Solicitation Detail - City of Springfield, MA

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21-078 - Resilient Springfield Outreach/Communications Consultant

End date: Tuesday December 22, 2020 at 2 p.m.

The City of Springfield recognizes that in order to build resilience and respond effectively to disaster situations it must have an effective outreach strategy prior to an actual disaster. The City also recognizes that traditional outreach and communications methods may not effectively provide valuable information to Springfield’s environmental justice populations.

The City of Springfield is seeking an experienced consultant to develop an understanding of how the City currently disseminates communication and outreaches to vulnerable communities, in general, and also specifically related to natural disasters such as tornados, flooding, extreme heat, extreme cold, and extended power outages, and to make recommendations on how to improve the City’s outreach strategies to build trust within the City’s environmental justice populations and more effectively reach the City’s most vulnerable residents with public information thereby enhancing the city’s and individual families’ resilience.

The City of Springfield is seeking proposals from qualified individuals, firms, entities and/or joint ventures (hereafter “Consultants”) to provide consulting services to assist the City with developing an outreach and communications assessment and related plan to effectively communicate with environmentally vulnerable populations. The City seeks to gain a better understanding of where their residents get local news and information from, and seeks to improve strategies to communicate and outreach to marginalized populations. The City recognizes that increasing the City’s resilience relies on ensuring they can communicate effectively with all residents during normal times and especially before, during and in the aftermath of a disaster. The City also understands the best time to build strong communication channels is before a disaster strikes.

The City is seeking a consultant to perform the following services:

1. Work with residents and stakeholders to develop an in-depth understanding of how residents within the City’s Environmental Justice populations access information regarding local news, local and community events and information disseminated by the City of Springfield.
2. Complete a review of the City of Springfield website, social media platforms and sample of communications. Would include review of media outlets included within dissemination and web and social media content.
3. Provide detailed recommendations and concrete steps the City of Springfield can implement to increase and improve communications with its’ environmental justice populations, particularly black, indigenous and other people of color that experience two (2) or more environmental justice criteria (See Attachment A).
4. Provide updated media strategies and/or content to make the website, social media and public communications more accessible to all of the City’s residents. Would provide recommended media content and strategy to help the City better communicate resilience building/disaster recovery and preparedness efforts to target communities.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has defined environmental justice populations as:

• Block group whose annual median household income is equal to or less than 65 percent of the statewide median ($62,072 in 2010); or
• 25% or more of the residents identify as a race other than white; or
• 25% or more of households have no one over the age of 14 who speaks English only or very well - English Isolation.
Please see Attachment A for a map that demonstrates the locations of areas that meet the criteria as defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The successful consultant shall have an appropriate combination of the following experience:

1. Has familiarity, knowledge and/or understanding of Springfield’s environmental justice populations, as defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (See Attachment A – Map - Environmental Justice Populations)

2. Has expertise in the area of municipal and public communications, disaster related outreach strategies and knowledge of best practices to effectively build communication channels with marginalized communities.

3. Has demonstrated the ability to engage with residents and stakeholders of Springfield’s (or comparable city) environmental justice populations to adequately identify barriers to effective communication to marginalized populations.

4. Has a past track record of utilizing innovative strategies and providing superior content to strengthen communication channels with marginalized communities.

The Consultant’s RFP submission shall include a letter of transmittal, signed by an individual(s) authorized to bind the prospective Consultant contractually. The letter must state the RFP submission will remain valid for ninety (90) days from its submission date and thereafter until the prospective Consultant withdraws it, until a contract is executed or until the procurement is terminated by the City, whichever comes first.

All information pertaining to the prospective Consultant’s approach to meeting the requirements of the RFP response shall be organized and presented in the prospective Consultant’s submission. The instructions contained in this RFP must be strictly followed. Accuracy and completeness are essential. Omissions and ambiguous or equivocal statements will be viewed unfavorably and will be considered in the evaluation.

All response requirements must be submitted for each party comprising the prospective Consultant’s organization, firm, or joint venture as well as any sub-consultants and sub-contractors.

The City may reject any and all submissions that do not meet the requirements set forth.

RFP Submission Contents

The Consultant’s RFP submission shall contain the following information in the sequence presented and under a separate heading:

1. Describe the prospective Consultant’s general understanding of the scope of services and the key issues associated with preparation of the Resilient Springfield Outreach/Communications Plan. In addition, include statements covering the prospective Consultant’s proposed process for completing the required tasks and describe any unusual conditions or problems the prospective Consultant believes may be encountered.

2. Provide a detailed plan describing how the prospective Consultant plans to carry out the services requested within this RFP.

3. Include summary résumés of key personnel proposed to staff this project and descriptions of comparable projects performed by the personnel to be assigned to this work. For each such key employee, indicate whether such employee is to be assigned on a full-time or part-time basis. If an employee is to be assigned part-time, indicate the percentage of his or her time that will be devoted to this project.

4. Provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of clients for whom the prospective Consultant has performed work similar to that proposed and who may be contacted as references. Preferably, references should include municipalities or governmental agencies similar to the City and should include the recent similar projects previously mentioned. Must provide a minimum of three references.

5. Include a project organization chart and a staffing scheduling chart indicating present and future staffing commitments for the prospective Consultant. The staffing scheduling chart should show current projects as well as future planned projects and how this work will be staffed.

6. Should include a detailed description of all related projects, experience and ability that will demonstrate compliance with the experience and expertise the City is requesting.

The City of Springfield supports the goal of twenty percent minority and women participation in all contracts. No questions will be answered unless received by the Chief Procurement Officer at least 7 days prior to the expiration of the time set for submitting bids or proposals. The Chief Procurement Officer reserves the right to waive any informality in and to reject any or all bids if it is in the public interest to do so.

Contact: Lauren Stabilo lstabilo@springfieldcityhall.com 413-787-6284

Request the complete specifications for this solicitation (21-078)