Award-watch: Oregon WTDB Continuous Improvement Committee Assessment (2026) — what bidders should know

Executive takeaway

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), through its Office of Workforce Investments, intends to award one contract (estimated 12-month term) for the Oregon Workforce and Talent Development Board’s Continuous Improvement Committee Assessment 2026. The opportunity includes two pricing constraints that are easy to miss but hard to recover from later: an estimated cost of $200,000 and travel expenses are not allowable cost. If your delivery model relies on significant on-site work, you’ll need a clear remote-first plan or Oregon-based capacity.

What the buyer is trying to do

The Oregon Workforce and Talent Development Board (WTDB) describes a mission focused on equitable prosperity and shaping an inclusive, coordinated training and education system responsive to employer and workforce needs. The Continuous Improvement Committee (CIC) is positioned to support transparency (public meetings), accountability among public workforce partners, and continuous improvement and alignment to mission/vision.

This RFP seeks consulting support for an assessment tied to that Continuous Improvement Committee function, with HECC indicating a single award and the ability to amend the contract for related services and time as needed.

What work is implied (bullets)

• Conduct a structured assessment for the WTDB Continuous Improvement Committee (CIC) within a 12-month performance window.
• Support work that aligns with WTDB’s stated activities, including mission/vision alignment and continuous improvement.
• Engage in a way compatible with public-meeting transparency expectations (e.g., work products suitable for public discussion).
• Coordinate through HECC’s Office of Workforce Investments as the contracting channel.
• Plan delivery assuming no travel reimbursement (remote facilitation/analysis, or local presence that doesn’t require travel cost pass-through).

Who should bid / who should pass (bullets)

• Bid if you are a consulting firm with demonstrated capability in assessment-style work for workforce, education, training, or multi-stakeholder public systems.
• Bid if you can deliver effectively without charging travel (remote-first operating model and tools).
• Bid if you qualify under the stated set-aside: Small Business and/or Minority-owned (verify definitions and documentation in the full solicitation).
• Pass if your delivery approach depends on frequent on-site workshops and you cannot absorb travel as overhead.
• Pass if you primarily sell staffing augmentation rather than time-bounded assessment deliverables (unless the RFP explicitly allows it—verify in attachments).

Response package checklist (bullets; if unknown say “verify in attachments”)

• Completed proposal response to OregonBuys #S-52500-00016064 / HECC #25-194 (verify exact submission steps in attachments).
• Technical narrative describing your assessment approach, stakeholder engagement plan, and deliverables (verify required format in attachments).
• Project schedule covering the estimated 12-month term.
• Staffing plan and roles (especially who leads analysis, facilitation, and writing).
• Cost proposal aligned to the $200,000 estimated cost and explicitly reflecting no travel costs.
• Set-aside eligibility documentation for Small Business and/or Minority-owned status (verify in attachments).
• Any required forms, certifications, and OregonBuys submission requirements (verify in attachments).

Pricing & strategy notes (how to research pricing; do not invent pricing numbers)

The solicitation states an estimated cost for the work is $200,000 and that travel expenses will not be allowable cost. Use those as guardrails.

• Build your price from a realistic level-of-effort model (discovery, data collection, analysis, synthesis, reporting, and committee-ready materials), then reconcile to the stated estimate.
• Assume all stakeholder touchpoints can be performed via video/phone unless the attachments specify otherwise; keep facilitation tooling and transcription/analysis costs transparent.
• Research OregonBuys posting history for similar HECC/WTDB consulting engagements (if available) to calibrate how Oregon evaluates value at this spend level.
• Write the cost narrative so reviewers can see how each work phase maps to WTDB’s continuous improvement purpose—avoid “generic consulting hours” without outputs.

Subcontracting / teaming ideas (bullets)

• Team a lead assessment consultant with a subcontractor experienced in workforce-system stakeholder engagement (LWDB-adjacent experience is a logical fit given WTDB’s partnerships, if you can substantiate it).
• Add a specialist to support public-facing communications or committee-ready documentation that fits transparency expectations.
• If you are not Oregon-based, consider a local teaming partner to reduce the need for non-allowable travel (while still planning for remote delivery).

Risks & watch-outs (bullets)

• No travel reimbursement: pricing and staffing must work without travel cost recovery.
• Single award: competitive bar may be higher; ensure your approach is clearly differentiated and assessment-specific.
• Public-meeting environment: deliverables and methods may need to withstand public scrutiny; write with that audience in mind.
• Scope details live in the full RFP: the snippet is introductory—verify deliverables, evaluation criteria, and submission rules in the complete document.
• Amendment possibility: HECC reserves the right to amend for related services/time; avoid assuming future work in your pricing narrative.

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How to act on this

1. Download the full RFP package from the OregonBuys event and read for deliverables, evaluation criteria, and required forms (verify in attachments).
2. Confirm your eligibility under the Small Business and/or Minority-owned set-aside and assemble documentation.
3. Draft a remote-first assessment workplan that fits a 12-month term and produces committee-ready outputs.
4. Build pricing to the stated estimate while excluding travel costs, then stress-test your staffing plan for profitability.
5. Submit before the stated due date/time: 03/19/2026 at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

If you want a compliance-first review of your draft (requirements matrix, submission risk check, and cost narrative alignment), engage Federal Bid Partners LLC to support your response strategy.