Sole Source CY26 GrowthWheel- Annual Subscription

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity intends to award a sole-source contract to GrowthWheel International Inc. for the CY26 Annual Subscription to their proprietary business advisory platform, "GrowthWheel." This subscription provides the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network access to an integrated, 360-degree visual business assessment toolkit and workflow system designed to improve business startup success and support growth strategies. The contract covers a comprehensive eLearning solution tailored for approximately 150 business advisors within the network, including a custom-branded Learning Management System (LMS) called the IL SBDC Advisor Academy. Key deliverables involve LMS setup, content hosting, curriculum development spanning over 110 hours of training modules across essential business topics, analytics reporting, administrator training, and ongoing content updates. The contract supports integration with existing Illinois SBDC resources, bilingual capabilities, and alignment with national best practices, emphasizing cost-effectiveness and continuity given GrowthWheel’s prior role and unique platform features. Value-wise, the contract is structured as a one-year subscription covering both one-time setup and recurring licensing fees, totaling approximately $173,700 with an additional yearly recurring fee of $9,000 subject to a 5% annual increase. The scope includes specialized training modules such as Advisor Fundamentals, Illinois Essentials, business processes, legal issues, funding, and marketing, along with access to national conference materials and video integrations. Ownership of content is split, with the Illinois SBDC retaining rights to Illinois-specific modules while GrowthWheel maintains ownership of other materials. The place of performance and acceptance lies within Illinois, with the Illinois Commerce and Economic Opportunity agency overseeing inspections and contract administration. The procurement follows a sole source justification based on GrowthWheel’s unique capabilities and previous usage, and no competing vendors have been solicited. Interested parties have a comment period with a deadline before the contract award, and the point of contact is the Illinois agency procurement officer. No formal Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses or standard evaluation factors are noted, indicating a specialized purchase aimed at maintaining continuity of services rather than competitive bidding.