Marketing and Communications for the Cleveland-Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP)

The City of Cleveland Mayor’s Office of Sustainability is leading the effort to develop a climate action plan for Northeast Ohio. In June 2023, Cleveland partnered with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) to secure a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) Planning Grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). As part of this effort, Cleveland is responsible for overseeing the development of the grant’s second deliverable, a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) that covers the entire Cleveland-Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

In November 2025, the City of Cleveland published the Cleveland-Elyria MSA Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) is a thorough report that includes a focused list of near-term, high-priority, implementation-ready measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution and an analysis of GHG emissions reductions that would be achieved through implementation.

• A GHG inventory;
• GHG emissions projections
• GHG reduction targets;
• Quantified GHG reduction measures;
• A benefits analysis for the full geographic scope and population covered by the plan;
• A low-income and disadvantaged communities benefits analysis;
• A review of authority to implement;
• A plan to leverage other federal funding; and,
• A workforce planning analysis.

The City of Cleveland and NOACA developed this CCAP in partnership with the Cleveland Regional Decarbonization Framework (CRDF) research team, which includes staff from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland State University (CSU), and Kent State University (KSU). The team has also developed a CCAP Implementation Playbook, which outlines strategies for local governments and key stakeholders to implement climate actions, and a CCAP Snapshot, which provides a high-level overview of the CCAP for the general public.

NOACA will also submit the final deliverable, a Status Report with updates on the implementation status of GHG reduction measures, during 2027.

Implementing priority climate actions will strengthen our economy, clean our environment, and improve the health and wellness of Northeast Ohio residents. The goal of the CCAP is to ensure the region identifies and implements actions that are science-based, represent changing community priorities, are adaptable to different types of communities throughout the region, are affordable and practical, advance equity, and meet the current and growing need to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The chosen marketing and communications vendor will build upon existing work by creating engaging and compelling visual materials and marketing tools for the CCAP. The goal is to ensure that the Northeast Ohio community is aware of and engages with the CCAP, Implementation Playbook, and Snapshot to raise awareness, educate, and convey actions in a way that is cohesive, accessible, and appealing to a wide audience.

Project Details

• Department: Mayor's Office of Sustainability
• Department Head: Sarah O'Keeffe (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-07-01T21:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-06-29T15:00:00.000Z — https://cityclevelandoh.webex.com/cityclevelandoh/j.php?MTID=m619a3d585a4029ecae01d255030781eb

Evaluation Criteria

• Quality of Proposal (35 pts) —

  Quality of Proposal includes Organization of the Team, Specific Approach to this Project, Ability to Perform the Scope of Services, Capacity to Perform Work, including consideration for current City project workload, and Special Commendations as defined in the “Proposal Submission Requirements” section of this RFP.

• Credentials of Key Personnel (20 pts) —

  Credentials of Key Personnel including qualifications and experience of the Project Team, particularly the project manager and construction general contractor who will be the lead person on this project, and their prior experience and demonstrated ability to perform the scope of work.

• Demonstrated Ability (35 pts) —

  Demonstrated history of successful relevant projects to meet proposed schedules and budgets.

• Compensation / Fee (10 pts) —

  This item will be reviewed after the evaluations of qualifications have been completed.

• Interviews (Optional) (10 pts) —

  Based on preliminary scoring of point-based items described above the City may create a short list of Consultant(s) and conduct interviews as warranted. Further instruction and scoring criteria shall be provided to the short-listed Consultant(s) when notified of the forthcoming interview.

Submission Requirements

• Technical Proposal (required)
• Price Proposal (required)
• Vendor Background Information
• Provide information about any local branch offices or support centers that might serve an account in Cleveland, OH, including number of employee and type of services provided (required)
• Provide name of each principal. (required)
• Provide the year the company was established and any former firm names (required)
• Type of Company (required)
• Provide the state and type of incorporation (required)
• Provide information on related services offered by the company (required)
• Provide the total number of FTEs in the company. (required)
• Provide average years of experience of professional staff. (required)
• Vendor Client References
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #1 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #2 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #3 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• City Required Forms
• NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND OEO SCHEDULES (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• NON-COMPETITIVE BID CONTRACT STATEMENT FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2026 (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices Disclosure —

  INSTRUCTIONS: Pursuant to Codified Ordinance Sec. 181.36, the information requested on this page must be supplied by all contractors and any subcontractors having more than a fifty percent (50%) interest in the proposed contract prior to any contract being awarded by the City of Cleveland.  Any contractor or subcontractor who is deemed to have made a false statement shall be declared to have acted in default of its contract and shall be subject to the remedies for default contained in its contract.  For failure to cure such a default, the contractor or subcontractor shall be automatically excluded from bidding for the supply of any goods or services for use by the City for a period of two (2) years.

• CHECK WHICHEVER IS APPLICABLE: (required)
• By confirming, the proposer affirms that they are in compliant Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices. (required)
• Pricing (required)
• Applicable Language for Goals for Subcontractors (required)
• Is this RFP for Airport? (required)
• Insurance Requirements (for Airport RFP only) (required)
• Do you require insurance from the awarded vendor for this RFP? (required)