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Piedmont Triad Regional Council- Request for Qualifications: The Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC) is requesting statements of qualifications for on call services to support the Food Finance Technical Assistance Hub. 

Background and Description: In 2024, PTRC was awarded $3 million in grant funding through the Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program (HFFI Partnerships Program) led by Reinvestment Fund. 

PTRC and its Piedmont Triad Regional Food Council (PTRFC), have formed a partnership with CDFI lenders, Self-Help and Partner Community Capital for this project- Growing Food Finance in the Triad. This newly formed partnership was developed through a mutual desire to provide financial and technical assistance to eligible healthy food retailers and food enterprises in underserved areas. The five-year program will serve an area that aligns with PTRC’s region of 12 counties: Alamance; Caswell; Davidson; Davie; Forsyth; Guilford; Montgomery; Randolph; Rockingham; Stokes; Surry; and Yadkin. 

Of the $3 million awarded, $1 million will fund a Food Finance Technical Assistance Hub offering trainings, convenings and other capacity-building services for food retail and food enterprises. Another $2 million will provide credit-enhancement activities, such as interest rate buydowns and a loan guarantee pool, to incentivize loans through CDFI partners. Combining the collective expertise of our partnership and further providing credit enhancement funding to mitigate lending risk, our program promises to capitalize on a pipeline of loan-ready healthy food retailers and food enterprises that likely would not otherwise be able to access loans. 

A key feature of the Food Finance Technical Assistance Hub will be offering four (4) seminars/trainings each program year (one each quarter), anticipating 12 total. These seminars will provide training to food retailers and food enterprises in our 12-county region and raise awareness of the partnership, further building the pipeline of eligible entities to the program. The content of these seminars will be guided by the PTRFC Advisory Committee and will enhance important focus areas such as: 

Seminars and workshops may be offered virtually or in-person based on participant needs.

2. Provide business counseling and technology upfitting for food retailers and food enterprises. These services will offer mentoring and one-on-one counseling for how to grow business for a range of food entities: urban, rural, farmers markets, commercial shared use kitchen, grocery, processing, and/or distribution.  

Key components of business counseling support will encompass: 

• Growth Planning: assistance with business scaling strategies, financial forecasting, and investment readiness. 
• Marketing and Customer Engagement: support in brand development, pricing strategies, and online sales optimization.  
• Technology Upfitting: guidance on adopting and integrating technology solutions, including point-of-sale (POS) systems, inventory management software, and online sales platforms.

This service will be funded for Years 1, 3, and 5 of the Growing Food Finance in The Triad project.

Definitions
Food retail: Food retail refers to a Retail Outlet that accepts benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7USC 2011 et seq.).

Food enterprises: Food enterprises are businesses or organizations along the food supply chain such as food hubs; food producers, distributors, processors, and manufacturers; commercial kitchens and food business incubators; mobile markets; and other direct to consumer markets. Food enterprises do not necessarily involve the direct sale of food to consumers.

Schedule: Period of work is expected not to exceed 3 years, with contracts awarded as needed. Details of the schedule will be agreed upon with the Project Manager on case-by-case basis.

RFQ Submission Guidelines: Each RFQ response should contain the following:

1. Cover letter on company letterhead by a member of the organization with authorization to contract professional services. To include company name, mailing address, phone number and email address.

2. Information on the following:

a) Statement of Qualifications: Identify and describe the experience and capabilities of offering seminars, workshops, and/or mentoring and counseling support for a range of food entities and demographics.
b) Identify the proposed project team and key personnel: Provide a resume summary that accurately details the respondent’s work experience, the timeline of responsibilities, mission, and goal. It is also recommended that the respondent share any certifications or professional licenses that confirm their professional capacity to fulfill the scope of services outlined above.
c) Project Schedule: Describe the planned and envisioned workload of the proposed team member for planning and implementation of proposed services.
d) References: Include references from at least two (2) projects completed within the past three to five years that represent strengths and qualifications of the team for similar services.
e) Price estimates: Provide firm’s fixed fee or hourly rate for work expected (e.g. estimates for seminar support and/or business counseling/technology upfitting).
f) Background Information: Full disclosure regarding the respondent’s status and verification that the applicant is not a debarred vendor.
g) Professional Practice: Please respond to the following questions:

Has the respondent ever been cited by any authority for unscrupulous practice?
Does the respondent have any past or present suits with any current or former customer? Explain as necessary.
Has the respondent, including affiliates and subcontractors, ever been or is currently disbarred from receiving Federal funds?

h) Format: RFQ responses must be submitted electronically and be 12pt font size and limited to no more than four pages excluding the cover page.
i) Other: Provide any other information that may be useful to the RFQ advisory team in reviewing this proposal.
j) Questions: Any questions regarding this RFQ can be submitted to Project Manager, Jennifer Bedrosian jbedrosian@ptrc.org in writing no later than April 22, 2025.

Note: A copy of the firms’ Certificate of Insurance (COI) and completed W-9 will be required at the time of selection.  PTRC invites the submission of proposals from small and minority and women-owned firms, historically underutilized businesses.

Submissions: Copies of qualification statements should be submitted through email in PDF format to jbedrosian@ptrc.org.

Consultant Selection:

The PTRC will establish and facilitate a selection committee for the evaluation of qualifications submitted by respondents responding to the RFQ. The proposals will be evaluated and ranked based on the Selection Criteria outlined below. At the conclusion of the evaluation process, respondents will be ranked in priority order with the highest-ranking respondent(s) being selected to negotiate a contract with PTRC on an as needed basis. If PTRC elects to negotiate a contract with a selected respondent or respondents, the PTRC reserves the right to negotiate such terms and conditions of the contract, including, but not limited to scope, role, price, and staffing which may be in the best interests of the PTRC.  

PTRC Selection Criteria: 

The PTRC will evaluate the qualifications based on the following factors: 

• Up to 25 points- qualifications, experience, and capabilities  
• Up to 25 points- technical approach and ability to complete the stated RFQ requirements 
• Up to 20 points- capacity of the respondent to perform the work 
• Up to 20 points- references and demonstrated capability to accomplish a similar scope of services 
• 10 points- minority and/or women-owned, historically underutilized business 

Anticipated Schedule for Selection Process