Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh Issues Marketing RFP
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh’s (URA) Housing Opportunity Fund (HOF) requests proposals from a variety of community groups and firms (the Applicant) to provide community outreach and marketing services for the HOF. The HOF Department plans to approve one or more applicants to be part of an approved list of firms to perform community outreach and marketing services. Selected applicants will be eligible for selection by the HOF to perform services as needed. Each approved applicant will remain on a list/slate of Board approved community outreach and marketing firms from the date approved by the Housing Opportunity Fund Advisory Board and URA Board of Directors through September 30, 2022. During the three-year period, any firm or firms on the approved slate may be requested to bid on specific community outreach services that are currently to-be-determined. The RFQ process may be revisited during this period to invite additional applicants to qualify to provide these services.
Background:
The URA is the City of Pittsburgh’s (City) economic development agency, committed to creating jobs, expanding the City’s tax base, and improving the vitality of businesses and neighborhoods. Incorporated in 1946 as one of the first redevelopment authorities in the United States, the URA achieves this mission by assembling, preparing and conveying sites for major mixed-use developments; and by providing a portfolio of programs that include financing for business location, relocation and expansion, housing construction and rehabilitation, and home purchases and improvements. The URA is committed to equitable development, and incorporates best practices for equity and inclusion into its internal and external policies and activities.
The HOF is a housing trust fund that has been established in the City to support the development and preservation of affordable and accessible housing within the City’s boundaries. The HOF has allocated funding for five (5) programs to carry out this mission in 2018: The Homeowner Assistance Program for owner-occupied home repairs; the Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance Program for first-time
homebuyers; the Housing Stabilization Program for at-risk renters; the For-Sale Development Program for the creation or preservation of affordable for-sale housing; and the Rental Gap Program to fund the creation/preservation of affordable rental housing.
Funds appropriated to the HOF are to be invested in accordance with an Annual Allocation Plan (AAP) created by the Advisory Board and approved by City Council and the Governing Board. The URA Board of Directors serves as the HOF’s Governing Board (Governing Board). The HOF’s Advisory Board (Advisory Board) is comprised of seventeen (17) persons appointed by the Mayor to four-year staggered terms.
Scope of Work:
The selected applicants will be asked to enter into a contract with the URA to work directly with HOF staff to provide community outreach and marketing services as needed. Some examples of future needs are, but not limited to, attending/leading community meetings, developing a social media presence for the HOF, creating, printing, and supplying marketing materials, planning, promoting, and hosting events, and providing catering and childcare services at events.
QUALIFICATIONS:
The selected applicants must:
• Have a minimum of 3-5 years of performing community outreach and marketing in the City
• Demonstrate significant experience working with the grassroots advocacy and nonprofit organizations within the City
• Demonstrate a track record of working with and for underrepresented and minority communities throughout the City
• Be available to perform assignments within the time frame required in the agreement
• Present a strategy to provide bilingual/translation services to residents throughout the City
Due Date:
August 27, 2019
Address:
Relevant agencies include Zeno PR and Edelman PR.