GENERAL SOLICITATION STATEMENT

The Ohio Valley Employment Resource is soliciting proposals for Leadershiptraining to be provided under the Make It In America program, as funded under the Jobs Accelerator Grant issued by the Department of Labor. Make It In America is a joint incumbent worker program delivered by Ohio Valley Employment Resource (OVER) and Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG).

The training will be conducted in Dundee, Ohio. The training will be delivered to 12-15 employees, preferably during the afternoon on potentially alternating days/weeks for a total of 16 training hoursper employee.

The application process requires that submitted proposals contain detailed, accurate and complete program and budget information. If subcontract of any part of the training is intended, it must be detailed in the RFP response. The RFP must follow the prescribed format identified in the RFP packet.

Request for Proposal prepared by:Ohio Valley Employment Resource

PO Box 181

Marietta, OH 45750

Rebecca Safko, Executive Director

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY AND COMPLETE ALL SECTIONS OF THIS RFP. IF APPROVED AS A CONTRACTOR, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH ALL SECTIONS.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION SCHEDULE

Section two ONLY of the original proposal must be returned electronically via email and must be submitted no later than:

Deadline date and time: January 7, 2015, 12:00 pm (NOON)

To:

  • No late proposals will be considered.
    Questions concerning this RFP must be submitted via email to by 12:00 pm(Noon),January 3, 2015. Responses will be provided by individual emails. All questions reviewed and information given will also be posted at
    All responders who wish to be considered must submit a proposal through the RFP process, regardless of current or past contractual relationships.
    After rating of the RFP’s has occurred, OVER and APEG will jointly choose the best qualified proposal to negotiate a contract. Once a proposer has been chosen, OVER will send emails to all proposers announcing the decision. Proposers will have one week from the date of the notification as a protest period to state any objections to the decision. Soon after the protest period has passed, the contracts will be awarded.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Responder should read all contents of this Request for Proposal.
  2. All proposals MUST be typed in the space provided unless otherwise specified.
  3. All questions should be answered honestly and to the best of the responder's ability, and all directions should be followed.
  4. The proposal must be submitted no later than the deadline date. No late proposal(s) will be accepted.
  5. Responder will be notified in writing of the decision to recommend acceptance or rejection of the proposal.
  6. The proposer must include in their proposal the name(s) and/or title(s) of persons(s) in the agency who can be contacted for further information, if necessary. Provision of misinformation and/or unauthorized contact can be grounds for disqualification.
  7. All legitimate responses to this Request for Proposal will be treated equally, based on compliance to applicable guidelines and restrictions. A Proposal other than the lowest offer may be accepted. Qualitative aspects may show the best to not be the lowest. The lowest and best RFP is the standard used. Award may be based on initial offers received without any discussion or negotiation. Awards may be negotiated with proposers. We reserve the right to refuse any and all responders. We maintain the following reservations with respect to this RFP:

The right to reject any or all proposals, or to negotiate individually with any source considered qualified.

The right to clarify or confirm any part of the information furnished by the respondent, or to require evidence of managerial, technical and other capabilities to ensure the successful performance of the agreement.

The right to attach conditions to a proposal upon which approval for funding shall occur only when satisfied.

The right to cancel in part, or in its entirety, this RFP if it is in the best interest of the program to do so.

MAKE IT IN AMERICAOVERVIEW:

The Make It In America program is a three agency collaborative grant. The federal partners are: The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP). The lead grantee was designated to be the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awardee, which is Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District (BH-HVRDD).

The objectives of the Make It In America program are:

  • All companies doing business in the U.S. to keep and expand their production in the U.S.;
  • U.S. companies to return previously off-shored operations to the United States; and
  • Foreign businesses to bring new production into the United States.

The scope of this grant awarded to Ohio Valley Employment Resource partnered with Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth is to provide incumbent worker and on-the-job training to workers in the 28-county Appalachian Ohio region in three areas: metal fabrication; polymers and chemicals; and wood furniture manufacturing.

TARGET GROUP

This RFP is for incumbent worker training. Incumbent worker training is training for workers already employed and supports further job retention and career development for improved economic self-sufficiency for employed workers, and increases the capability and production of the employing firms. The incumbent worker trainer has two customer populations: the employer, who identifies the training needed and hosts the trainings; as well as the employees who will be learning the information provided. The RFP Proposer needs to be responsive to the needs of both customer populations.

The requested training is to be offered to 12-15 students, for a total of 16 training hours per student.

REQUIREMENTS/AREAS TO BE COVERED IN THE TRAINING:
Training sessions will occur inDundee, Ohio

A sample syllabus is provided:

Leadership Development

The Emerging Leader:

Tools for Managing Work Relationships

The following topics are fundamentals of leadership to assist prospective, newly-promoted, seasoned or developing supervisors as they deal with a variety of employee issues.The changing and often conflicting roles of the leaders in today’s chaotic business environment create serious problems for the individual trying to support the company vision and rally a group of supportive, committed followers. This series is designed to promote participant participation and team building through company application of the covered concepts. Real world/real time examples should be encouraged throughout program delivery. Participants should receive handouts/books/other teaching tools to reflect on and sessions should build upon each other. Additional relevant topics may be included to enhance the learning experience.

Prospective providers, through the bid process, must provide detailed content, course time required to complete curriculum and cost for service.

Topics and Discussion Points

Leadership

The art of leading others – What is leadership and when to lead

How leadership styles have evolved over time

Personality type identification – Understanding yours and others

Adjusting your style to your audience

Affecting audience change

The importance of trust

Change Management

Understanding the various levels of change and their interaction

Being proactive and reactive to change

Communicating change and assisting in adaption

Understanding and overcoming resistance

Affecting change

Communications

The Basic Communication Model and types of communications

All the extras that get communicated

Communication tools and their usefulness

Active Listening

Determining the effectiveness of communication

Performance Management

Communicating the company goals and philosophy

Incorporating company culture in daily activities

Making performance a matter of choice

Stressing the importance of safety without “stressing”

Team building

Individual and team accountability

Understanding team dynamics and making them work for you

Maximizing performance

Coaching/Feedback

Understanding motivation: yours and others

Ways to show appreciation and recognition

Giving and Receiving Feedback: timing and method

When feedback breaks down, rebuilding

Coaching and Counseling Instrument

Coaching and Counseling Model

Characteristics of Effective Coaches

Conflict Resolution

Dealing with difficult people, behaviors and situations

Types and sources of conflict

Conflict resolution cycle

Applicability of multiple conflict management approaches

Customization to the situation

Follow up

EXPECTED OUTCOME TO BE ACHIEVED: Successful completion of16 training hours per each of the 12-15students. A Certificate of Completion will be issued through APEG for those successfully completing. If the proposer can provide an additional industry-recognized credential for the training, the nature, issuing body and cost for the additional credential should be included as an addendum to the proposal, not to exceed one page in length.

DOCUMENTATION:

The successful proposer will maintain and submit after contracted:

  • the syllabus taught, clearly documenting any deviations from the syllabus proposed (Any deviations from proposed must be approved by APEG PRIOR to deviation);
  • attendance sheets for every class consisting of an attendance sheet listing each employee’s signature and printed name for each class with the day and time clearly identified at the top of each sheet.
  • W9 must be submitted.

PAYMENT:

Upon receipt of syllabus taught and attendance sheets, APEG will verify completeness and accuracy. Accurate and complete package will be forwarded to OVER and payment for the complete contract will be issued in one payment within ten business days of receipt by OVER.