Project Information

Bid Title

a firm to conduct a Market Research Study on OHA’s Communication and Engagement Strategy

Issuing Agency

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Location

Hawaii

Published Date

Nov 7, 2025

Closing Date

Dec 8, 2025

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

11/07/2025 – Request for Proposals (“RFP”) No. RE 2026-005

Requesting services for a firm to conduct a Market Research Study on OHA’s Communication and Engagement Strategy

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as

amended, (hereinafter “HRS”), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (hereinafter “OHA”) will be accepting proposals from qualified firms to conduct a market research study on OHA’s communication and engagement strategy.

This RFP may be downloaded from either the State Procurement Office (hereinafter “SPO”) website at https://hiepro.ehawaii.gov or the OHA website at www.oha.org/solicitations beginning Friday, November 7, 2025

Proposals shall be submitted via HIePRO by no later than 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (hereinafter “HST”), Monday December 8, 2025. Proposals shall be submitted electronically through the HIePRO website only.

The OHA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to accept any proposal in whole or in part when in the best interest of the OHA and the State. Questions relating to this solicitation shall be sent to the HIePRO website.

Activity	Scheduled Dates
Release of Request for Proposals	Friday, 11/07/2025
Due Date to Submit Questions	Tuesday, 11/18/2025, 2:00 p.m. HST
OHA’s Response to Questions	Monday, 11/24/2025, 2:00 p.m. HST
Proposals Due Date/Time	Monday, 12/08/2025, 2:00 p.m. HST
Proposal Evaluations	Tuesday 12/09/2025 – Monday 12/15/2025
Offerors’ Presentation/Discussion (if necessary)	TBD
Best and Final Offer (if necessary)	TBD
Notice of Award	December 2025
Contract Start Date	January 2026

RFP-26184-Market-Research-Study Attachment-1-PROPOSAL-SUBMITTAL-CHECKLIST Attachment-1-PROPOSAL-SUBMITTAL-CHECKLIST

Attachment-1-PROPOSAL-SUBMITTAL-CHECKLIST

Attachment-2-RFP-REGISTRATION-FORM

Attachment-3-SAMPLE-COVER-LETTER

Attachment-4-Acknowledgement-of-Addenda

Attachment-5-PU-012-WAGE-CERTIFICATE

Attachment-6-OFFER-FORM-OF-1-AND-OF-2

Attachment-7-General-Terms-and-Conditions

Attachment-8-Hawaii-State-Holidays-2025-and-2026

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10/22/2025 Notice Of Request For Exemption From HRS Chapter 103D (Zoom Communications, Inc.)

SPO-007-1-Zoom-Webinar-Plus-Lic-251022-signed.pdf

Attachment Preview

State of Hawai‘i

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP NO. RE 2026-005

COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET

STUDY

ISSUE DATE: Friday, November 7, 2025

DUE DATE: Tuesday, December 8, 2025, 2:00 p.m. HST

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs

560 N. Nimitz Highway, Suite 200

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96817

Notice to Interested Parties: Offerors interested in submitting a proposal are encouraged to

register your company by completing the Registration Form and submitting it to the OHA RFP

Coordinator via email at proposals@oha.org. See Attachment 2 – RFP Registration Form.

Notice to Offerors

(Chapter 103D, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“hereinafter “RFP”) No. RE 2026-005

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to Chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as

amended, (hereinafter “HRS”), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (hereinafter “OHA”) will be

accepting proposals from qualified firms to conduct a market research study on OHA’s

communication and engagement strategy.

This RFP may be downloaded from either the State Procurement Office (hereinafter

“SPO”) website at https://hiepro.ehawaii.gov or the OHA website at www.oha.org/solicitations

beginning Friday, November 7, 2025.

Proposals shall be submitted via HIePRO by no later than 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time

(hereinafter “HST”), December 8, 2025.

The OHA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to accept any proposal in whole

or in part when in the best interest of the OHA and the State. Questions relating to this

solicitation shall be sent to the HIePRO website.

OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS

Kaiali’i Kahele

Board of Trustees Chairperson,

Chief Procurement Officer, Head of Purchasing Agency

Table of Contents

Section 1 – Administrative Overview............................................................................................. 4

Section 2 – Scope of Services ....................................................................................................... 16

Section 3 – Proposal Format and Instructions .............................................................................. 33

Section 4 – Proposal Evaluation & Award ................................................................................... 39

Section 5 - Attachments ................................................................................................................ 44

Attachment 1 - Proposal Submittal Checklist

Attachment 2 – RFP Registration Form

Attachment 3 – Sample Cover Letter

Attachment 4 - Acknowledgement of Addenda

Attachment 5 – Wage Certificate

Attachment 6 – Offer Form OF-1 and OF-2

Attachment 7 – General Terms and Conditions

Attachment 8 - 2025-2026 Hawaii State Government Observed Holidays

Section 1 – Administrative Overview

I. Authority

In 1978, the Article XII of the State of Hawai‘i Constitutional Convention established the

Office of Hawaiian Affairs (hereinafter “OHA”) to address the historical injustices and

challenges arising out of those circumstances. Chapter 10 of the Hawaiʻi Revised

Statutes, as amended, outlines the OHA’s duties and purposes, including promoting and

protecting the rights of Native Hawaiians.

The OHA is a semi-autonomous public agency of the State of Hawai‘i, with the legal

mandate of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians. The OHA’s mission is “To

mālama (protect) Hawaiʻi’s people and environmental resources and the OHA’s assets

toward ensuring the perpetuation of the culture, the enhancement of lifestyle, and the

protection of entitlements of Native Hawaiians while enabling the building of a strong

and healthy Hawaiian people and nation, recognized nationally and internationally.”

The OHA seeks to competitively procure and engage a qualified Offeror to provide a

Communications & Engagement Strategy Market Study to the OHA to assess public

awareness, perceptions, and understanding of OHA’s mission, programs, and initiatives

among Hawaiʻi’s population, including both Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian

residents.

A determination has been made that the OHA is unable to secure these services through a

low bid process. Factors included in the determination are: 1) price is not the primary

consideration in determining an award; 2) the resulting contract may need to be other

than a fixed price type; 3) the specifications for the services cannot be sufficiently

described through low bid process; 4) oral or written discussion need to be conducted

with Offerors concerning their proposals; 5) Offerors may need to revise their proposal,

including price; and 6) the award needs to be based on a comparative evaluation in order

to determine the most advantageous offering to the OHA. To that end, a low bid process

is not practicable.

This RFP is issued under the provisions of Chapter 103D, HRS, as amended, and its

companion administrative rules. Offerors are charged with presumptive knowledge of all

requirements of the cited authorities. Submission of a valid executed proposal by any

Offeror will constitute admission of such knowledge on the part of such Offeror.

Administrative Overview

4

RFP No. RE 2026-005 COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET

STUDY

II. RFP Organization

This RFP is organized into five (5) sections:

Section 1: Administrative Overview – Provides Offeror with an overview of the

procurement and contracting process.

Section 2: Scope of Services – Provides Offeror with a general description of the tasks to

be performed, delineates Offeror’s responsibilities, and defines deliverables as

applicable.

Section 3: Proposal Form and Instruction – Describes the required format and content for

the proposal.

Section 4: Proposal Evaluation & Award – Describes how proposals will be evaluated.

Section 5: Attachments

III. Contracting Office

The Contracting Office is responsible for overseeing the procurement and issuing the

Contract resulting from this RFP. The Contracting Office is:

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Procurement Services Program

560 North Nimitz Highway, Suite 200

Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817

Telephone: 808-594-1888

The RFP Coordinator or his/her designated representative is listed below:

Gregory Chang

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Procurement Services Program

560 North Nimitz Highway, Suite 200

Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96817

The OHA reserves the right to change the RFP Coordinator without prior written notice.

The OHA Research and Evaluation Division is responsible for administering and

monitoring the Contract. The designated Contract Administrator or his/her designated

representative is responsible for monitoring the activities performed under the Contract

and is identified as:

Charene Haliniak

Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Administrative Overview

5

RFP No. RE 2026-005 COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MARKET

STUDY

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541611Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
• NAICS 541613Marketing Consulting Services
• NAICS 541910Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling

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