Havre Chamber issues request for proposal

ISSUED November 14, 2024

DUE 3:00 PM December 16, 2024

I. Background

II. Scope of Work

III. Qualifications

IV. Proposal Requirements

V. Timeline

VI. Evaluation

VII. Additional Information and Conditions

VIII. Exhibits and Attachments

I. BACKGROUND

Havre, Montana is the 11th largest city in the State of Montana, home to just over 9,300 residents. The town is developed along the Milk River and is flanked by wheat fields and rangeland in the plains. The Bears Paw Mountains and badlands are within view from the city limits.

Havre is located on US Highway 2, a main travel corridor running from Montana’s eastern border to the entrance of Glacier National Park and western border. Havre offers a great quality of life for residents along with a small-town charm experience for visitors. The highlight of the experiences in Havre are:

• Unobstructed Night Sky Views

• Historical Districts

• Diverse Attractions

• Year-Round Outdoor Recreation

• Beaver Creek Park

• Fresno Reservoir

The Havre Area Chamber of Commerce is the Destination Management Organization (DMO) for Havre, Montana. The organization has four main objectives:

1. Drive visitation to less visited areas and promote the community of Havre and surrounding area to generate economic impact from travelers.

2. Promote overnight stays in Havre

3. Grow owned assets.

4. Advocate for the local Travel Industry.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

The Havre DMO requires an innovative team that can lead a process to develop creative assets that communicate all the benefits of Havre, Montana and surrounding areas that will be used in our paid media placement and through all of Havre DMO’s owned media assets as well.

The Havre DMO also wants to build a relationship with committed professionals that will work with us to develop an annual earned media strategy to secure compelling stories from national and regional media that highlight Havre’s unspoiled rural advantages to key target markets to drive visitation to less visited areas and identify Havre as a destination.

The 24-month budget for this effort is $82,500 and is an effort utilizing the recent Rural Assistance Program grant awarded by the State of Montana. Other stakeholders may be identified that could further enhance the project budget. The specific items for the scope of work would be subject to the proposal provided by the winning bidder, however, we would like a professional working on Havre’s behalf to:

• Creative Strategy Development

o Determine key talking points.

o Review historic research and stakeholder data.

o Determine need for new research and implement if needed.

• Development of Creative Assets

o Creation of itineraries utilizing video and photography content.

o Website design enhancements and maintenance in coordination with staff.

o Graphic design of creative deliverables related to any paid media strategy.

o Key message development and other copywriting services.

o Marketing collateral design and development.

o Social media marketing services.

• Strategic Media Planning

o Choose specific and strategic media pathways to accomplish goals with target markets.

o Account for current media and consumer trends.

• Media Buying

o Communicate demographic and geographic data, campaign dates and goals.

o Negotiate with the vendor on the behalf of Havre DMO.

o Maximize our advertising and marketing dollars and gain greater understanding and insights into what makes our customers tick.

• Performance Reporting

o Analyze audience impressions versus media costs against industry standards.

o Provide a post-buy analysis with complete metrics and samples of placement.

• Account Management

o Provide analysis of media performance and suggest increase, decrease, reallocation or elimination of campaign or funds during monthly management calls.

o Bill Havre DMO in quarter hour increments for actual time spent on account.

It will be the responsibility of the bidder to specifically detail what is possible with the budget in relation to the items above. Is it enough to do to accomplish scope of

work? What else would your plan include?

III. QUALIFICATIONS

Bidders will have:

• Specific work experience developing creative strategies that stand out with a small budget.

• Specific work experience with declining sales and small budgets.

• Proven ability to lead a research based and stakeholder inclusive process to design a creative strategy.

• Specific work experience ensuring websites are maintained to meet regulations, stay relevant with industry changes, remains easily updatable, and leverages established tools.

• Success in planning and buying media that produces results.

• Team members committed from the beginning to the end of this project.

• Ability to be in Havre, Montana, in person, as needed.

IV. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Proposals must be submitted by 3 PM on December 16, 2024, to Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, Attention: Shelli Sayers, PO Box 308, 130 5th Avenue, Havre, MT 59501. Electronic submission is preferred in PDF format to [email protected]. Electronic submissions will be confirmed by email to the contact listed on the cover letter.

The submittal will follow the order below and include, at a minimum the following details:

1. A cover letter signed and dated by the person or an authorized representative of the organization making the submittal that includes the organization legal name, address, website address, email address and telephone number.

2. A brief narrative of the organization, its history and experience with projects like this and understanding of the goals of this project and of the services requested in this RFP.

3. Description of experience and qualifications of the team dedicated to this project and a list of secondary consultants and organizations that will be part of the team, if applicable.

4. A list of similar clients currently under contract with the organization.

5. A narrative of the approach/processes you use to onboard a new client and develop a strategy.

6. A narrative regarding how you manage and bill for projects/activities.

7. A detailed budget, including, if applicable per hour cost structure of services provided.

8. A list of current clients within the tourism/talent attraction/economic development space under contract and a list of previous clients, with the name of the contact most knowledgeable of project, address, telephone number and email for reference.

V. TIMELINE

The Havre DMO will select a committee with its partnering organizations to review the RFP and evaluate and rank the consultants that respond to this RFP. This evaluation will be based on the submitted written proposals at the discretion of the Committee.

RFP Release November 14, 2024

Submission of Letter of Intent to Respond & Written Questions Due November 25, 2024

Written Answers to Questions Distributed November 29, 2024

Responses Due by 3:00 PM December 16, 2024

Review Committee Meeting Before December 31, 2024

VI. EVALUATION

The consultants will be evaluated and ranked by consensus in accordance with the following factors, which are weighted as shown:

Cover Letter 5%

Organization History, Experience, and Team 20%

Approach and Process for Onboarding and Strategy Development 20%

Suggested Strategies 35%

Budget 10%

References 10%

The consensus scoring sheet will be made public. Negotiations will commence with the highest ranked consultant. Upon reaching agreement on a final work plan and price, the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce will award the contract. If agreement cannot be reached with the highest ranked consultant, negotiations will proceed with the second ranked consultant, and so forth.

VII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS

1. STATEMENT OF NONCOMMITMENT. Issuance of this RFQ/RFP/Bid does not commit Havre DMO/Havre Area Chamber of Commerce (Havre DMO) to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in preparation of proposals responding to the RFQ/RFP/Bid. The Havre DMO reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and re-advertise. All proposals become the property of Havre DMO.

2. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY. In accordance with state and federal requirements, the consultant (hereinafter referred to as “contractor”) must agree as follows:

a. COMPLIANCE WITH TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 FOR FEDERAL AID CONTRACTS

i. Compliance with Regulations: Successful contract bidders must comply with provisions of all applicable federal law, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Any subcontracting by the successful bidder subjects subcontracting firm(s) to the same provisions of federal law.

ii. Nondiscrimination: The Contractor, with regard to the work performed by it during the Agreement, shall not discriminate on the grounds of sex, race, color or national origin in the selection and retention of subcontractors, including procurement of materials and leases of equipment. The Contractor shall notparticipate either directly or indirectly in the discrimination prohibited in 24CFR Part 21.

iii. Solicitations for Subcontractors, Including Procurements of Materials and Equipment: In all solicitations, whether by competitive bidding or negotiation by the Contractor for work to be performed under a subcontract, including procurements of materials or leases of equipment, any potential subcontractor or supplier shall be notified by the Contractor of the Contractor’s obligations under this Agreement and the Regulations relative to nondiscrimination.

iv. Information and Reports: The Contractor will provide all reports and information required by the Regulations, or directives issued

pursuant thereto, and permit access to its books, records, accounts, other sources of information and its facilities as may be determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to be pertinent to ascertain compliance with Regulations or directives. Where any information required of the Contractor is in the exclusive possession of another who fails or refuses to furnish this information, the Contract shall so certify to the Department (HUD), as requested, setting forth what efforts it has made to obtain the information.

v. Sanctions for Noncompliance: In the event of the contractor’s noncompliance with the nondiscrimination provisions of this Agreement, the Department may impose sanctions as it determines appropriate, including, but not limited to:

1. withholding payments to the Contractor under the Agreement until the Contractor complies, and/or

2. cancellation, termination or suspension of the agreement in whole or in part.

vi. Incorporation of Provisions: The Contractor will include the provisions of paragraph (a) through (f) in every subcontract, including procurement of materials and leases of equipment, unless exempt by the Regulations or directives issued pursuant thereto. The Contractor will take such action with respect to any subcontract for procurement as the Department of Housing and Urban Development may direct to enforce such provisions including sanctions for noncompliance. Provided, however, that in the event the Contractor is sued or is threatened with litigation by a subcontractor or supplier as a result of such direction, the Contractor may request the Department to enter into the litigation to protect the interests of the State of Montana, and in addition, the contractor or the State may

request the United States to enter such litigation to protect the interests of the United States.

b. COMPLIANCE WITH THE MONTANA GOVERNMETNAL CODE OF FAIR PRACTICES, 49-3-207. MCA. In accordance with 49-3-207, MCA, theContractor agrees that for this agreement all hiring will be made on the basis of merit and qualifications and that there will be no discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, or national origin by persons performing the Agreement.

c. COMPLIANCE WITH MINORITY & WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. Contractor will make efforts to encourage the use of minority and women’s business enterprises in connection with Agreements activities in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200.321. which describes the actions to ensure that minority and women’s business enterprises are used when possible, in the procurement of property and services.

3. VENUE. The laws of the State of Montana govern this contract. The parties agree that any litigation concerning bid, proposal, or subsequent contract must be brought in the Twelfth Judicial District of Hill County, State of Montana and each party shall pay its own costs and attorney fees. (Reference 18-1-401 MCA)

4. RFP AUTHORITY. This RFP has been issued in accordance with Title 18, Montana Code Annotated and the Administrative Rules of Montana, Title 2, Chapter 5. The RFQ/RFP/BID process is a procurement option, allowing awards to be based on stated criteria or evaluation factors. The evaluation factors to be used in this procurement have been specified in Section IV of this RFQ/RFP/BID.

5. WRITTEN QUESTIONS. For more information or details regarding this RFP, submit written questions to Shelli Sayers, Executive Director, Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 308, Havre, MT 59501 or by email at [email protected].

VIII. EXHIBITS AND ATTACHMENTS

A. FY2025 Havre DMO Marketing Plan

B. Havre DMO RAP Grant