Project Information

Bid Title

Benefits Planning Services

Issuing Agency

State Government of Arkansas

Location

Arkansas

Published Date

Mar 19, 2026

Closing Date

Apr 2, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Ref. #

ARS-26-000103/19/2026 CDT

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Current Solicitations

Bid Information Bid Number: ARS-26-0001 Agency: Arkansas Rehabilitation Services Amended: 03/19/2026 04:01 PM CDT Opening Date & Time: 04/02/2026 02:00 PM CDT Description: Benefits Planning Services Buyer's Email: Acom.Procurement@arkansas.gov

Bid Documents PDF XLS Other Web ARS-26-0001 - IFB Official Bid Price Sheet Bid Response Packet Addendum 1 - Questions and Answers Questions and Answers

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STATE OF ARKANSAS

Arkansas Rehabilitation Services

1 Commerce Way, Suite 201

Little Rock, AR 72201

INVITATION FOR BID

SOLICITATION DOCUMENT

Solicitation Number:

Description:

Division/Agency:

SOLICITATION INFORMATION

ARS-26-0001

Solicitation Issued:

Workforce Education and Benefits Planning Services

Arkansas Rehabilitation Services

March 5th, 2026

BID DUE DATE

Bid Response Due Date: April 2nd, 2026

Time: 2:00 pm Central Time

Bid responses for this Invitation for Bid must be delivered to the Department of Commerce on or before the

submission deadline. Bids received after the submission deadline may be rejected as untimely. See Section

1.2 for information regarding Live Bid Openings.

Delivery Address and

IFB Opening Location

Bid’s Outer Packaging

DELIVERY OF RESPONSE DOCUMENTS

Attention: Austin McClane, Procurement Coordinator

Department of Commerce

1 Commerce Way, Suite 501

Little Rock, AR 72201

Delivery providers, USPS, UPS, and FedEx deliver mail to the delivery street

address on a schedule determined by each individual provider. These providers will

deliver based solely on the street address. Prospective Contractors assume all

risk for timely, properly submitted deliveries.

Seal outer packaging and properly mark with the following information. If outer

packaging of bid submission is not properly marked, the package may be opened for

bid identification purposes.

• Solicitation number

• Date and time of bid opening

• Prospective Contractor's name and return address

Buyer:

Email Address:

Department Website:

COMMERCE CONTACT INFORMATION

Austin McClane

Buyer’s Direct Phone

Number:

Acom.Procurement@arkansas.gov

Department’s Main

Number:

https://commerce.arkansas.gov/

501-537-6824

501-682-1121

Page 1 of 11

Rev 8/2025

SECTION 1 – INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

1.1 INTRODUCTION

This Invitation for Bid (IFB) is issued by the Department of Commerce for Arkansas Rehabilitation

Services to obtain pricing and a contract for Benefits Planning Services throughout the State of Arkansas.

Direct all communications regarding this Solicitation to the Buyer on page one (1) of the IFB.

1.2 LIVE BID OPENING

The live proposal opening will be April 2nd, 2026 at 2:00 pm.

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1.3 TYPE OF CONTRACT

A. As a result of this IFB, the Department intends to award a contract to a single Contractor (see

Contractor Selection).

B. The anticipated starting date for any resulting contract is July 1st, 2026 except that the actual contract

start date may be adjusted unilaterally by the State for up to three (3) calendar months. By submitting

a signed bid in response to the IFB, the Prospective Contractor represents and warrants that it will

honor its bid as being held open as irrevocable for this period.

C. The initial term of a resulting contract will be for one (1) year. Upon mutual agreement by the

Contractor and Department, the contract may be renewed by the State for up to six (6) additional

one-year terms or portions thereof, not to exceed a total aggregate contract term of seven (7)

consecutive years.

D. The State of Arkansas Services Contract (form SRV-1), which incorporates this Agreement by

reference, constitutes the entire agreement with respect to its subject matter, and supersedes any

previous proposals or other communications and any previous agreements. In the case of any

inconsistency or conflict, the term of the State of Arkansas Services Contract shall be controlling.

1.4 DEFINITION OF TERMS

A. Unless otherwise defined herein, all terms defined in Arkansas Procurement Law have the same

meaning herein.

B. The terms “Invitation for Bid,” “IFB,” and “Solicitation” are used synonymously in this document.

C. “Prospective Contractor” means a responsive and responsible bidder who submits a bid that meets

the Requirements and criteria set forth in this Solicitation.

Page 2 of 11

D. “Requirement” means a term, condition, provision, deliverable, Specification, or a combination

thereof, that is obligated under the Solicitation, resulting contract, or both.

E. “Shall” and “must” mean the imperative and are used to identify Requirements and Specifications.

F. “Specification” means any technical or purchase description or other description of the physical or

functional characteristics, or of the nature, of a commodity or service. “Specification” may include a

description of any Requirement for inspecting, testing, or preparing a commodity or service for

delivery.

G. “State” means the State of Arkansas. When the term “State” is used herein to reference any

obligation of the State under a contract that results from this Solicitation, that obligation is limited to

the Department using such a contract.

1.5 CONTRACTOR SELECTION

A. Award is expected to be made to the responsive and responsible Prospective Contractor determined

to have submitted the lowest bid that meets the Requirements and criteria set forth in the IFB, based

on the Estimated Total Cost of the Official Bid Price Sheet submitted by the Prospective Contractor.

B. The State reserves the right to determine that received costs from any vendor are unreasonable (too

high for the requirements of the subject solicitation) or unrealistic (too low to reflect the ability of the

offeror to meet the requirements of the solicitation). When it is determined by the State that pricing is

potentially unrealistic or unreasonable, the State may request an offeror to clarify elements of pricing,

and the offeror may be removed from consideration for a solicitation, at the sole discretion of the

State.

C. If the State so chooses, negotiations may be conducted with the lowest-bidding, responsive and

responsible Prospective Contractor if:

1. All bids received from responsive and responsible bidders exceed available funding; or

2. It appears that additional savings to the state may result from negotiation.

D. If negotiations fail to result in a contract, the State may negotiate with the next lowest-bidding,

responsive and responsible Prospective Contractor.

1. The negotiation process may be repeated until an acceptable lower bid price is negotiated, or

until such time the State determines negotiations are no longer in the best interest of the state.

2. Negotiations are conducted at the sole discretion of the State.

E. Once the anticipated awardee has been determined, the anticipated award will be posted to the OSP

website (located here), generally for a period of fourteen (14) days prior to the issuance of a contract.

The postings are anticipated awards only, subject to protest.

F. A contract is not effective prior to final award being made by the State; some contracts may be

subject to Legislative review prior to final award.

1.6 CLARIFICATION OF SOLICITATION

A. Submit questions regarding this Solicitation via email to the Buyer on page one (1) of the IFB by

midnight, Central Time on or before March 12th, 2026.

1. For each question submitted, Prospective Contractor should reference the specific Solicitation

item number to which the question refers, as applicable.

2. Prospective Contractors’ written questions will be consolidated and answered by the State as

deemed appropriate. The State’s consolidated written response is anticipated to be posted to the

OSP website (located here) by the close of business on March 19th, 2026. If Prospective

Contractor questions are unclear or non-substantive in nature, the State may request clarification

of a question(s) or decline to answer.

Page 3 of 11

B. The Prospective Contractor should notify the Buyer of any term, condition, etc., that precludes the

Prospective Contractor from submitting a Responsive Bid. Prospective Contractors should note that it

is the responsibility of the Prospective Contractor to seek resolution of all such issues, including

those relating to the terms and conditions of the contract, prior to the submission of a bid.

C. Prospective Contractors may contact the Buyer with non-substantive questions at any time prior to

the bid opening.

D. An oral statement by the Department will not be part of any contract resulting from this Solicitation

and may not reasonably be relied on by any Prospective Contractor as an aid to interpretation unless

it is reduced to writing and expressly adopted by the Department.

1.7 RESPONSE DOCUMENTS

A. All bids must be submitted to the delivery address and by the submission deadline on page one (1)

of the IFB.

B. Bid Response Packet

1. Prospective Contractors shall utilize the Bid Response Packet attached to the Solicitation to

submit their bids.

2. The following are bid submission Requirements and must be submitted as part of a Prospective

Contractor’s bid.

a. Signed Bid Signature Page; signature may be ink or digital.

b. Completed Bid Response Packet, which must be in English.

c. Completed Official Bid Price Sheet attached to Solicitation posting.

i. Pricing must be proposed in U.S. dollars and cents.

ii. Quantities stated are estimates only and are not guaranteed. Prospective Contractor

must bid unit price on the estimated quantity and unit of measure specified.

• The State may order more or less than the estimated quantity on term contracts, and

the Contractor shall sell to the Department quantities ordered at no more than the

bid price.

iii. If pricing documents do not allow for accurate pricing, Prospective Contractor should

notify the Buyer at least seventy-two (72) hours before the bid opening time.

iv. Prices must be firm offers and adjustments may be negotiated at the time of contract

renewal/annually/quarterly.

• A request for a price increase must include supporting documentation demonstrating

that the increase in contract price is based on an increased cost to the Contractor

and that the proposed pricing is still competitive in the marketplace. The State has

the right to approve or deny any request for a price adjustment.

v. Discount from list bids pricing is not acceptable unless requested elsewhere in the

Solicitation.

vi. State and local sales taxes should not be included in the bid price. Trade discounts

should be deducted from the unit price and the net price should be shown in the bid.

vii. Travel, food, and lodging are not reimbursable under this Solicitation.

d. Copy of Prospective Contractor’s Equal Opportunity Policy

i. Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 19-11-104, OSP requires a Prospective

Contractor bidding on a state contract to submit a copy of the Prospective Contractor’s

Page 4 of 11

Equal Opportunity (EO) Policy. Prospective Contractors not required by law to have an

EO Policy must submit a written statement to that effect.

e. Proposed Subcontractors Form (form SRV-1

3. The following items, which must be submitted prior to a contract award to the Prospective

Contractor, may also be included with the Prospective Contractor’s bid response:

a. EO 98-04 Contract & Grant Disclosure Form (form SRV-1

4. Prospective Contractors should not include any other documents or ancillary information, such

as a cover letter or promotional marketing information.

C. Prospective Contractors should not alter any language in Solicitation document(s) or Official Bid

Price Sheet provided by the State.

D. Prospective Contractors’ bids cannot be altered or amended after the bid opening except as

permitted by law or rule.

E. As requested, Prospective Contractors shall provide clarification regarding Prospective Contractor’s

bid response.

F. Prospective Contractors may submit multiple bids.

Page 5 of 11

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541611Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services

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