Revolving Loan Fund Management System

Request for Information Revolving Loan Fund Portfolio Management System December 20, 2016 DESCRIPTION 1.1 The Department of Commerce (DOC), Economic Development Administration (EDA) is seeking information on how an interested respondee could provide an existing electronic application with proven functionality as a service for program oversight and risk management of grant recipients' loan portfolio summary information data in support of the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program. 1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. BACKGROUND 2.1 Mission The Department of Commerce (DOC), Economic Development Administration (EDA) provides the U.S. with economic programs and grants to develop economic opportunities. The Economic Development Administration was established under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121), as amended, to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas of the United States. EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress. EDA is guided by the basic principle that distressed communities must be empowered to develop and implement their own economic development and revitalization strategies. Additional information about EDA and its programs can be found at www.eda.gov. EDA plays a critical role in driving economic development in communities across the nation. Through the agency's diverse and flexible programs, EDA makes grants for a broad portfolio of construction, technical assistance, financing, and economic development planning that local and regional entities can use to support their communities' unique economic development goals. EDA works with communities nationwide through its six regional offices, located in Atlanta (GA), Austin (TX), Chicago (IL), Denver (CO), Philadelphia (PA), and Seattle (WA). 2.2 RLF Program EDA's Economic Adjustment Assistance program provides grant funding to assists state and local interests in designing and implementing strategies to adjust or bring about change to an economy. Under Economic Adjustment, EDA administers its Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program, which supplies small businesses and entrepreneurs with the gap financing needed to start or expand their business. Throughout the United States, there are about 550 RLF Recipients with a combined portfolio of approximately $850 million. In addition to the terms and conditions of the grant, RLF Recipients are required to create and update an RLF Plan that establishes its strategy, policies and operational procedures. The RLF Plan is submitted to EDA for its review and approval. The plan contains metrics for performance and risk assessment. The RLF Program has five categories of program stakeholders, each of which have distinct user roles. • RLF Recipient - Grantee that manages RLF according to its EDA-approved RLF Plan. • RLF Administrator - EDA employees who administers a portfolio of RLFs in a regional office. • RLF Coordinator - EDA employee who coordinates policy and program information at EDA Headquarters. • EDA Regional Office - EDA employees in regional offices that also interact with RLF Recipients. • EDA Headquarters - EDA employees in Washington, D.C. that maintain policy, guidance, and regulations. OBJECTIVES 3.1 The RLF Program is implementing new risk management regulations, policies, and procedures to support improved governance of the grant program and oversight of the RLF Recipients' management of their revolving loan portfolios. Because of the nature of the RLF program, EDA seeks to leverage established and proven industry tools and functionality for risk management and oversight of similar financial information for the target RLF System. The system will facilitate RLF reporting, audit review, risk scoring and oversight of compliance actions as well as enable RLF Recipients to update or prepare their RLF Plan. Through reporting, RLF Recipients will submit loan summary information for their loan portfolio. (Note: The target system will not serve grant management functions, which will be managed through a separate electronic grants management system.) 3.2 EDA is seeking to obtain an existing application with proven functionality as a service for risk management and program oversight of grant and loan summary information data in support of the RLF Program. The service platform shall provide secure access for all RLF program stakeholders to participate in the RLF Program governance and oversight-leveraging those established tools for portfolio and risk management. A supplier-hosted service platform will reduce the burden on EDA to build and maintain infrastructure to support the RLF Program. Leveraging tools that have been designed for and used in industry to support grant and loan programs will provide best practices and lessons learned for that type of data and information and service operations. 3.3 The functionality and tools that EDA seeks to provide through this system should enable RLF Recipients to streamline and improve reporting on their loan programs, improve loan servicing processes, and improve the efficiency of managing their loan portfolios, while also easing program management functions for EDA staff and providing EDA staff with an effective tool for risk analysis and program monitoring and oversight. REQUIREMENTS 4.1 Brief Overview of System Requirements 4.2 System Interface Capability While EDA is not intending to request specific system interfaces for the initial implementation of the RLF system, the system shall provide ability to support future controlled system interfaces to external systems, if required. 4.3 User Administration The system shall provide functions to create, read, update, and delete users of the system. 4.4 User Roles The system shall allow the setting of user roles for each user that shall govern the right to read, create, update, and delete information and related system functions according to specified User Role. 4.5 User Role Access The system shall provide user authentication via at least two-factor functionality, with a preference for multi-factor authentication. 4.6 Data Classifications In addition to the User Role Access, RLF Administrators shall set and update data classifications for files uploaded or notes created within the system according to EDA grant management policy. 4.7 Audit Trails The system shall provide tracking of all data and file creation, updates, delete data and time by user. 4.8 Workflow Management The system shall provide RLF Administrators functions to manage workflows. 4.9 Rules Engine The RLF Administrator shall have functions to apply rules to added or changed workflow steps. 5.1 Reporting The automated system shall provide a set of reports that will be available to users of the system. 5.2 Data Conversion Support The Offeror shall supply support for data conversion of existing RLF Program data into the target system. 5.3 Data Input The system shall provide multiple channels for data input to meet the needs of the range of entities that contribute data to the program. 5.4 RLF Plan Creation and Updates The system shall provide online data collection functionality for RLF Recipients to create and update their RLF Plans as required by the RLF Program. 5.5 Loan Summary Information & Data Management The system shall provide RLF Recipients with data collection to support RLF financial reporting. 5.6 Program Form Data Collection The system shall provide data collection for RLF Program documents and standard forms. 5.7 Process Facilitation Automation For the purpose of RLF reporting and program management, the system shall provide automation for RLF Administrators to initiate required functions and standard processes, where exceptions to those processes are handled as needed. 5.8 Performance Dashboards The automated system shall provide Performance Dashboard displays by RLF Recipient with aggregation to the Regional and National/Program levels, available according to specified User Roles. 5.9 Risk Analysis Rating System Management The automated system shall calculate and score risk assessment according to specified program measures and shall provide functions to update and change the Risk Analysis Rating System. 6.1 General Document Management The automated system shall provide functions to upload files to the system and download stored documents. 6.2 Program Annotations Management The automated system shall provide functions for RLF Administrators to annotate program reporting, processes, and files with annotations to support the program. 6.3 Notifications and Reminders Management The automated system shall provide functions for RLF Administrators to set notifications and reminders for users of the system as well as automate notifications and reminders based on RLF program policy and business rules. 6.4 Service Requirements The service requirements are non-functional requirements of the target RLF System. 6.5 Hosting Service and Maintenance The Offeror shall provide hosting, operations and maintenance service for the RLF Program. RESPONSES 7.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI by addressing the items outlined in section 7.3 and include any additional questions and comments. 7.2 Responses are due no later than January 31, 2017, 11:00 AM EST. Please group questions and comments under number and section. Responses shall be limited to 12 pages and submitted via e-mail only to [email protected]. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 7.3. Responses shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following: A. Name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact. B. Identify the capability of the application as it relates to requirements described above in the Requirements section. C. Capacity to work with RLF program staff to tailor application to meet RLF program needs. D. Hosting information as available based on the information provided. E. Capacity for initial, in-person training of system users. F. Capacity for ongoing training support, at a minimum accessible online training and on-screen help. G. Capacity to provide remote technical assistance to users during business and after-hours. H. Expected timeframe for system design, customization, modification, testing, and training. I. Cost estimate to provide software as a service based on the information provided. J. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 523991, Trust, Fiduciary and Custody Activities "Small business concern" means a concern, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part 121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, averaging no more than $38.5 million dollars in annual receipts. Respondees are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions may apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards. The FAR is available at http://www.arnet.gov. SUMMARY THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide an existing application with proven functionality as a service for risk management and program oversight of grant and loan summary information data in support of the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program for the purpose of selection. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Department of Commerce has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.