Commuter Benefits Program - Third Party Administrator

County of Alameda, General Services Agency – Purchasing

RFP No. 900977, Addendum No. 2

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

ADDENDUM No. 1

RFP No. 901436

for

Commuter Benefits Program - Third Party Administrator

Specification Clarification/Modification and Recap of the Networking/Bidders Conferences

Held on May 10, 2016 and May 11, 2016

This County of Alameda, General Services Agency (GSA), RFP Addendum has been electronically issued to potential bidders via e-mail. E-mail addresses used are those in the County’s Small Local Emerging Business (SLEB) Vendor Database or from other sources. If you have registered or are certified as a SLEB, please ensure that the complete and accurate e-mail address is noted and kept updated in the SLEB Vendor Database. This RFP Addendum will also be posted on the GSA Contracting Opportunities website located at

Alameda County is committed to reducing environmental impacts across our entire supply chain.

If printing this document, please print only what you need, print double-sided, and use recycled-content paper.

RFP No. 900977, Addendum No. 2

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County of Alameda, General Services Agency-Procurement

RFP No. 901436, Addendum No. 1

Responses to Written Questions

Q1)Page 18 of the RFP, Section M (AWARD), Item 3, states:

Small and Emerging Locally Owned Business: The County is vitally interested in promoting the growth of small and emerging local businesses by means of increasing the participation of these businesses in the County’s purchase of goods and services.

As a result of the County’s commitment to advance the economic opportunities of these businesses, Bidders must meet the County’s Small and Emerging Locally Owned Business requirements in order to be considered for the contract award. These requirements can be found online at:

Page 9 of Exhibit A, SLEB Partnering Sheet is required for bidder completion as well. Can the County please clarify whether it is a requirement for a bidder to be certified as a SLEBin order to bid on this RFP?

A)Bidders are not required to be a certified SLEB in order to bid on this RFP. However, non-SLEB bidders are required to subcontract with a certified SLEB for 20% of the contract amount.

The County prefers bidders meet the full 20% SLEB subcontracting requirement. If a bidder cannot meet the full 20% SLEB subcontracting requirement, partial SLEB subcontracting would be better. Bidders should always do their best to SLEB subcontract. However, if a company finds that they cannot SLEB subcontract, the bidder must take exception to that requirement on page 12 of the Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet (Exceptions, Clarifications, Amendments). If an exception is taken, bidders must have a legitimate justification as to why they are not SLEB subcontracting. Please be advised that the County does not have to accept an exception just because it is stated. The County does not want the SLEB program to hinder vendors from bidding on this RFP. Vendors are encouraged to make their best efforts to meet the SLEB requirement, whether it is a partial percentage or the full percentage. The County prefers SLEB subcontractors to provide direct support services of the contract; however, the County will allow the SLEB subcontractor to provide indirect support services of the contract. If a bidder is having difficulty finding a SLEB to support this particular business, the bidder can look into another service that his/her organization may need. The County is under no obligation to accept any exceptions and such exceptions may be a basis for bid disqualification.

Q2)If a bidder submits their proposal with no SLEB subcontractor listed, will the bidder be permitted to submit a SLEB subcontractor post bid submission?

A)No, if a bidder submits their proposal with no SLEB subcontractor provided, they will not be given an opportunity to submit a SLEB subcontractor post bid submission and may be disqualified.

Q3)If a bidder does not list an exception to the SLEB certification, and other bidders do list an exception to the SLEB certification, will the former bidder be given preference?

A)If Bidder is a SLEB he will receive a 5% preference for SLEB and a 5% preference for being local. If he is not a SLEB and cannot meet the 20% SLEB subcontracting requirement he should list this as an exception The County cannot guarantee that a bidder’s proposal will progress to the scoring stage if they are unable to attain the full 20% SLEB subcontracting requirement because the County reviews each exception on a case-by-case basis.

Q4)Is the SLEB subcontractor required to be in the same industry or line of business to this RFP and the contractor?

A)The County prefers SLEB subcontractors to provide direct support services of the contract; however, the County will allow SLEB subcontractors to provide indirect support services of the contract. For example, for this RFP, a SLEB subcontractor can be a printing company that prints materials for the contractor.

Q5)Will the contractor need to provide proof that the SLEB subcontractor has completed work related to the contract?

A)The awarded Contractor will not be required to provide proof that the SLEB subcontractor has completed work related to the contract, however an awarded Contractor with a SLEB subcontractor will be required to track payments received from the County and enter payments made to subcontractors through the use of the County’s Elations System to ensure they are meeting the SLEB subcontracting requirement.

As stated above, the County prefers SLEB subcontractors to provide direct support services of the contract; however, the County will allow SLEB subcontractors to provide indirect support services of the contract.

Q6)Page 8 of the RFP, Section D (SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS), Item 13 states:

“Fund the Commuter Benefit Program with a semi-monthly deduction per paycheck per enrolled employee.”

Can the County please clarify this requirement?

A)The County will provide funding for the Commuter Benefit Program on a semi-monthly basis based on the deductions taken per employee per paycheck. An employee deduction report will be provided with the funding that will list each employee and the deduction taken per benefit.

Q7)Can organizations from outside the United States of America submit a bid proposal for this project?

A)Yes, organizations from outside the United States of America may submit a bid proposal for this RFP.

Q8)Will the contractor be required to attend meetings in-person?

A)Yes, the awarded contractor will be required to attend meetings in-person throughout the contract term as requested.

Q9)Can the contractor perform the requirements of the contract from outside the United States of America?

A)Yes, the awarded contractor may perform the requirements of the contract from outside the United States of America unless attendance is required for in-person meetings and/or County events including the County’s Annual Health Fairs.

Q10)Can bid response proposals be submitted via e-mail?

A)No, bid response proposals must be submitted through the Alameda County Strategic Sourcing Supplier Portal:

The following participants attended the Bidders Conferences:

Company Name / Address / Representative / Contact Information
Edenred
420 Nevada Street
Newton, MA 02460 / Lauren Goldwait / Phone: 857-228-1452
E-Mail:
Prime Contractor: Yes
Subcontractor:
Certified SLEB: No
Edenred
420 Nevada Street
Newton, MA 02460 / Randy Johnson / Phone: 617-775-7823
E-Mail:
Prime Contractor: Yes
Subcontractor:
Certified SLEB: No

RFP No. 901436, Addendum No. 1

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EXHIBIT C

VENDOR LIST

RFP No. 901436 – Commuter Benefits Program - Third Party Administrator

This Vendor Bid List is being provided for informational purposes to assist bidders in making contact with other businesses as needed to develop local small and emerging business subcontracting relationships to meet the requirements of the Small Local Emerging Business (SLEB) Program:

This RFP Addendum is being issued to all vendors on the Vendor Bid List; the following revised vendor list includes contact information for each vendor attendee at the Networking/Bidders Conferences.

RFP No. 901436 - Commuter Benefits Program - Third Party Administrator
Business Name / Contact Name / Phone / Address / City / ST / Email
American Benefits Group / 413-584-9923 / 320 Riverside Drive / Florence / MA /
ASIFlex / 800-659-3035 / 201 W. Broadway, #4C / Columbia / MO /
Benefit Resource / Thomas Guiler / 866-996-5200 / 245 Kenneth Drive / Rochester / NY /
Benefits Strategies / Lori Macknight / 603-232-8036 / PO Box 1300 / Manchester / NH /
Ceridian / Jeff Nedved / 530-342-0099 / 3201 34th Street South / St. Petersburg / FL /
Commuter Check Services / Carolyn Helmke / 415-265-3140 / 420 Nevada Street, #401 / Newton / MA /
Commuter Check Services / Randall Johnson / 857-228-1497 / 420 Nevada Street, #401 / Newton / MA /
DFB TPA Services / 248-336-0400 / P.O. Box 71027 / Madison Heights / MI /
EBS / Jennifer Leugers / 925-469-5231 / 5934 Gibraltar Drive, #206 / Pleasanton / CA /
Edenred USA / 800-531-2828 / 320 Nevada Street, 4th Floor / Newton / MA /
Edenred USA / Lauren Goldwait / 857-228-1452 / 420 Nevada Street / Newton / MA /
Edenred USA / Randy Johnson / 617-775-7823 / 320 Nevada Street / Newton / MA /
Fringe Benefits Mgmt. / Robert Thaler / 850-425-6200 / 3101 Sessions Road / Tallahassee / FL /
HR Simplified / Rudy Allebach / 763-746-7425 / 8441 Wayzata Boulevard, #300 / Minneapolis / MN /
PayFlex Systems US. / Kevin Hitzemann / 402-758-8000 / 10802 Farnam Drive, #100 / Omaha / NE /
TransitCenter / Mark Hughel / 212-329-2027 / 1065 Avenue of the Americas, 5th Floor / New York / NY /
WageWorks / Laura Egley / 408-685-2214 / 1100 Park Place / San Mateo / CA /
Sterling HSA / Marina Weiss / 401-398-8230 / 475 14th Street, #650 / Oakland / CA /
Sterling HSA / Marisa Hodges / 800-617-4729 / 475 14th Street, #650 / Oakland / CA /

Exhibit C – RFP No. 901436

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