RFP RE-ISSUE: FOR/Maine Timber Harvesting Equipment Transportation Efficiency Study

NOTICE of REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS RE-ISSUE:
FOR/Maine Timber Harvesting Equipment Transportation Efficiency Study

ORGANIZATION:
FOR/Maine, Maine Forest Products Council

SUMMARY:
FOR/Maine is soliciting competitive bids for a study of Timber Harvesting Equipment Transportation Efficiency. The provider will study and report on the possibility of a statewide expansion of 1) the March/April allowance for the movement of timber harvesting equipment 24 hours a day to year-round on non-posted roads; and 2) the Aroostook County pilot program which allows for night moves for unladen over-width lowbed equipment trailers on state highways between November 1st and May 1st.

FOR/Maine is a broad coalition of forest industry leaders, nonprofits, state agencies, communities and university partners all working to implement the Forestry 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.

This request for proposals represents the requirements for an open and competitive process under federal guidelines for procurement by competitive proposal. In competitive proposal procurement, the proposal that is most advantageous to the program is selected, considering both price and other factors.

DATES:
Interested parties are invited to submit proposals by 11:59 pm (EST) on October 14, 2021. All questions regarding the RFP should be submitted no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on October 1, 2021.

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