Award Watch: Oregon WTDB Continuous Improvement Committee Assessment 2026 (HECC / OWI)

Executive takeaway

Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission (“HECC”), acting through its Office of Workforce Investments, is seeking one contractor to support the Workforce Talent and Development Board’s Continuous Improvement Committee (“CIC”) with an assessment effort. The solicitation indicates a 12-month estimated term, an estimated cost of $200,000, and a clear cost constraint: travel expenses will not be allowable. If you deliver public-sector program assessment / continuous improvement consulting and can execute largely remotely, this is worth a serious look—especially for firms eligible under the noted Small Business and Minority-owned set-aside.

What the buyer is trying to do

The Workforce Talent and Development Board (“WTDB”) describes its mission as shaping an inclusive, coordinated training and education system responsive to workforce and employer needs, including aligning resources, identifying barriers, promoting transparency through public meetings, and emphasizing continuous improvement and mission/vision alignment. The CIC, by and through HECC/OWI, is procuring consulting services for a Continuous Improvement Committee Assessment 2026 to help advance that mission and strengthen accountability and alignment across workforce partners.

What work is implied

• Assessing the CIC’s current approach to continuous improvement and mission/vision alignment in support of WTDB objectives.
• Engaging with public-sector workforce and education stakeholders (WTDB context includes local workforce development boards and partner organizations).
• Producing findings and recommendations that support transparency, accountability, and reduction of duplication across workforce partners.
• Supporting an assessment effort structured to fit a 12-month estimated contract term.
• Delivering work without charging travel expenses (remote-first execution implied).

Who should bid / who should pass

Who should bid

• Consulting firms with experience in program assessment, continuous improvement, and public-sector governance environments (boards/committees).
• Teams that can conduct stakeholder input and analysis without travel reimbursement (remote facilitation, virtual workshops, document review).
• Eligible Small Business and/or Minority-owned firms (as indicated in the notice).

Who should pass

• Firms whose delivery model relies on significant onsite presence or travel billing (travel is stated as not allowable cost).
• Vendors without a clear methodology for structured assessment and actionable recommendations in a public workforce system context.

Response package checklist

• Confirmation of submission instructions, required forms, and proposal sections (verify in attachments).
• A concise technical approach for conducting the CIC assessment across a 12-month period (verify required format in attachments).
• Project management plan and schedule aligned to the stated term (verify in attachments).
• Staffing plan and relevant experience performing similar assessments (verify in attachments).
• Cost proposal aligned to the stated $200,000 estimate and the restriction that travel expenses will not be allowable (verify pricing template in attachments).
• Set-aside compliance documentation for Small Business and/or Minority-owned status, if applicable (verify in attachments).

Pricing & strategy notes

The notice states an estimated cost of $200,000 and explicitly disallows travel expenses. Use that to shape a staffing model that is efficient and remote-first.

• Start by mapping your level of effort (workplan phases, stakeholder touchpoints, analysis, draft/final deliverables) to a cost structure that stays consistent with the stated estimate.
• Research comparable Oregon public-sector assessment/continuous improvement consulting awards (if available in OregonBuys historical records) to sanity-check labor mix and expected deliverable intensity.
• Build cost realism by minimizing non-productive hours and proposing virtual engagement methods that still satisfy transparency and public-meeting realities.
• Be explicit about how you will handle any necessary onsite needs given that travel is not allowable (e.g., plan for virtual-first execution; confirm in attachments if onsite is required).

Subcontracting / teaming ideas

• Team a lead assessment firm with a partner skilled in virtual stakeholder facilitation for public boards/committees.
• Add a subcontractor experienced with workforce-system partner ecosystems (e.g., education/training alignment) to strengthen relevance to WTDB’s mission context.
• If pursuing under the set-aside, structure the team so compliance with Small Business and/or Minority-owned requirements is clean and documentable (verify in attachments).

Risks & watch-outs

• Travel not allowable: if the assessment expects in-person participation, you’ll need a plan that fits the cost constraint (and confirm expectations in the full RFP).
• One award: competitive positioning matters—ensure your methodology is concrete, not generic.
• Scope nuances may be in the full document: the snippet references a longer solicitation; verify deliverables, evaluation criteria, and required formats in the complete RFP package.
• Amendment risk: HECC reserves the right to amend the resulting contract for related services and time as necessary; plan flexibility into staffing (as allowed by the solicitation).

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How to act on this

1. Open the BidPulsar notice and download the full RFP; confirm required proposal sections, evaluation criteria, and submission rules (including any attachments).
2. Draft a remote-first assessment approach that directly ties to WTDB’s stated priorities: alignment, accountability, transparency, and avoiding duplication.
3. Build a costed workplan consistent with the $200,000 estimate and the no-travel-allowed constraint.
4. If teaming, lock roles early and ensure set-aside eligibility documentation is ready (verify requirements in attachments).
5. For help tightening compliance, proposal structure, and win themes, coordinate support through Federal Bid Partners LLC.

Opportunity link: Workforce Talent and Development Board Continuous Improvement Committee Assessment 2026