Arts and Culture Master Plan (Small Business Reserve Program)

The City of Frederick (City) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide a comprehensive Arts & Culture Master Plan that advances equity, accessibility, economic vitality, and sustainable growth of the creative economy.

Background

Ranked among the most arts-vibrant communities in the U.S. for ten years in a row, Frederick is a historic and rapidly growing city located less than an hour from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD, Frederick is the second largest city in Maryland with nearly 80,000 residents.

The City seeks a forward-looking plan that strengthens the arts as a driver of community identity, inclusive engagement, tourism, workforce development, and economic development. The resulting plan will serve as a 10-year strategic framework with actionable implementation steps, policy recommendations, and funding strategies that build upon the vibrancy of our downtown to ensure arts and culture vibrancy exists across the City.

Project Details

• Reference ID: RFP-26-21
• Department: Mayor's Office
• Department Head: Gayon Sampson (Chief of Staff)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-08T19:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-05-04T17:00:00.000Z — This meeting will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/298699275243622?p=EEkQ28Nf8iHdrkUkOO Meeting ID: 298 699 275 243 622 Passcode: Ep9d8rM2

Evaluation Criteria

• Project Plan (25 pts) —

  Demonstrate that the project will assist the City in meeting its aspirational goals, along with the clear and transparent process for the City to implement recommendations. 

• Methodology and Approach (25 pts) —

  Demonstrate quality of methodology and approach.  

• Public Engagement (20 pts) —

  Public engagement strategic and equity-centered planning expertise.

• Experience (20 pts) —

  Demonstrated experience of key personnel.  

• Price Proposal (10 pts) —

  The reasonableness and competitiveness of the proposed cost, considering the scope of work, level of expertise required, the duration of the project, etc.

Submission Requirements

• Anti-Bribery Statement (required) —

  HEREBY CERTIFY that:

  1. I am a duly authorized representative of the firm of and that I possess the legal authority to make this affidavit on
     behalf of myself and the firm for which I am acting.
  2. Except as described in Paragraph (3) below, neither I, nor to the best of my knowledge, the firm, nor any of its
     officers, directors, partners, employees, or agents directly involved in obtaining contracts with the City of any
     County, Bi-County Agency, or Subdivision of the State have been convicted of, or have pleaded nolo contendre to a
     charge of, or have during the course of an official investigation or other proceeding admitted in writing or under oath
     acts or omissions committed after July 1, 1977 which constitute bribery, attempted bribery, or conspiracy to bribe
     under the laws of any state or federal government.
  3. Except as described in Paragraph (D) below, neither I, nor to the best of my knowledge, the firm, nor any of its
     officers, directors, partners, employees, or agents has made payment to or provided loans, services, gifts, food or
     entertainment to any City official or employee with the intent to influence that person in the performance of his
     official duties. I further acknowledge and understand that it is unlawful to make payment or to provide loans,
     services, gifts, food or entertainment to any City official or employee with the intent to influence that person in the
     performance of his official duties and that violation of this provision is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not
     more than four hundred dollars ($400.00), or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both.
  4. Attach a list of any conviction, plea, or admission described in Paragraphs (B) and (C) above, with the date,
     court, official, or administrative body; and the sentence or disposition (if any):
     I acknowledge that this affidavit is to be furnished to the requesting agency.

  I acknowledge that, if the representations set forth in this affidavit are not true and correct, the City may terminate any contract awarded and take any other appropriate action. I further acknowledge that I am executing this affidavit in compliance with Section 160 of Article 78A of the Annotated Code of Maryland, which provides that certain persons who have been convicted of, or have admitted to, bribery, attempted bribery, or conspiracy to bribe may be disqualified, either by operation of law or after a hearing, from entering into contracts with the state or any of its agencies or subdivisions.

  I do solemnly declare and affirm under the penalties of perjury that the contents of this affidavit are true and
  correct.

• Conflict of Interest (required) —

  In accordance with City Code Section 21.4, 

  Proposer must disclose any possible conflict of interest with the City of Frederick, including, but not limited to, a known relationship between any principal or employee of your firm and any City of Frederick employee or elected official.  

  To your knowledge, does any conflict of interest exist?

  Note: If the answer is yes, further documentation must be submitted for review and determination of eligibility to participate. 

• Conflicts of Interest Documentation (required) —

  Upload documentation describing your existing conflicts with the City as defined in City Code Section 21.4.

• Allowed to do Business (required) —

  Is the Proposer legally allowed to do business and not disbarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from doing business with any entity, including the State and Federal Government?  The Proposer must report any such change in status to the City immediately. If debarment is discovered, the Proposer is subject to disqualification or termination without recourse. 

• Bidder/Proposer Certification (required) —

  I have carefully examined all documents accompanying or made a part of this solicitation.

  I hereby propose to furnish the goods or services specified therein. I agree that my bid/proposal will remain firm for a period of up to 120 days in order to allow the City adequate time to evaluate the information submitted.

  I verify that all information contained in this bid/proposal is truthful to the best of my knowledge and belief. I further certify that I am duly authorized to submit this bid/proposal on behalf of the firm as its act and deed and that the firm is ready, willing and able to perform if awarded the contract.

  I further certify, under oath, that this bid/proposal is made without prior understanding, agreement, connection, discussion, or collusion with any other person, firm or corporation submitting a bid/proposal for the same product or service; no officer, employee or agent of The City of Frederick or any other proposer is interested in said bid/proposal; and with full knowledge and understanding of the matters contained and that I was duly authorized to do so.

• Local Preference - City (required) —

  Is your business located within the limits of The City of Frederick?

• Verification (required) —

  An official document (lease, utility bill, etc.) showing an address for the business within City limits.

• Certificate of Insurance (required) —

  Upload your COI here.

• W-9 (required) —

  Upload your W-9 here.

  A copy of this form can be downloaded from http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.

• Vendor Status Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Small Business Reserve —

  Will 50% or more of the work be performed by Small Business Enterprises (including self-certification)?

• M/WBE Participation (required) —

  Bidders shall commit to meeting the MBE and WBE participation goals outlined in the  SPECIAL CONDITIONS of this RFP. 

  A bidder that does not commit to meeting the entire MBE and WBE participation goal outlined in this RFP must submit a request for waiver with its bid submission that is supported by good faith efforts documentation to meet the MBE and WBE goal made prior to submission of its bid. Failure of a bidder to properly complete, sign, and submit this waiver at the time it submits its bid(s) to the RFP will result in the City’s rejection of the bidder’s bid. This failure is not curable.

  Do you intend to meet the entire MBE and WBE participation goals outlined in the RFP?

• M/WBE Participation Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• M/WBE Goals Waiver Request (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Subcontractors (required) —

  Will subcontractors be utilized on this project?

• Subcontractor Listing (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Consultant's Proposal (required) —

  Upload your proposal with the items required in the PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS section here. 

• Price Proposal (required) —

  Upload your Price Proposal here.

• Pre-Bid/Pre-Proposal Meeting (required) —

  Select an option below.

• Will there be a Site Visit for your project?
• Attendance for Site Visit (required)
• Site Visit Location (required)
• Date and Time of Site Visit (required) —

  Answer Format: Month DD at XX:XX am/pm

• Design Build Project (required) —

  Is this a Design Build Project

• Goal Completion/Delivery (required) —

  What is your Goal Completion Time or Delivery (from issuance of PO/NTP, # of days or specific date):

  Answer Format Example: 90 days

• Pricing (required) —

  Select an option below:

  Option 1: Create a pricing table for vendors to complete in OpenGov.

  Option 2:  You need to work with Procurement to develop your pricing table.

• Associated Goals (required) —

  Select the option that is applicable to your project.

• M/WBE Participation Goal (required) —

  Answer Format Examples:

  16% Minority-Owned
  7% Woman-Owned

• DBE Goal (required) —

  What is the DBE goal percentage? 

  State you answer written out and numerically. i.e., nineteen percent (19%)