Travel Services for the Iron Range Engineering (IRE) Program

Project Overview Minnesota State is requesting proposals from vendors to provide full-service agent-assisted solution for domestic and international travel arrangement services related to the IRE program. This mainly includes booking air tickets, car rentals, and lodging ensuring compliance with State travel policies and provide monthly reporting on travel. Technical/Functional Requirements Product and service requirements: a) Travel planning, event coordination with faculty/staff, and cost estimation. b) Reservation and fulfillment services. c) Implementation and integration planning and support. d) Customer support including functional and technical support for related integration issues, as well as assistance with travel arrangements. e) Flight tracking system – shared working spreadsheet with faculty/staff. f) Provide estimates of travel cost as requested by IRE for budget planning. i. Recommendations to IRE on how to reduce travel cost for the following fiscal year. ii. Analysis showing IRE’s savings from negotiated discounts with airlines, rental car companies, rail, and/or lodging. g) To ensure the reservation, the travel agency may need to issue a deposit prior to receiving payment from IRE and invoice IRE accordingly. h) Ability to support IRE’s domestic and international travel, including but not limited to, executing travel arrangement for groups comprising of staff, faculty, and students. i) Follow all local, state, and federal laws and regulations. j) Communicate to the traveler/travel planner, when the reservation takes the traveler to locations requiring immunizations, what and when immunizations are needed by. k) Communicate any travel alerts or warnings, issued by the US Government and/or destination area, including travel restrictions to sanctioned countries. l) 24/7 travel support services; available for emergency adjustments. Selection Process The selection process includes the Engineering Director; the Coordinator of Facilitators; and department’s Administrative Assistant. This group will evaluate the proposals and make the final decision. Evaluation Factors The following factors and their identified weight will be used to evaluate the responses: Topic Factor Weight Adherence to Minnesota State Terms and Conditions. Adherence to Minnesota State Terms and Conditions. 10% Work Plan. A description of the deliverables to be provided by the Responder along with a detailed work plan that identifies the major tasks to be accomplished. 20% Cost/Value. Provide detailed pricing information. Identify the level of the participation of Minnesota State in the contract, as well as any other services to be provided by Minnesota State, and details of cost allowances for this participation. 30% Qualifications of Respondent and its personnel. An outline of the Responder’s background and experience with examples of similar work complete by the Responder and a list of personnel who will conduct the project, detailing their training, and work experience. Resumes or other information about project personnel should not, if possible, contain personal telephone numbers, home addresses or home email addresses. If it is necessary to include personal contact information, please clearly indicate in the proposal that personal contact information is being provided. 20% Completeness, thoroughness and detail of the response Completeness, thoroughness and detail of the response as reflected by the proposal's discussions and coverage of all elements of work listed above 10% Accessibility Provide accessibilty information. A completed response to the linked Voluntary Product/Service Accessibility Template(s)®(VPAT) for all software, hardware, and websites as applicable (guidance available in the ‘Products’ tab). The response must contain adequate information to evaluate the responsiveness to the accessibility standards (e.g., a completed VPAT or equivalent). 10% Total: 100 Minnesota State reserves the right to name a date which all responding Respondents will be invited to present demonstrations or participate in an interview. Minnesota State does not agree to reach a decision by any certain date although it is hoped the evaluation and selection will be completed by the contract terms date identified. Contract Terms Minnesota State desires to enter into a contract with the successful Vendor(s) August 15, 2026 or on the date the last recognized signature is obtained, whichever occurs later. The length of such contract(s) will be five (5) years. If Minnesota State and Vendor are unable to negotiate and sign a contract by July 20, 2026, then Minnesota State reserves the right to seek an alternative Vendor(s). Inquiries and Submission Instructions Minnesota State accepts all questions and bid submissions exclusively through Minnesota State's e-procurement system. Hard copy submissions, emails, or submissions through any other medium will not be considered. Each Respondent is solely responsible for the timely delivery of its questions and bids by the RFx date and time deadlines. Failure to meet the deadlines shall be grounds for rejection. Tentative Schedule of Solicitation The dates noted below are estimates but are reasonable for the purposes of presenting deadlines. All sourcing event-related communications is managed and track via Minnesota State Electronic Sourcing Solution. Key Dates Timeline Tuesday, June 2, 2026 RFP notice is published. Tuesday, June 9, 2026; 2:00 PM CDT Deadline for Respondent to submit clarifying questions via electronic platform only. Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Deadline to publish responses to clarifying questions via electronic platform. Tuesday, June 23, 2026; 2:00 PM CT Deadline for Respondent RFP proposal submissions via electronic platform only. July, 2026 Respondent(s) selected and notified. Minnesota State reserves the right to not award a contract. The dates noted above are estimates but are reasonable for the purposes of presenting deadlines.