond businesses. Identify BRE “best practices” by other EDCs and municipalities of similar size. Provide recommendations for improving the BRE efforts of the DCR.
06 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE POLICY REVIEW
Analyze and review the current Economic Development Incentives provided by the DCR. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of these current practices. Identify the incentives that have been utilized by the City and/or EDC to attract, retain, or expand business development within the City. Identify incentives within the policy that are underutilized and/or cannot be offered by the City (e.g. waiver of impact fees). Identify economic development policy “best practices” from other municipalities and economic development departments within the state. Provide a list of recommended policies governing Incentive policies.
07 MARKETING, TOURISM, WEBSITE ANALYSIS AND REVIEW
Review and analyze the current marketing efforts by the DCR such as print material, digital material, website and social media, presence at local and regional economic development events, presence at local and regional trade shows, memberships with local trade associations and economic development agencies.
Identify marketing “best practices” by other municipalities and EDCs. Perform a review and analysis of current DCR website. Review current efforts to promote tourism within the City of Richmond. Identify areas throughout the City that can be marketed as “destination spots” and/or “destination events” such as parks, Downtown Richmond, Old Town, and City festivals. Provide recommendations on how the City and the DCR can improve tourism throughout the City to make these “spots” and/or “destinations” more desirable for residents and tourists. Provide recommendations on new brands of tourism such as food tourism, eco-tourism, sports tourism.
Review programs, services and offerings at the George Park and provide recommendations on how to enhance one of the great treasures of Richmond.
08 DEPARTMENT ANALYSIS
Analyze the current operations within the Economic Development Department including but not limited to, organizational structure, economic development department capabilities, staffing, revenue sources, etc., compared to municipalities of a similar size.
It is identifying how to integrate technology within the Economic Development Department that uses a dashboard platform that creates a pipeline format. This dashboard would show prospective businesses, prospective developers, and existing businesses. The software would need to record the date of the call or site visit, a summary of the call or visit, and a place to log the next steps.
Examine the relationship between the economic development staff, the Board of Directors, City Manager, and the City Commission. Provide recommendations on how to improve the department’s operations and the relationships of all parties involved in the economic development activities for the City of Richmond.
09 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Provide an implementation of an economic development action plan that incorporates all elements into an operational economic development program. Recommend an immediate course of action to implement the plan and set out strategies by year 1, years 2-3, and years 4-5. The plan should include suggested activities, projects, benchmarks, and programs to implement objectives and goals set forth in the strategy.
Provide short-term and long-term goals and achievable milestones to facilitate program
creation and to coincide with the implementation plan. Provide an estimated budget and
related implementation partners for each task.
10 PLANNING PROCESS AND SCOPE OF SERVICES
All services shall be performed in accordance with all applicable State and City regulations and ordinances. The recommended timeline for completion of the Plan is approximately seven (7) months (May 2024 to November 2024) and includes the milestones shown below. These dates are for reference purposes and may change slightly to accommodate public meeting schedules:
RFP published and distributed – February 16, 2024 & February 23, 2024
Proposals due – March 21, 2024
City Commission and DCR Board of Directors' consideration, April 2024
Notice to Proceed – May 2024
Draft Plan Documents to the DCR due – September 2, 2024
Presentation of Draft Documents to the DCR Board – October 8, 2024
Final Documents to the DCR due – November 4, 2024
Presentation of Final Documents to the DCR Board and City Commission adoption - December 2024.
Extensive public outreach shall be conducted by the consultant and include facilitation and presentation at various standing and ad-hoc committee meetings, public workshops, and public meetings before the DCR Board of Directors and/or the City Commission. Public outreach will incorporate involvement from residents, businesses, and property owners in the study area, as well as the general public. Public outreach will incorporate public meetings and surveys by the awarded consultant. Please outline how many meetings you, as the consultant, will need to have and with whom you would need to meet to receive public input. Also, please provide a rate for additional meetings to estimate the cost if additional meetings are required. The consultant shall be responsible for the coordination of all public meetings presentations, including but not limited to all printed materials and graphic illustrations.
11 DELIVERABLES
The consultant shall prepare and submit the following with coordination provided by the City's Economic Development Director: Economic Development Strategy 2024-2028 (draft and final documents)
The consultant will create an Economic Development Strategy setting forth goals and objectives for taking advantage of the opportunities and solving the economic development problems of the area.
Implementation Plan with short-term and long-term strategies (draft and final documents)
Twenty (20) full-sized hard copies of the final Plan documents (after City Commission
approval of the Plan)
One flash drive with electronic copies of all final documents in their original format and in a PDF format
12 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
All proposals should be submitted with documents in the following order:
A cover letter introducing the company and its desire to provide consulting services for the DCR “Strategic Plan 2024-2028 RFP”. Include company name and address, as well as the name and contact information of the individual authorized to represent the consultant on matters relating to the RFP. The letter must be signed by an individual authorized to bind the consultant to all terms, conditions, and commitments made in the proposal.
A table of contents defining sections with page numbering. General information about the firm. Include the size of the organization, location of the offices, and years in business, name of owners/principal parties, and information regarding any relevant associations of which the consultant and staff are members.
Include a proposed project management structure. Identify the key contact for the project and all personnel who will be assigned to work on this project along with a description of their abilities, qualifications, and experience. A meeting facilitator shall be included as part of the project team. Include resumes for all key individuals. There can be no change of key personnel once the proposal is submitted without the prior approval of the Development Corporation of Richmond.
Identify any portion of the scope of work that will be subcontracted. Include firm qualifications (brief) and key personnel, telephone number and contact persons for all subcontractors. Development Corporation of Richmond reserves the right to approve or reject all consultants or internal staff performing consulting services proposed by the consultant during or after the consultant review and selection process.
Provide a detailed fee proposal by task for the services identified in the scope of services section 01-12 of this RFP. Identify sub-tasks and the respective cost in your fee proposal as necessary. This section of your proposal shall include a professional fee schedule (hourly fee chart) for the consultant’s personnel and the subcontractor’s key personnel identified above who would be working on this project. Hourly fees for additional or optional services that may be required shall also be included. Identify and itemize any reimbursable expenses for travel or other expenses associated with this project in your fee proposal. Unless specified in the submittals, the professional fee schedule shall include any costs associated with complying with the Corporation’s insurance requirements. Identify the fee that will be charged for additional public or Corporation meetings not identified in the scope of services provided here.
A list of projects completed by the proposer under which services similar to those required by this RFP were performed shall be listed in your proposal. An emphasis should be placed on projects undertaken within the past three years and those projects undertaken for public agencies located in similar sized communities. Include a brief description of the services, dates the services were provided, and name and telephone number of references familiar with the services provided.
Provide brief descriptions of two projects dealing with economic development,
redevelopment, master plans or similar topics prepared by or under the direction of your
firm. Include in your description the techniques utilized in using the strategic plan process and the outcome of the planning process.
A detailed description of the scope of work as outlined in the "Planning Process and Scope of Services section (p, 5). Include a detailed time frame for completing each task, as well as attending the aforementioned meetings and workshops.
At least three references, including contact names and telephone numbers of clients for which prior similar services have been provided. Emphasis should be placed on Texas clients and local government clients.
Details as to what the consultant expects and requires of the City/DCR in order to effectively perform the services outlined in this RFP.
13 EVALUATION CRITERIA
Interviews will be scheduled with the top 2-3 consultants based on responsive submittals. Proposers may be requested to be available for an interview with DCR staff either via phone or in-person in Richmond as part of the Corporation’s final selection process. The lead members of the consulting team will be expected to attend any interviews scheduled with the Development Corporation of Richmond.
DCR Ad Hoc committee will review all proposals to determine compliance with the requirements as specified in the RFP. Consultant selection will be based upon a qualitative review of the Proposals submitted. DCR staff may request additional clarifying information from any or all consultants that submit a Proposal during the review process. Only proposals which, in the opinion of DCR, meet the requirements of the RFP will be further evaluated. Proposals that pass the preliminary review will be evaluated on how well the proposal meets the needs of DCR as described in the Firm’s response to each requirement listed in the RFP. DCR will review all written proposals that meet the minimum requirements and will select what it deems to be the top two to four proposals for further review. It is important that the responses be clear and complete so that DCR can adequately understand all aspects of the proposals. After
receipt of proposals, DCR will use the following criteria in the selection process:
The evaluation criteria shall be weighted as listed below:
Qualifications, key personnel, and experience (20%)
Fee Proposal (20%)
Project work plan and schedule (20%)
References and work samples (10%)
Ability to meet requirements set forth in the RFP, as demonstrated by proposal response (30%)
It is anticipated that the DCR and the selected firm will enter a professional services contract for the time period beginning in late spring of 2024 through project completion. Award of the contract shall be made to the responsible offeror or whose proposal is determined to be the best offer, taking into consideration the relative importance of price and other factors set forth in this request for proposals.
The contents of the proposal of the successful bidder will become, at our option, a contractual obligation if a contract ensues. Failure of the successful bidder to accept this obligation may result in cancellation of the award.
Proposals submitted are offers only and the decision to accept or reject is a function of quality, reliability, capability, reputation, and expertise of the proposing consultant. DCR reserves the right to terminate the selection process at any time and to reject any or all proposals.
DCR reserves the right to accept the Proposal that is, in its judgment, the best and most favorable to the interests of the DCR; to reject the low price Proposal; to accept any item of any Proposal; to reject any and all Proposals; and to waive irregularities and informalities in any Proposal submitted or in the Request for Proposal process, provided; however, the waiver of any prior defect or informality shall not be considered a waiver of any future or similar defect or informality. The proposed consultant should not rely upon or anticipate such waivers in submitting their Proposal.
We reserve the right to obtain clarification of any point in a vendor’s proposal or to obtain additional information necessary to properly evaluate a particular proposal.