401(k) Third Party Administrator Request for Proposals, #RFP2023.2024-0002

I. Organization Information

The Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region, Inc. (ELC) operates as a not-for-profit corporation and incorporated as the Leon School Readiness Coalition in 2001 as required by the School Readiness Act of 1999 (F.S. 411.01). In response to legislative requirements, ELC has gone through several transitions, mergers as well as name changes, and expanded its service area in 2005 to encompass the seven counties it serves today.

Headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, ELC currently has 48 employees and proudly serves Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla Counties. A contracted partner with the Florida Department of Education’s (DOE) Division of Early Learning (DEL), ELC is responsible for the administration of the School Readiness (SR), Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) and Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) programs within its service area.

II. Statement of Need

The objective of this 401(k) Third Party Administrator (TPA) Request For Proposals (RFP) #RFP2023.2024-0002 solicitation is to procure a Contract for a responsive Vendor who will provide 401(k) TPA services necessary to file federally required reports, coordinate technical assistance with participant distributions and loans, and render consulting service when needed to maintain ELC’s 401(k) plan, or other projects, such as those which may impact reporting systems.401(k)

Responsive Proposals will demonstrate Respondent has a minimum of ten years’ experience preparing federally required 401(k) plan administrative reports, providing technical assistance with participant distributions and loans, and completing consulting services with non-profits or organizations similar to ELC and has the staffing capacity to provide these services in a high-quality manner with excellent customer service at a reasonable cost to the organization.

III. Contract Term

The initial Term of the Contract resulting from this solicitation will be for a five-year period. The length of the renewal period will be determined during Contract negotiations following F.S. 287.057 which allows one renewal for a period equal to the original Contract term or subsequent renewals not to exceed a combined period of three years, whichever is greater.

Any renewal is subject to the same terms and conditions set forth in the initial Contract and any written Amendments signed by the parties. Any renewal is contingent upon the satisfactory performance of the Vendor and subject to the availability of funds.

ELC anticipates the first Term will begin by May 31, 2024, or on the date the Contract is signed by the last party required to sign (“execution date”), and end May 30, 2029, or five years from the date executed.

ELC may exercise the option to extend the final Term for a period of no more than six months, if necessary, to complete any current federally required 401(k) report in progress.401(k)

IV. Definitions

In this RFP, capitalized terms used herein shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in Chapter 287, Florida Statutes, and Section 411.01, Florida Statutes, and, in addition, the following terms shall have the meanings specified below, unless otherwise expressly provided or unless the context otherwise requires:

Agreement: A legally binding Contract (“Agreement”) between ELC and a Contractor for the provision of commodities (goods and/or services) that includes Terms and Conditions, Scope of Work (SOW), Appendices, Exhibits, Attachment(s), and any Amendments.

Amendment: A document by which substantial changes are made to the terms of an executed Contract. Any Amendments will be incorporated as part of the original Contract.

Attachment: A document or material object added to the Contract’s Proposal.

Board: ELC’s governing body.

Board Member: A member of ELC’s governing body.

Contract: See Agreement. Contract and Agreement have the same definition and may be used interchangeably throughout the RFP.

Contractor(s): The Vendor(s) selected to provide the goods and/or services outlined in the SOW under the Terms and Conditions of the awarded Contract.

Evaluation Team: The Evaluation Team (Eval Team) reviews and scores all Proposals and presentations.

Executive Committee: Committee consisting of ELC officers and committee chairs from ELC’s Board.

Invoice: A standardized form used by Contractor to request payment from ELC which itemizes the completed deliverables and billing rates outlined in the Contract for a specified billing period.

Proposal: A written Proposal prepared in response to this RFP using ELC’s Proposal template which includes all required document uploads.

Respondent: A Vendor who submits a Proposal in response to this RFP.

Scope of Work (SOW): The Scope of Work (SOW) outlines the specific deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities the Contractor must perform in accordance with the executed Agreement.

Term: The initial Term of the Contract resulting from this solicitation will begin on the date the last required party signs ELC’s Professional Service Agreement (Agreement) and end five years from that date. Upon written Agreement, the Contract may be renewed, in whole or in part in accordance with subsection 287.057(13). F.S. Any renewal is subject to the same terms and conditions set forth in the initial Contract and any written Amendments signed by the parties. Any renewal is contingent upon the satisfactory performance of the Vendor and subject to the availability of funds.

Vendor: A Respondent who is registered in MyFlorida Market Place (MFMP) or who will register in MFMP prior to contracting with ELC.

V. RFP Schedule

Procurement Schedule		Due Date	Time (EST)
1.	Release RFP	04/16/24	8:00 AM
2.	Deadline to e-mail Letter of Intent (LOI) to apply	04/22/24	5:00 PM
3.	Deadline to e-mail Technical Questions	04/22/24	5:00 PM
4.	Anticipated date to post FAQ’s on ELC’s website (click here to view)	04/23/24	5:00 PM
5.	Proposal due date (E-mail PDFs to ELC)	04/30/24	9:00 AM
6.	Public opening of Proposals (Zoom Meeting)	04/30/24	9:01 AM
7.	Formal evaluation period	04/30/24 to 05/07/24
8.	Respondent Presentations to Eval Panel	05/03/24	T/B/A
9.	Anticipated date to post Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA) (click here to view)	05/07/24	8:00 AM
10.	Anticipated End of 72 Hour (Three Business Day) period to protest NOIA.	05/10/24	8:00 AM
11.	Anticipated End of 10 Calendar Day Period for Formal Written Protest with 1% Bond	05/20/24	8:00 AM
12.	Anticipated Contract Start Date	05/31/24

ELC must receive any formal written protest post-marked or hand-delivered before the end of the ten (10) calendar day period (see above RFP Schedule). Any individual or firm submitting a formal written protest must also submit a bond equal to 1% of the Contract value per Florida Statutes 287.042(2) (c) and 120.57(3)(b).

Failure to file a formal written protest within the time prescribed in section 120.57(3)(c), shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

Each Proposal determined to meet all requirements will be evaluated by three (3) Eval Team members. If one Eval Team member determines they have a conflict of interest with a Respondent, that Proposal will be reviewed by an alternate reviewer. If two members determine they have conflicts with a Respondent, that Proposal will be disqualified. The score for each Proposal will be determined by summing their individual scores.

In the event of a tie score, both firms will have an equal rank. If Respondents have tie scores in first place, ELC may give preference to Certified Minority Business Enterprises (CMBE). If no CMBEs tie in first place, ELC may negotiate with both firms to determine which firm agrees to the most beneficial terms, conditions, and offers the best price.

Prior to engaging in any Agreement with the successful Respondent (“Contractor”), ELC will conduct reference checks and verify Contractor is not on any state or federal discriminatory, excluded, convicted felon, or debarred lists that would deem its firm ineligible.

ELC reserves the right to select more than one firm from the RFP and engage with them for any part of the work outlined in the SOW.

VI. General Instructions to Respondents

 Electronic Submission

All Respondents must use the electronic templates provided by ELC to submit their LOI’s and Proposals before the noted deadline date/times.

1. Letter of Intent and Technical Question Forms
   • Complete and submit each form no later than 5:00 p.m., Monday, April 22, 2024 (see links below in each numbered sub-section).

1. Letter of Intent (LOI) Form
   • Use the below link to the LOI Form to communicate your company’s intent to submit a Proposal in response to this RFP. ELC uses the company name, e-mail address, and contact person information from the LOI Form to efficiently communicate any notices/updates regarding this solicitation to all interested parties.
   • https://form.jotform.com/240455572105148
2. Technical Question
   • Use the following link to submit your technical questions:
   • https://form.jotform.com/241055731164147

B. Required Proposal Template

ELC must receive all electronic Proposals by 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Use the following link to complete/submit your Proposal:

Plan for possible heavy system traffic and submit your Proposals at least one hour prior to the noticed deadline time to avoid having the system reject any late or incomplete Proposals.

VII. Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA)

The Contract shall be awarded to the Respondent whose Proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to ELC, based on the highest scores awarded by a three-person Eval Team who will use standardized scoring criteria (scoring rubrics) when they review/score Proposals and presentations. All Respondents who submit a timely LOI will receive an e-mail with a link to the NOIA when ELC posts it online.

VIII. Sole Point of Contact

A. Limitations on Contacting Early Learning Coalition Personnel

Cone of Silence – Effective as of the issuance of this solicitation and ending upon completion of the 72-hour (3-Business Day) period following the date ELC releases a Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA), no person, entity, or other organization shall contact and/or discuss any matter pertaining to this RFP with any of the following:

• ELC board members
• Any ELC employees (including officers)
• Any Eval Team member

All inquiries must be directed in writing via e-mail to the contact noted below in Section VIII. B. Any person, entity, or other organization that violates this provision may be disqualified from this RFP.

B. Sole Point of Contact (“Contact”)

ELC will only respond to written communications regarding this RFP. All communications will be reviewed by the Sole Point of Contact (“Contact”):

Helen Giraitis, M.P. Aff., Procurement and Contract Manager

Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region, Inc.

2639 North Monroe St., Building C-300

Tallahassee, FL 32303

Email: procurement@elcbigbend.org

ELC will not accept any phone calls regarding this RFP. To submit a formal written protest to a posted NOIA, send all communications to the Contact at the above address.

ELC must receive any formal written protest, along with a bond equal to 1% of the NOIA Contract amount, post-marked or hand-delivered on or before the end of the ten (10) calendar day period (see RFP Schedule in Section V).

Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA)

401(k) Third Party Administrator Request for Proposals, #RFP2023.2024-0002

The Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region, Inc. (ELC) released a publicly noticed Request for Proposals (“RFP”), 401(k) Third Party Administrator Request for Proposals, #RFP2023.2024-0002, on April 16, 2024, and received a Proposal from one responsive Vendor, CRI TPA Services, LLC, who has the technical resources and experience necessary to complete the work in a high quality and timely fashion. One other company submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) but did not submit a Proposal.

ELC designated a three-member evaluation team (Eval Team) to review the Proposal using the same evaluation criteria (scoring rubric) that has a maximum of 110 points available per evaluator and 330 points aggregated (see below table). This NOIA does not constitute a binding commitment by ELC.

Apparent Successful Respondent	Eligible Points Per Evaluation	Maximum Points (Three Evaluation Scores)	Combined Score
CRI TPA Services, LLC	110	330	280 (84.84%)

ELC will negotiate with the sole Respondent to this RFP on the best terms and conditions (F.S. 287.057 (6)). CRI TPA Services, LLC. has documented its extensive experience providing Third Party Administrator (TPA) services and has the capacity and expertise to adapt to any mandated change that may impact federally required reports and timelines.

ELC anticipates it will enter into an Agreement for Services (“Contract”) with CRI TPA Services, LLC upon approval by its Board of Directors or its Executive Committee on May 30, 2024, or on the date the last required party signs the Contract, whichever is later.

Link to RFP:

401(k) Third Party Administrator Request for Proposals, #RFP2023.2024-0002 – Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend (elcbigbend.org)

Link to Florida Administrative Review (FAR) RFP Notice:

28269600 – Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register – FAC, FAR, eRulemaking (flrules.org)

Note – All capitalized terms in this NOIA are included in the RFP with their definitions.