Request for Proposals 211 - Business Development, Economic Development and Workforce Development Grants

The City and County of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) supports the City's ongoing economic and cultural vitality through key programs focused on neighborhood commercial corridors, small business assistance, industry focused business recruitment and retention, international business development, joint development projects, and workforce development. OEWD’s goal is to work continually, across industries and programs, together with diverse community stakeholders, to make San Francisco a better place to live, work, visit and do business.  OEWD seeks to support the economic and community vitality of the City and to create equitable pathways for good paying jobs so that all San Franciscans may fulfill their deepest aspirations and benefit from the economic prosperity of our City. The funding in this Request for Proposals (RFP) touches many aspects of San Francisco's diverse economy, with a focus on advancing equity and shared prosperity for all residents.

The Office of Economic and Workforce Development ("OEWD") is issuing this Request for Proposals ("RFP") for grants to support a variety of key economic and workforce development activities, and includes solicitations for services from the following OEWD divisions:

  • Business Development - is procuring services to support individual small businesses who are interested in succession planning, pilot program(s) to support entrepreneurs and independent contractors, an intermediary to support music venues in addressing sound mitigation needs, an organization to support nonprofit succession planning using a community-focused cohort model, real estate services and grant administration to support nonprofits, and an intermediary to provide direct financial assistance to nonprofits in relation to new nonprofit space acquisition, and

  • Workforce Development – is procuring services to support workforce barrier remediation through an online bachelor’s degree pilot program, to support Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector coordination, to develop a tailored construction job training and placement program for in-custody individuals, and to design a Bay Area regional technology apprenticeship approach.

In total, OEWD has allocated resources to make grants in 10 different program areas, detailed in Section II of the RFP. Unless otherwise noted in the program descriptions, it is anticipated that successful proposals for most program areas will be funded for a term of one year beginning in fiscal year 2018-19 or fiscal year 2019-20 with opportunities to renew or extend programming through fiscal year 2022-2023, subject to OEWD approval and funding appropriation.

 
Any additional information, updates, or changes to the schedule or content of the RFP will be posted at this website. If you are interested in applying, please review this site periodically to check for more information.
 
Key Dates
 
The anticipated* schedule for awarding grants is:
 
PROPOSAL PHASE DATE/TIME
RFP is issued by the City Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Bidders Conference

Friday, February 15, 2019
1:30PM-3:00PM
San Francisco Main Library
100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
Latino/Hispanic Community Room
Deadline for submission of written questions Tuesday,  February 19, 2019 at 5PM
Answers to questions posted online Friday, February 22, 2019 by end of day
Proposals Due Tuesday, March 5, 2019 by 5PM
Committee Review March 2019
Grantee selection and award notification early April 2019; target April 8, 2019
Projects begin May 2019 or later

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

*Each date above is subject to change. Check this website frequently for latest schedule.

 
Bidders Conference
 
To meet equity objectives, increase transparency and accessibility, OEWD will be holding a bidders conference. While attendance is not a prerequisite to apply, interested applicants are encouraged to attend. The Bidders Conference will be an opportunity to determine the eligibility of proposed projects as well as to receive technical assistance on completing the required elements of the proposal packet. Additionally, staff will be on-hand to assist with questions related to navigating the City Supplier (vendor) process. The Bidders Conference will take place:
 
Date:  Friday, February 15, 2019
Time:  1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Location:  San Francisco Main Library
                  100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
                  Latino/Hispanic Community Room (lower level)
                  San Francisco, CA 94102
 
All substantive questions asked and answered at the Bidders Conference will be transcribed and included in the final Q&A log, to be posted to this website under Document Downloads (below).
 
The Bidders Conference will be fully accessible to attendees requiring hearing, vision and mobility accommodations. If you have a specific accommodation request, you are encouraged to contact the Department by Tuesday, February 12 at oewd.procurement@sfgov.org or (415) 701-4848 to provide adequate time to secure resources.
 
 
Questions and Answers
 
Questions may be asked in person at the Bidders Conference or submitted in writing to oewd.procurement@sfgov.org. To ensure full transparency and the opportunity for all applicants to benefit from Departmental guidance, questions should only be submitted via one of these two forums. The answers to all questions asked and answered at the Bidders Conference and submitted via email to oewd.procurement@sfgov.org by the posted deadline will be available for download in the Document Downloads section, below.
 
 
Updates
 
All updates to the RFP will be posted in this section with a date/time stamp indicating when the update occured. Any questions regarding updates should be directed to oewd.procurement@sfgov.org or (415) 701-4848.
 
  • 3/5/2019 at 5:01 PM - The proposal submission deadline for RFP 211 has now passed. The review process will begin shortly, and OEWD will be in touch with all applicants via email when award determinations are made. Any updates to the award schedule will be posted on this website.
  • 2/22/2019 at 5:08 PM - The full Question and Answer log has been uploaded under Document Downloads, below.
  • 2/15/2019 at 4:25 PM - All materials distributed at the RFP 211 Bidders Conference have been uploaded under Document Downloads, below.
  • 2/13/2019 at 1:00 PM - A new version of RFP 211 has been uploaded to correct the amount of funding to budget for Small Group Consultation (Program Area D, pg 14 of the RFP) and to include an additional minimum qualification regarding eligible applicants under Program Area H (pg 27 of the RFP).
  • 2/7/2019 at 12:45 PM - A new version of RFP 211 has been uploaded to correct the amount of available funding under Program Area F - Nonprofit Space Investment Fund (pg 16 of the RFP).
 
Document Downloads
 

Full RFP 211 - Final Version

Appendix A: Sample Agreement for Grant (Form G-100)

Appendix B: Proposal Budget Template

Appendix C: Application: Request for Proposals 211

Appendix D: Staffing and Board Composition Chart Template

Appendix E: Submission Authorization Form

Appendix F: Supplier Registration Instructions

Appendix G: For RFP 211 Area E (Nonprofit Space Stabilization)

Appendix H: For RFP 211 Area F (Nonprofit Space Investment)

Appendix I: Sample Jail Clearance Application for Area I (CityBuild In-Custody Occupational Skills Training Provider)

RFP #211 Bidders Conference Slide Deck (Feb. 15, 2019)

RFP #211 Bidders Conference Program Area One-Pager

RFP #211 Bidders Conference 12B Compliance Overview

Full Question and Answer Log (uploaded 2/22/2019)

 
Any additional documents will be uploaded in this section, please check back frequently for updates. If you would like to request any of the above documents in an alternative format, please email oewd.procurement@sfgov.org or visit the Office of Economic and Workforce Development at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103 between 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.