Development Authority of the North Country Issues Creative RFP
The Development Authority of the North Country (“Authority”) is seeking a consultant to redesign and update a regional economic development website at www.drumcountrybusiness.com, and to redesign, update and produce several regional profile sheets utilized to educate businesses about the region’s economic development assets. The regional profile sheets are for the following: (1) a general overview of the three-county region – Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, (2) advanced manufacturing, (3) food processing manufacturing, (4) finance, insurance and real estate, and (5) renewable energy firms. The Drum Country Business theme, logo and colors currently exist and will not need to be altered. The existing website and profile sheets offer a baseline for the type of information that the Authority would like to communicate to the public. Successful proposal should demonstrate creativity in design and in presenting the information.
Background:
In 2010, the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization engaged Ady Voltedge to assist in designing a marketing campaign called Drum Country Business. Ady Voltedge created the brand, tag line, and colors for the campaign. Ady Voltedge was tasked to create a new regional website, www.DrumCountryBusiness.com. The website provides information about the economic and community development assets in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties located in northern New York State. The site also features available buildings and sites, as well as a map room with area cultural and educational amenities, among others. The website is outdated and needs to be redesigned and updated.
Ady Voltedge also assisted with the creation of several regional profile sheets. These are materials that highlight the region’s assets in print. In 2013, these were updated. They have not been updated since. The materials are sent to educate site selectors, businesses, and others about the region’s assets including labor, education, utilities, and incentives among others. They target the following: (1) a general overview of the three-county region – Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, (2) advanced manufacturing, (3) food processing manufacturing, (4) finance, insurance and real estate, and (5) renewable energy firms. These are outdated.
The Development Authority of the North Country is a partner in the Drum Country Business initiative along with the three county economic development agencies, Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization, and the regional utility – National Grid. These entities comprise the Drum Country Business Committee. The Authority provides staff resources to assist with the Drum Country Business activities.
The Authority recently applied for and was awarded funding from the Office of Economic Adjustment to carry-out certain recommendations identified in the Fort Drum JLUS. The JLUS report recommended several strategies to address communication between Fort Drum and surrounding communities. It also recommended that the community should identify ways to diversify the regional economy so as not to rely so heavily on Fort Drum.
The Authority is a New York State Public Benefit Corporation created in 1985 to support the development of infrastructure associated with growth at Fort Drum. The Authority is unique among public authorities in New York State in its scope of activities. Unlike other single-purpose state authorities, the Authority owns and operates a number of revenue-based infrastructure facilities and manages a wide range of business and housing development programs. The Authority has become the region’s largest provider of shared-services, providing fee-based services to three counties which fosters economies-of-scale and efficiencies saving money for the ratepayers. The Authority does not receive annual appropriations from Federal, State or local governments for operating purposes. All revenues are generated through user fees, contracts or investment earnings. Primary operational areas of the Authority are Administration, Solid Waste Management, Water Quality Management, Engineering, Technology, and Regional Development. The Authority currently provides Geographic Information System (GIS) services to a number of municipal customers. The Authority also uses this GIS capability for internal planning and analysis of infrastructure projects. Authority staff oversees the GIS portal located at www.fortdrumcompatibility.org.
Fort Drum is the largest military installation in the northeastern United States. It is home to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and serves as the primary training facility for National Guard and Army Reserve units throughout the region. Fort Drum officially encompasses 108,733 contiguous acres in northern New York State. It is also a FORSOM designated Regional Collective Training Center providing training support to the Army’s total ford throughout the northeast region of the United States. Fort Drum is a power-projection platform supporting one of the most deployed Activie Divisions in the U.S. Army, the 10th Mountain (LI) Division. Fort Drum is comprised of a Cantonement Area, Training Area, and the Wheeler Sack Army Airfield.
Scope of Work:
The objective of this procurement is to redesign and update a regional economic development website at www.drumcountrybusiness.com, and to redesign, update and produce several regional profile sheets utilized to educate businesses about the region’s economic development assets. The regional profile sheets are for the following: (1) a general overview of the three-county region – Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, (2) advanced manufacturing, (3) food processing manufacturing, (4) finance, insurance and real estate, and (5) renewable energy firms. The Drum Country Business theme, logo and colors currently exist and will not need to be altered. The existing website and profile sheets offer a baseline for the type of information that the Authority would like to communicate to the public. Successful proposal should demonstrate creativity in design and in presenting the information.
Task #1 – Information Gathering/Data Collection:
Subtask 1.1 Work Plan Refinement
The Consultant will meet with the Authority to review and refine, as needed, any necessary adjustments that will not impact the overall budget and scope of the project. The Work Plan will be reviewed with the Drum Country Business committee.
Subtask 1.2 Administration and Management
- Provide status reports to Authority that detail work in progress, work accomplished, and funds expended. Progress reports are due the 15th of the month following the reporting period for Authority staff review and distribution to study participants.
- Provide written work products and verbal committee briefings at the conclusion of each major phase of the study.
- If necessary, update the Work Plan and milestone completion dates.
Task #2 – Website Redesign:
The consultant will recommend the best platform to host the secure regional economic development website. It will create the website in consultation with the Authority and with input from the Drum Country Business committee. The existing site, www.DrumCountryBusiness.com should be referenced as a starting point for the type of information that we would like to migrate to the new platform; however the successful proposal should consider creativity and functionality in accessing information when designing the site. The website will need to be secure. The Authority would like to discuss a simple to use, edit maps area that is visually pleasing, as well as an overall easy to use management interface/Content Management System. While overall design is flexible, the website should support embedded frams. The consultant will be required to coordinate/consult with the Authority’s GIS staff in considering the map area as the Authority may be able to provide an internal option for this tool. The Authority will oversee administration of the website.
Task #3 – General Profile Sheets:
A study was commissioned by the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization in 2007 that looked at industry’s that would be complimentary to Fort Drum while building on the region’s natural and economic assets. These industries are still relevant today. The regional profile sheets are for the following: (1) a general overview of the three-county region – Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties, (2) advanced manufacturing, (3) food processing manufacturing, (4) finance, insurance and real estate, and (5) renewable energy firms. The Drum Country Business theme, logo and colors currently exist and will not need to be altered. The regional profile sheets, last updated in 2013, offer a baseline for the type of information that the Authority would like to communicate to the public. Successful proposal should demonstrate creativity in design and in presenting the information. We will need a limited run of approximately 500 sheets for each profile sheet and the pdf versions for online viewing and printing.
Due Date:
October 19th
