Notice Details

The Human Resources Administration/Office of Employment & Support Administration is seeking to award a sole source procurement with the Consortium for Worker Education for the Good Jobs Challenge.  DSS/HRA will serve as the lead applicant in response to a recent Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA). The NOFO provides for grants of up to $25 million each in support of sectoral partnerships designed to connect jobseekers to training and placement services with employers in high-demand sectors of the local economy.  The grant parameters specifically require applicants to identify a “backbone organization” for each proposed sectoral partnership. Backbone organizations offer well-established partnerships of employers from the same sector, who ally with stakeholders from government, education, economic development, organized labor, and/or community groups to develop workforce solutions that meet the local talent needs of that industry.
The target sector for our proposal is Industrial/Transportation. We plan to use the grant funds, if awarded, to procure a contractor to provide career readiness, training, job development, and to create apprenticeship pathways specific to that industry, and to identify partners for training, union apprenticeships, and employment.
Based upon these criteria, as well as the application partners’ comprehensive knowledge of the provider community in this area, DSS/HRA has concluded that the only organization within New York City that fits the parameters of this grant is the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) to provide curriculum design and access to employment and union jobs.  The contract will be for three years with an estimated budget of 1,500,000.00.  The EDA Good Jobs Challenge Notice of Funding Opportunity has indicated a competitive preference for union jobs and apprenticeships. CWE is the only provider organization in New York City remotely approaches this set of relationships, or could add as much, as quickly, to our application. No other provider in New York City has the demonstrated knowledge and experience in creating new registered apprenticeships in the transportation sector in partnership with the Department of Labor. Among the outcomes we expect CWE to provide are developing systems and processes to measure and track key outcomes and metrics; delivering quality skills training to place HRA clients into career-track jobs; and offering technical assistance for employers to retain and advance workers placed through this program. 
Any firm or organization which believes they can also provide this service is invited to respond to the RFI "06922Y0084-SOLE SOURCE-GOOD JOBS CHALLENGE on PASSPort. If you have any questions, please email"frazierjac@dss.nyc.gov" with the subject line "06922Y0084-SOLE SOURCE-GOOD JOBS CHALLENGE ". Please indicate your interest by responding to the RFI EPIN: 06922Y0084 in PASSPort no later than January 4, 2022, 2:00PM