Web Presence Strategy Development Request for Proposal for Montana Economic Developers Association Web Portal

Electronic Proposals to be submitted
Not Later Than Noon, July 31, 2013 to:
Attn: Gloria O’Rourke
Montana Economic Developers Association
118 East 7th Street, Suite 2A
Anaconda, Montana 59711
Email to:[email protected]

BACKGROUND As a group, we agree that we have done a good job through our statewide organization, Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) of organizing ourselves and providing quality service to our constituents and clients. In addition, we are very proud of our close working relationship with state and federal agencies that promote economic development and sponsor many valuable programs in Montana. We have a variety of effective online tools; however we are at a crossroads and are seeking to greatly improve this set of resources. Generally this effort seeks to analyze and collaborate with Montana’s many web-based economic development resources (including local, state, and federal government and non-government) to create a single web presence (portal) with the end goal of providing a cohesive definition of economic development in Montana, simplified access to services and resources, and an elevated brand and web presence. This will allow us to be more competitive as well as more precise with our message. The portal would use web software to present a unified online presence to businesses, entrepreneurs and stakeholders, share success stories and include elements such as recruitment, site selector data, access to services and resources, etc. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development is in the process of upgrading and improving many of these resources under the state’s website. Our expectation is to dovetail with this effort to ensure continuity and efficiency without duplication or conflicting information.

The portal could possibly utilize an existing web address that has been previously created and marketed (i.e. Innovate Montana, MEDA, other) rather than generating a new site that may duplicate a prior effort. Numerous excellent websites have been created across the state for various purposes. They simply need to be organized under one roof and presented in an organized, collaborative way to represent the excellent working relationships we have as a statewide economic development community.

It is the intent of MEDA to provide this opportunity to qualified firms in the area of web marketing and development that also have experience working with economic and community development. The ultimate selection will be based on the experience with similar projects, quality of proposal, and budget.

Responses to this Request for Proposal (RFP) must include the information described in this RFP and must be submitted no later than noon, July 31, 2013. In selecting the successful Web Site Development Company, several factors will be considered by MEDA including, but not necessarily limited to, the items listed below, and more fully set forth in the Required Response Information section of this RFP.

* Prior experience in projects of similar scope; please provide web site addresses of relevant projects.

* The qualifications of the developer and/or their team.

* Ability to test and de-bug the new web site prior to implementation as the live site. Minimum disruption of service is required.

* Demonstrated ability to complete projects on schedule and within established budgets.

* Description of how your team has worked with similar organizations in managing communication, implementation and controlling the project schedule and cost.

* Describe your billing process.

* References from previous clients for work completed in the last three years, and for above-
referenced relevant projects of similar scope.

* Demonstrate the company’s financial stability and capacity to complete this project.

* Describe technical support process and long term maintenance costs.

* Describe long term (3 years or more) relationships with customers that demonstrate the ability to retain customers through good service.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

Feasibility Study- Identify current online marketing conditions, areas of opportunity, areas of shared interest, and ability to create an effective collaborative effort. Provide a plan to share data, news, and events with all participants. Identify funding required to complete the plan and also potential funding sources. Identify existing websites and how they can be more collaborative, complement one another better, and be better organized. With MEDA’s assistance, develop a list of technology resources that are part of state government and that generate data and have expertise which could be utilized to offset the outside cost of development for the MT Web Portal. For example, Department of Commerce, Census and Information Center (http://ceic.mt.gov/), Montana Arts Council (look & feel), Montana Bureau of Research & Analysis (http://ourfactsyourfuture.org/).

Marketing/Communication Plan – Describe a plan to market developed website(s), including community outreach and utilization of specific media. Identify minimum annual expenditures expected to be dedicated to marketing efforts and define resulting success metrics.

Stakeholder Interviews- Gather information from a broad set of partner organizations, associations, government entities, private business interests, etc. across the state generally represented by MEDA membership which would culminate in a needs assessment identifying service gaps, system weaknesses, and recommended improvements.

Brand and Marketing Development- Provide steps and plan to effectively deliver a branding and marketing strategy.
Additional Information – Provide any additional plans and/or relevant information about Respondent’s approach to providing the required services or goods.

SUMMARY

In short, we are trying to deliver the following project end goals:

1. Provide an efficient way of informing business decision makers about available sites, real estate, and community opportunities.

2. Provide information to key stakeholders in economic development within Montana. Key stakeholders are defined as elected officials, chairs of economic development boards or corporations, chamber directors, or any other community leader or member with an interest in the economic development in Montana.

3. Develop a plan for a Statewide Economic Development website portal to act as a unified source for the participating economic development organizations and agencies within Montana and with the goal of elevating the brand and web presence on a local, regional, national, and global scale.

a) Serve as a central location for all economic development organizations within the state

* Graphic representation of how economic development is handled in the state (economic
development organizations to assist business )

* Uniform page/area for each economic development organization within the state (suggest GIS based)

* Educate businesses (from outside or within the state) as to how we handle Economic Development in the state

b) Enhance our statewide marketing effort

* In line with GOED’s plan for marketing

* Logically segment our state’s strengths in key sectors (perhaps links to multiple businesses representing each sector strength here and quotes from these businesses about what it’s like to do business in the state.)

* Link to other resources that demonstrate our desire to achieve economic development and support that effort- e.g. Montana Site Selector or other GIS mapping tool, MATR, etc.

c) Identify a means to generate, capture and disseminate leads recognizing that some companies will approach each community individually while others contact GOED first. Indicate best practices in terms of how other states handle dissemination of leads.

MILESTONE SCHEDULE

Advertisement of Request for Proposal 07/01/13

Deadline for receipt of Proposal 07/31/13

Obtain funds for completion of project 08/15/13

Award Contract 08/25/13

*Dates are provided as a tentative schedule only and are subject to change.

REQUIRED RESPONSE INFORMATION

Firms responding to this RFP shall provide detailed information that demonstrates their ability to successfully produce the deliverables. Scoring of the Qualification Submittals and selection of the firms to be invited to bid will be in accordance with the information provided above.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND SELECTION PROCESS

To be considered, one electronic copy of your RFP must be received by noon, July 31, 2013. Please submit responses to:

Attn: Gloria O’Rourke

Montana Economic Developers Association

118 East 7th Street, Suite 2A

Anaconda, Montana 59711

emailto:[email protected]

Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted to [email protected].

After receipt of the RFP’s, the selection committee will review all submittals and may interview the candidate firms.

MEDA anticipates competing firms to submit a wide range of strategies and cost estimates to address this challenging issue. Once these have been
evaluated and prioritized, we will secure adequate funding for the project from various sources.

The selection committee reserves the right to determine whether any firm meets the minimum eligibility standards, to determine whether a Developer’s RFP appropriately addresses the issues and answers the questions asked in this RFP, and to select the Developers that, in its judgment, are best qualified to provide the services described herein. The selection committee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Developer RFP’s. The Montana Economic Developers Association thanks you in advance for your valuable time and effort.