Request for Proposals Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program Network Partner Deadline for Proposals: 5:00 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2018 Only written questions will be accepted, please email questions to entrepreneurship@veteransflorida.org. Questions and answers will be posted to www. veteransflorida.org/rfps. 1
1. Summary, Background, Purpose, and Description Florida is for Veterans, Inc., d/b/a Veterans Florida, seeks responses from qualified Florida entities to service as serve delivery providers for the Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program (VFEP). The State of Florida created Veterans Florida under the Florida GI Bill signed into law on March 31, 2014. Section 295.21, Florida Statutes, identifies the purpose of Veterans Florida to promote Florida as the most veteran-friendly state in the nation. Veterans Florida s mission is to: Attract and retain Veterans and their families by connecting them to employment, training, and educational opportunities. Strengthen Florida businesses through educating them on the value and skillsets Veterans bring to the workforce and providing training resources for their Veteran hires. Enhance the entrepreneurial skills of Veterans. Veterans Florida lives by the values of Integrity, Service, Caring, Commitment, and Excellence. Section 295.22(3)(e), Florida Statutes, established the criteria for the VFEP. Veterans Florida seeks to contract with one or more public or private entities to administer an entrepreneur initiative program for Veterans that will connect business leaders in the state with Veterans seeking to become entrepreneurs. The VFEP is a comprehensive entrepreneurship program implemented across a network of partner entities across Florida. The program consists of a self-paced online module, periodic on premise workshops, and a cohort-based class for a carefully selected small group of veteran entrepreneurs. All portions of the program are based on the Lean Startup method and designed to introduce veterans to entrepreneurship education appropriate for their abilities and the stage of their business idea. Selected entities will be known as a Network Partner. Veterans Florida administers the VFEP, and each Network Partner operates an instance of the program at its location. The program is designed to meet the needs of the veteran entrepreneur regardless of where they are in their entrepreneurial journey. For Fiscal Year 2018-19 and beyond, Veterans Florida is creating a year-round program with multiple opportunities to engage veterans with quality entrepreneurship education and courses. Veterans Florida operates a self-paced, online entrepreneurship course that serves veterans at the early stages of contemplating entrepreneurship. This portion of the program is not included in this RFP, but will serve as a feeder and lead generator for the other sections of the program. 2
Veterans Florida desires that Network Partners hold monthly networking and resource sharing meetings. The goal of these events is to start building a community and pipeline of veterans interested in entrepreneurship. Veteran entrepreneurs have requested Veterans Florida host more frequent short workshops on topics such as how to use common accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, etc), social media marketing for small businesses, commercial real estate, commercial insurance and other issues that new business owners frequently face. Respondents are encouraged to include a listing of potential workshops offerings, topics and frequency. The core portion of the Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program is the cohort-based, entrepreneurship courses. This portion of the program is designed as an intensive study in entrepreneurship for veteran entrepreneurs with vetted business ideas or young companies that need to accelerate growth. The cohort-based course should be rooted in the Lean Startup method that teaches veterans to validate their business models with real customer feedback. Mentoring has been the key to success in past VFEP cohort-based classes. Veterans Florida encourages respondents to include mentorship opportunities from business and community leaders, successful entrepreneurs and others professionals in their proposals. 2. Proposal Guidelines This Request for Proposal represents the requirements for an open and competitive process. The deadline for accepting proposals is 5:00 p.m. EDT May 23, 2017. Veterans Florida may extend the deadline, but will not reduce it. Any proposals received after the deadline will be returned to the sender. All proposals must be signed by an official agent or representative of the entity submitting the proposal. Proposals shall be emailed in PDF format to Entrepreneurship@veteransflorida.org. If the entity submitting a proposal must outsource or contract any work to meet the requirements contained herein, this must be clearly stated in the proposal. Additionally, all costs included in proposals must be all-inclusive to include any outsourced or contracted work. Any proposals that call for outsourcing or contracting work must include a name and description of the organizations being contracted. 3. Scope of Work Duties of Network Partner The entities selected to be Network Partners will successfully demonstrate the administrative, staffing, and financial resources to implement the program. The duties of the Network Partners include, but are not limited to, the following areas: 3
a) Promote Promote the economic benefits of the program to the community and state through marketing and communications to the general public, local government officials, and internal and external stakeholders. Proposal Requirement: Include a promotion/marketing and staffing plan. b) Recruit Recruit veterans interested in entrepreneurship to attend monthly networking events, scheduled workshops or lectures and cohort-based classes. Proposal Requirement: Include a participant recruiting and staffing plan. c) Collaborate Collaborate with other network partners, Veterans Florida, and other stakeholders throughout the duration of the program, to include after-action reviews, to provide for a continually improving program. Proposal Requirement: Identify proposed partnerships and demonstrate previous collaborative efforts or projects. d) Implement Implement the program according to the scope of work. Proposal Requirement: Include a staffing plan and complete list of proposed program activities and dates. e) Collect and Report Collect information about the veteran applicants, students, and their businesses. Additionally, collect student satisfaction through surveys and other feedback. Report activities, achievements, performance metrics, and quantitative data to Veterans Florida monthly and as requested. Proposal Requirement: Demonstrate previous grant reporting experience f) Identify Identify additional local resources, such as business incubators or co-working labs, small business or entrepreneur networking groups, and/or any online virtual tools, for entrepreneurial veterans available to them throughout the duration of course work and 4
afterwards. Identify local business leaders for inclusion as course instructors or veteran entrepreneur mentors. Proposal Requirement: Identify and demonstrate (through letters of support or other documentation) relationships with resource providers that you will refer veterans to for assistance. Project Scope Monthly Events Partners shall, at a minimum, hold one monthly event to provide an opportunity for new veterans interested in entrepreneurship to learn about the VFEP, network with peers and your staff, and be connected with resources or information to assist them in their entrepreneurial journey. These meetings can be a morning coffee and mingle event, after hours (happy hour) networking or other similar format. These monthly events will be open to any veteran interested in entrepreneurship and will be conducted by selected network partners and be located at their primary place of business or suitable alternative locations. Veterans Florida encourages Network Partners to invite local resource providers, vendors and other successful entrepreneurs to participate in these monthly meetings. Workshops Network Partners are strongly encouraged to offer frequent workshops on tactical level business topics such as social media marketing, the basics of cloud-based accounting software, negotiation tactics, and other subjects that would be helpful for small business owners. Include the following items in your proposal (be as specific as possible): Proposed workshop topics Frequency of workshops Location of workshops Any outside organizations you will partner with to deliver workshops Proposed cost for veterans to attend workshops Cohort-based VFEP Program The core portion of the program is the cohort-based courses that are intensive multi-week programs of instruction designed for a small cohort (10-15 veterans) of highly vetted participants. Veterans Florida requests proposals that include two or more cohort-based courses per year. At a minimum, cohort-based participants should meet the following criteria: Be able to articulate a well thought out business concept that is realistic, achievable and profitable. 5
Be able to launch within 6-12 months of completion of the class. Be able to leverage the veterans or co-founders experience, education, skills, knowledge or abilities. Can generate enough revenue and profit to support the entrepreneur and employees. Solve a unique problem, or an old problem in a new/interesting way. Demonstrate commitment to his or her business idea. Have a registered business entity or be incorporated. Have a product prototype, model, drawings, website or other tangible evidence of business activity. The culminating event of the cohort-based courses is a business pitch competition in which program participants develop and make a presentation or pitch to a panel of judges. Pitch competitions are not required to include prizes or startup capital. Under no circumstances will funding provided by Veterans Florida to the Network Partner be used as seed funding or capital for the pitch competition. Cohort sizes should be between 10 and 15 veterans to ensure that each participant receives one-on-one attention and time with the cohort facilitator and mentors. Veterans Florida will pay for the licensing, training and material cost for the Co-Starters curriculum for Network Partners. For more information on Co-Starters visit: https://costarters.co/ Veterans Florida will also accept proposals from respondents to use their own curriculum. Respondents that wish to use their own curriculum should include in their proposal: An overview or syllabus of the curriculum. Demonstrate that they have significant experience facilitating the curriculum. Outcomes from entrepreneurs who have completed the curriculum. Cohorts do not need to be exclusively made up of veterans. Veterans Florida welcomes proposals from respondents that can show a clear path to incorporating veterans into their existing cohort-based startup courses. Veterans Florida funding must only be used to fund veterans attendance in courses. Please clearly describe your financial management structure and internal controls to ensure appropriate record keeping of VFEP grant funds. Staffing The selected network partners will be responsible for the staffing and organization of a VFEP program at their institutions. The staff plan submitted must clearly identify: Facilitators and Instructors who are sufficiently knowledgeable and experienced in teaching entrepreneurship. Staff members who will serve as a liaison to the Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program Manager, complete and submit monthly reports and invoices to Veterans Florida, and be the primary point of contact with program participants. 6
Mentors, resource providers and guest lecturers (if known/identified). Mentors and Local Resources The key ingredient for success in past VFEP courses has been the strength of the network partner's ability to recruit mentors and connect veterans with local resources. Selected network partners will be required to recruit a pool of qualified mentors to be matched with veteran participants. Mentors shall be entrepreneurs, successful businessmen/women or retired business executives that can dedicate significant time to helping program participants become successful entrepreneurs. The goal for the cohort-based courses is to have one mentor assigned to each veteran. Selected network partners should make every reasonable effort to match the mentor's experience and interest to those of the veteran participant. Local resources are also essential to the success of the participants in the VFEP program. Selected network partners should ensure that veterans have ample follow-on services and support from outside entities at no cost to the veteran upon graduation. (e.x., SBDC, local incubators or accelerators, co-working spaces, veteran business groups) Past best practices include: Incorporated graduate students in need of service hours to support program or that have projects or skills that match what the VFEP participants need. Coordinated with deans and department heads to find undergraduate students that have projects or skills that match what the VFEP participants need. Utilized campus resources such as campus Military Resource Centers for volunteers, mentors, instructors, and recruitment. Leveraged unique campus resources such as research facilities, computer labs, art & film schools, web development/computer science departments. Deliverables and Reporting Requirements The Network Partner Institution shall provide to Veterans Florida the following program components and deliverables on the following schedule: a. Program Budget, due within 10 days of contract execution, showing the planned use of funds granted to the Network Partner. Each monthly payment invoice will be reconciled against this budget to ensure spending is within limits. Budget amendments must be made in writing to Veterans Florida. A 10 percent variance in each budget line item is acceptable without amendment. b. Monthly Reports, which the Network Partner shall submit by the 10th day of the month. Monthly Reports shall include (See Attachment A for example): Date, time and number of participants in any workshops or meetings held during the reporting period. 7
Names of all veteran participants accepted into cohort-based classes. Significant activities. Marketing and promotional activities undertaken. c. Monthly Invoices, which the Network Partner Institution shall submit by the 10th day of the month, are dependent upon Monthly Report submission. Without a Monthly Report, submitted invoices will not be approved by Veterans Florida. Monthly Invoices shall include: Expenses for the calendar month invoiced. Personnel costs are to include the individual name, title, dates worked, hours worked, and salary. Personnel costs will be collaborated by Network Partner support documentation such as timesheets and/or payroll statements. Outside Vendor expenses paid to an outside vendor (i.e., advertising costs, facility rental, etc.) will require proof of a paid invoice. Travel for Network Partner paid travel allowances (class A&B meals, per diem, mileage, etc.) require a signed Travel Voucher. For Calculation of meals and Per Diem Class A travel - Continuous travel of 24 hours or more away from official headquarters. Class B travel - Continuous travel of less than 24 hours that involves overnight absences from official headquarters. Breakfast: $6 - traveler departs before 6 a.m. and extends beyond 8 a.m. Lunch: $11 - traveler departs before 12 noon and extends beyond 2 p.m. Dinner: $19 - travel departs before 6 p.m. and extends beyond 8 p.m. or when travel occurs during night-time *Note: travel expenses must be submitted within 45 days of return from said travel. Any travel expenses submitted beyond 45 days will not be reimbursed. Supporting documents will contain scanned copies of original documents and Network Partner will specifically identify wherein said support documents pertinent information is located that substantiates request for reimbursement. All expenses must be invoiced within 45 days of the date incurred. Expenses invoiced beyond this limit may not be reimbursed by Veterans Florida. d. Ongoing participant tracking All participants will be entered into Veterans Florida s database for tracking. Participant statuses will be maintained as accurately as possible. 8
Resources provided, connections/introductions made to resource providers, funders, investor shall be captured. Business creation and success metrics shall be collected and input into the database. e. Final Program Report Total number of participants from monthly meetings and any workshops. Total number of participants completing cohort-based courses. A biography of all cohort class participants. Biographies may be posted on Veterans Florida s website to highlight our graduates and their businesses. A summary of media coverage about the Network Partner Institutions instance of the program (with clippings, image of article or link to online copy). Seed funding raised for pitch competition (if any), and a listing of participants that received seed funding (include amount). 4. Selection Criteria Veterans Florida intends to select and contract with Florida-based entities to serve as Network Partners, which meet the following requirements: a) Demonstrate the organization s ability and commitment of resources, including financial resources, to implement the program, to recruit program participants, and to promote the program to local and state leaders and the general public (ability to meet the Scope of Work ). b) Must identify the staff that will manage the program. Include a list of its staff and bios/resumes for each staff member. c) Documented experience working with veteran entrepreneurs. d) Demonstrated performance in assisting entrepreneurs launch successful businesses in Florida. 5. Proposal Deliverables Veterans Florida expects each response to include detailed information or plans on: a) Cover Letter - Include the name of the institution, contact person, title, address, email address, and telephone number. b) Table of Contents - Identify locations of all sections in the submittal. c) Submittal Information - 9
d) Proposed Budget 1. Organizational overview to include: history, organization chart, types of programming offered, outcomes for entrepreneur clients, specialized resources, and the number of clients/entrepreneurs served annually. 2. Provide responses to each of the requirements under the Selection Criteria. Responses to the Scope of Work are bundled into the response for Selection Criteria (a). 3. Any outsourcing or contracting needs to include a name and description of the organizations being contracted. 1. Complete budget documenting use of funds to fulfill the Scope of Work, including program income. 2. Proposed matching funds, either cash or in-kind (must equal 25% of the grant amount). 6. Cost Schedules Each prospective bidder shall request funding from Veterans Florida in the amount necessary to fulfill the Scope of Work. Veterans Florida will accept proposals for funding of not less than $25,000 and not more than $75,000 in funding. This funding will be disbursed by Veterans Florida for expenses directly related to promotion, recruitment, instruction, or other program related expenses on behalf of the veteran participants. Participants in cohort-based classes will pay an enrollment fee to Veterans Florida for enrollment in any cohort-based classes. Veterans Florida will allow Network Partners to charge reasonable fees for workshops, lectures and other events. Please clearly identify any fees that you are proposing to charge to veteran entrepreneurs for these activities. The fees should be included in the proposed budget as program income. All funds collected through official VFEP activities shall be used for further enhancing the VFEP program at the entity locations. 7. Proposed Timeline April 23, 2018 RFP Published May 4, 2018 Questions due from prospective bidders. Email all questions to: entrerpreneurship@veteransflorida.org 10
May 11, 2018 Answers to all questions will be posted on Veterans Florida s website: ( http://www.veteransflorida.org/rfps ) May 23, 2018 RFP Responses due May 21-25, 2018 Selection Committee scoring of Network Partner proposals June 3, 2018 Marketing campaign begins July 1, 2018 Contracts signed Start of Marketing efforts to recruit new participants June 2019 Proposed Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Conference and Pitch Competition June 30, 2019 All program activities must be complete and funding obligated July 1, 2019 Final Report from Network Partners 11
Sample Scoring Matrix Organizational Experience and Capacity Staffing, notable accomplishments, grant management experience, demographics of population (race, gender, ethnicity, veteran status) and track record of helping launch successful businesses Entrepreneurship Community Connectivity Relationships with resource providers, documented collaboration with other entrepreneurship resources, letters of support Programming Creativity, number of veterans served, unique capabilities, leveraging existing programs and resources Budget Total cost, value, matching funds, and use of funds Total 25 points 25 points 25 points 25 points 100 points 12
Attachment A Monthly Report Format The following items are hereby reported for the period Month, Day, Year to Month, Day, Year (report due on the 10th day of the following month). 1. Promotion and advertising efforts to the: a. General Public: i. b. Local Government Officials: i. c. Internal Stakeholders: i. d. External Stakeholders: i. 2. Media Coverage (if possible include date, web address and/or content location, scanned copies if not online, how the media became aware of program or veterans story). 3. Recruitment efforts: 4. Collaboration efforts with: 5. Activities and achievements for the month: 6. Local resources identified that are/will be available to the Veteran throughout the duration of the course and beyond. 13