Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI)

UPDATED: February 18, 2022

The deadline for Responses (Electronic submissions only) has been extended to March 3, 2022 at 5 p.m. Submissions should be emailed to Greg Goloborodko ([email protected]). A confirmation email will be sent to proposing organizations to confirm receipt.

COVID-19 Equitable Economic Recovery: Workforce Support

Local community partners are invited to apply for a partnership opportunity with Washington County through a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) focused on supporting our shared workforce development challenges. The attached RFEI (Request for Expression of Interest) will provide you with details about our process and how you can apply.

Washington County recognizes that to best support workers and local businesses during this challenging time, it is essential to develop and strengthen partnerships with local community-based organizations (CBOs), educational institutions, and other non-profits. These organizations are mission driven and possess the technical expertise, community relationships, and other assets that can play a prominent role in this effort. The County seeks to provide opportunities for immediate workforce development assistance using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

The County seeks expressions of interest from CBOs, local non-profit organizations and educational institutions to partner with the County in this mission of bolstering the local workforce development ecosystem. In this way, the County welcomes innovative and community-grounded ideas about how to support workers.

The goals of this initiative are to:

• Provide support and assistance to individuals that have lost their jobs or have otherwise faced negative economic consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Strategically invest in local workforce partners to build and expand capacity in the local workforce development system.
• Create new opportunities for workers to enter or advance in their careers, including career exploration, career basics classes, retraining or “rapid training” programs, scholarships, etc.
• Develop industry-targeted training programs to address worker deficits in local industries that have either been adversely impacted by the pandemic or have dominant local industry clusters, including but not limited to leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing.

The County intends to use a two-step solicitation process to award funds. Step one is the RFEI—at this stage the County is seeking entities to set forth their qualifications along with their preliminary ideas about the programs they intend to propose to expand or establish with the County, consistent with the evaluation criteria set forth within the RFEI document. In the second step, the County anticipates inviting select organizations to submit more detailed proposals for evaluation and selection for funding. Responding to the first round is required to be invited to participate in the full solicitation process of round two.

Here is the County’s Schedule:

• January 27, 2022
  • County issues RFEI
• February 10, 2022, 3:00PM
  • Listening Session. A virtual and non-mandatory listening session will be held to answer questions about this solicitation. To receive an invite to the session, please email the project contact: Greg Goloborodko [email protected].
• March 3rd, 2022, 5:00 PM
  • Deadline for Responses (Electronic submissions only). Submissions should be emailed to: Greg Goloborodko [email protected]. A confirmation email will be sent to proposing organizations to confirm receipt.
• All submissions will be reviewed by the Review Panel shortly after the deadline, with an announcement about Round Two eligible organizations expected in late Winter 2022.

Any questions can be directed to Greg Goloborodko via email at [email protected].

• Click here to dowloand the Frequently Asked Questions for RFEI.

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