Request for Proposals Feasibility Assessment / Financial Plan
Creating an Iowa City Area Knowledge Ecosystem An epicenter for people, ideas and capital. Combining meeting space with a non-traditional incubator and co-work options using a hub and spoke model.
“Economic development practice will shift from trying to copy the success of others to building sticky know-how – tacit knowledge that builds on local cultural and industrial resources, and isn’t mobile” - page 22 IFTF Report Number SR-1236
Ultimate Goal: Iowa City is recognized globally as a community known for creating and growing innovative companies engaged in interstate commerce; a smaller version of known quantities such as Silicon Valley, the Research Triangle and metros like Austin, Texas and Boulder, Colorado. Process: In order to achieve this lofty goal we must take steps towards changing the culture of the area to include more non-traditional collaboration and entrepreneurial action. It is the view of the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD Group) that a vital first step is to create a network of physical spaces, overlaid with utilization of social networking platforms, which foster the interactions necessary for this culture to take hold. Vision: Utilizing the unique nature of the communities in the Iowa City area, develop a hub and spoke system of spaces for meetings and rentable offices akin to a traditional incubator and co-working areas. This is where people gravitate to on a daily basis to share ideas, contacts, services and costs to achieve business and professional growth. We see a main center linked to small spaces throughout the area where members can move between freely, identifying niches that meet their work style and needs. These entities would all be linked via a social network that creates online interaction complementing the physical. This online linkage would help members learn about each other, post questions to message boards, learn about daily and upcoming activities as well as more mundane matters such as reserving conference room space and registering for events. For a better understanding of this concept please read: “Achieving Serendipity Management: Creating a Knowledge Ecosystem” posted online at http://www.icadgroup.com/ecosystem. This vision adopts the theories of innovative spaces as posited by the Institute for the Future in their white paper “Future Knowledge Ecosystems,” also posted online at http://www.icadgroup.com/ecosystem. Creating the space alone is not sufficient. The challenge will be to maintain a constant stream of high level programming and activity that keeps members engaged and ‘addicted’ to being connected to the space. Part of this feasibility study will address if ICAD Group is best positioned to manage this space or if a separate entity would best accomplish this function.
Request for Proposals Purpose: ICAD Group is seeking a partner (contractor) to take the lead in studying the feasibility and financial viability of creating and operating a space of this nature. The result of this study should yield a document which provides a minimum of three scenarios of space options with associated costs, a rough break-even analysis and an assessment of the pros and cons of each. Services Requested: ICAD Group is seeking a consultant with experience developing feasibility studies for innovative co-work spaces to work with ICAD staff to evaluate the Iowa City area and determine:
Level of community interest for creating this type of entity, Potential spaces in the market (existing and planned construction) that could host the hub and spokes of this entity, Start up costs associated with acquiring (leasing) the space; tenant improvements; furniture, fixtures, IT; technology and miscellaneous costs necessary for success, Potential sources of start up capital Ongoing costs for operations and programming, A break-even analysis to determine the number of tenants, members and fees the space necessitates to cover ongoing expenses, and Ideas on what metrics can be utilized to measure the short and long term impacts of this activity on the regional economy.
Deliverable Expected: The expected deliverable would be an honest assessment based on the results of the research. This piece should include a minimum of three scenarios on space configurations with an explanation on their costs, funding potential and break-even metrics. This response will be used to gather broader regional input and feedback and help determine the ultimate course of direction. The goal is to arrive at very specific hypothetical options which can be easily communicated to a wider audience. Currently, our expectation is that the contractor would have the opportunity to do additional work in a subsequent contract to prepare a full scale business and funding plan should the area decide to move forward in bringing one of the scenarios to fruition.
Responding to the RFP ICAD Group is requesting interested contractors respond to this RFP by providing the following: 1) A brief description of the contractor’s relevant experience with similar projects. 2) A brief baseline evaluation of the Iowa City area and this concept, and why contractor would be interested in working on such a project. 3) An overview of how this contractor would approach this project; including timelines for research and deliverable. 4) An estimate bid for the costs associated to complete this project. 5) Identification of how contractor will engage with ICAD Group staff and what other community resources, contacts and information will be necessary to produce deliverable. 6) One sample of a similar deliverable (can be stripped of location sensitive identifiers and confidential information). 7) Two references of clients for whom the contractor has performed similar professional services including primary name and contact information. Proposal Submission Guideline: All proposals shall be received by ICAD Group by 5:00 p.m. CST August 31, 2010. Rather than dictate the method by which this RFP is submitted, ICAD Group is interested in evaluating methods by which this proposal is prepared/delivered as an indication of the contractor’s ability for innovative creation. Electronic submissions may be sent to mnolte@iowacityarea.com. ICAD Group’s offices are located at 325 East Washington, Suite 101 in Iowa City, Iowa 52240. Questions/Clarifications: Questions and clarifications should be submitted via email to mnolte@iowacityarea.com. A Frequently Asked Questions page with questions and answers will be posted at www.icadgroup.com/ecosystem.
Selection Process ICAD Group will conduct a review of submitted proposals and make a final selection on or about September 30, 2010. ICAD Group’s selection will be based on the evaluation criteria outlined below. ICAD Group reserves the right to fund any proposal in full or in part. ICAD Group may request additional information to assist in the review process. It may require new proposals from interested parties, and it may reject any or all proposals responding to this RFP. ICAD Group may re-issue this RFP if it determines that it is in the best interests of the ICAD Group. Issuing this RFP does not bind the ICAD Group to making an award. ICAD Group administers the RFP and reserves the right to adjust the dates for this RFP for whatever reason it deems appropriate. All costs incurred in preparation of a proposal shall be borne by the Contractor. Proposal preparation costs are not recoverable under an award. ICAD Group shall not contribute in any way to recovering the costs of proposal preparation. The award decisions of ICAD Group under this RFP are final. All Contractors will be notified in writing of the outcome of their proposals after ICAD Group makes its decisions. ICAD Group will review and evaluate each proposal, based on the degree of completeness in responding to each requested item of information: A. The Contractor’s relevant experience with similar work and understanding of the concept, the unique challenges, and opportunities presented by its creation (40 points). B. The Contractors ability to provide the deliverable in a timely fashion (25 points). C. The Contractor’s ability to perform the requested services in a cost-effective manner (25 points). D. Discretionary points based on the uniqueness of the deliverable and feedback from references (10 points).