Finger Lakes Today

The City of Geneva is seeking professional services for the administration of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Microenterprise Assistance Program (MAP) grant program offered by the Office of Community Renewal (OCR). MAP is designed to help units of local government to support economic development projects that result in the creation of permanent jobs, principally for persons from low- and moderate-income families, and that benefit low/moderate income business owners of microenterprises. The grant awarded to the City of Geneva is for $180,000 with $153,000 allocated for microenterprise assistance. These funds have been used to re-establish the Geneva Microenterprise Assistance Program (GMAP)

The City is soliciting proposals for grant administration services to assist the City in the administration and management of this project in compliance with all applicable requirements under the a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Microenterprise Assistance Program (MAP) grant program offered by the Office of Community Renewal (OCR). Administration services will be paid with grant funds.

Scope of Services:

Grant administration services shall include, but are not limited to, standard tasks necessary for implementation of the project in conformance with OCR CDBG compliance areas.

The selected grant administrator will be responsible for:

1. Developing and marketing the program & application process

2. Educating potential applicants about program, ensure understanding of requirements if awarded

3. Assisting with application process, verify applicant eligibility

4. Application underwriting, preliminary scoring, and presentations to committee for review, final scoring, and award decisions

5. Preparing project-specific environmental reviews & assessments

6. Preparing grant agreement for each awarded beneficiary

7. Assisting beneficiaries in reviewing, understanding, and executing grant agreements• Direct beneficiaries to resources for mentoring/advisement based on individual needs

8. Completing project compliance checklist for each beneficiary throughout their project

9. Collecting documentation & reporting information from beneficiaries (invoices, receipts, job creation verification forms, etc.)

10. Preparing project disbursement requests confirming completion of requirements to access funds

11. Preparing for disbursement of funds to beneficiaries

12. Assisting with any auditing requests and resolving any findings

13. Monitoring overall program progress

14. Administering the committee process (scheduling, notices, minutes, etc.)

15. Providing program information/updates to the city

16. Final program reporting & closeout

17. Other professional services as needed

The City of Geneva will be responsible for:

1. Reviewing overall program progress

2. Assisting with developing a project compliance checklist to track program compliance by beneficiaries

3. Reviewing the draft grant agreements

4. Administering any auditing, resolve/monitor any audit findings

5. Providing City Council with programmatic updates

The Geneva Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Microenterprise Assistance Program (MAP) grant program will follow all NYS CDBG guidelines as outlined below:

• Total Program Budget:

• Program Administration: $9,000
• Program Delivery: $18,000
• Funding to be disbursed to businesses: $153,000

• Number of businesses to be funded:

• Minimum of 6 businesses, at least 3 of which will be start-ups.
• The consulting team will ensure that at least 50% of the funds are allocated to startups regardless of the number of beneficiaries.

 • Size of grants: $5,000-$30,000.

• Low to Moderate Income (LMI) compliance: The application will include an income verification section to determine which applicants are LMI owners. The application will also include a job creation table that will outline the jobs to be created, and which will be available to LMI individuals. Beneficiaries that do not qualify as LMI will be required to create at least 1 job for LMI individuals as part of the grant agreement and monitoring. If more than 1 job is being created as a result of the project, 51% of those jobs will be required to benefit LMI individuals.

• Match: All beneficiaries will be required to contribute equity of at least 10%.

• Training: All beneficiaries will be required to provide proof of participation in or a certificate of completion from a business planning training program prior to disbursement:

• Small Business Development Center Fast Track to Business Start-Up Workshop offered by the Onondaga SBDC
• Business Startup Training Program offered by IBERO Business Center

• Eligible uses of funds: The program design, application, project compliance checklist, and project disbursement request will all reflect only eligible uses of funds under the NYS CDBG guidelines.

Application review by the consultant will include a review of the budget to ensure that grant funds are only used for eligible expenses.

• No funded projects shall include construction or renovation as part of the budget, or such activities occurring in tandem with the MAP funded project. All construction/renovation should be completed prior to or after completion and closeout of the MAP grant agreement.

Proposal Submission:

Submissions provided to the City shall include at a minimum:

1. Individual or Firm Information: the consultant or firm’s legal name, address, email, and telephone number, the principal(s) of the firm and their experience and qualifications.

2. CDBG Grant Administration Experience: description of specialized experience and technical competence of the staff to be assigned to the project with respect to CDBG grant administration, description of firm’s prior experience, including any similar projects (in particular those funded by CDBG), and name of local official knowledgeable regarding the firm’s performance. Include at least three references.

3. Consultant/Firm Capability: description of firm’s current work activities, capability of carrying out all aspects of CDBG related activities, and firm’s anticipated availability during the term of the project.

4. Schedule of fees/project budget.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

1. Proposals for grant administrative services will be evaluated by a Selection Committee.

2. Proposals will be considered on an equal competitive basis.

 The following criteria will be used in the evaluation process:

• i. General Qualifications, Competence and Reputation of Firm or Individual (40 points)
• ii. Prior CDBG Experience of Firm or Individual Consultant (20 points)
• iii. Qualifications of Actively Involved Staff (20 points)
• iv. Schedule of Fees (20 points)

Upon completion of the review, the Committee will make its recommendation to the City for approval.

The above information should be submitted no later than Friday, March 10, 2023 at 4:00p.m., to Amie Hendrix, City Manager for The City of Geneva at ahendrix@geneva.ny.us or via mail to 47 Castle Street, Geneva NY.

The City of Geneva is an Equal Opportunity Employer and invites the submission of proposals from minority and women-owned firms.

Original source can be found here.