RFI: FOR/Maine Forest Economy Educational Connections & Curriculum Design

NOTICE of REQUEST FOR INFORMATION:
FOR/Maine Forest Economy Educational Connections & Curriculum Design

ORGANIZATION:
FOR/Maine, Maine Forest Products Council

SUMMARY:
FOR/Maine is interested in developing a better understanding of the work needed to build educational connections and curriculum resources that educate and engage students on forest economy topics and subjects which may ultimately result in an interest in careers in Maine’s forest products sector.

FOR/Maine is a broad coalition of forest industry leaders, nonprofits, state agencies, communities, and university partners all working to implement the Forest Opportunity Roadmap, a shared long-term vision of growth and innovation for the sector. The University of Maine, with co-applicants Maine Forest Products Council (MFPC) and Maine Technology Institute, has been awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration for completion of the project.

This EDA investment supports the implementation of Maine’s Forest Opportunity Roadmap, developed with EDA support in 2018 in response to the closures of five paper mills and two biomass power plants.  The project is currently conducting a comprehensive program of marketing, matchmaking, workforce recruitment and development, logistics best practices modeling, landowner forest management, research and development, and industry/sector communications.  The project supports manufacturing job creation and retention, and private investment throughout the state of Maine.

In 2020, FOR/ME established a workforce subcommittee tasked with providing the necessary knowledge to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy that supports long-term competitiveness and growth in Maine’s forest product sector and achieves the goals of the broader FOR/ME initiative. This strategy was completed in July of 2021, and can be viewed here.

This request for information represents the requirements for an open and competitive process under federal guidelines for procurement by a competitive proposal.

DATES:
Interested parties are invited to submit proposals by 11:59 pm (EST) on September 17, 2021. All questions regarding the RFI should be submitted no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on September 10, 2021. A notice of intent to participate should be submitted by September 3, 2021.

CONTACT:
Questions and completed proposals are to be submitted to Bri Bowman, Program Director FOR/Maine at bbowman@mdf.org.