In partnership with Virginia Tech (VT), UEDA has been funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to develop national networks focused on addressing economic resiliency and equity and convene EDA University Centers to advance regions. Elevating these ideas to a national level, alongside collaborative discussions, will provide learning opportunities and resource-sharing for regions looking for additional ways to tackle these issues.
UEDA is seeking a person or organization with leadership delivered by one person, to serve as the ARENI Director (AD). The AD will direct and facilitate recruitment, programming, and execution of ARENI, to include, at a basic level:
- Identification, coordination, and assembly of best practices and programming in the areas of economic equity, economic resiliency, and University Centers.
- Identification, coordination, and assembly of participants for the ARENI Networks.
This contractor will work in close collaboration with the UEDA Executive Director, association management staff, contracted Logistics Coordinator and event management staff to support the ARENI project and deliverables.
This opportunity is now closed. The deadline for submissions was 5:00 PM EST, January 21, 2021.
Q&A
Given the job responsibilities, do you anticipate the Director position being full-time?
We do not anticipate that the Director role is full time, however, we do anticipate having a single point of contact to serve in the role throughout the project.
As a small business, we have a network of contractors that we work with on an adhoc basis to support our work based on their experience, availability, and cost effectiveness. What flexibilities will the ARENI Director have to assign work under this contract to others within our organization?
The ARENI Director/firm can use subcontractors for the project, assuming that subcontractors meet any EDA procurement guidelines for subcontractors. We support utilizing a network to assist with the project.
How often do you anticipate the need for in-person meetings?
The only anticipated in-person meeting/event will be the Economic Accelerator event that happens in conjunction with the UEDA Summit.
Should proposals factor in expense costs (e.g., travel, incidentals) or will UEDA cover these separately from the budget cap of $290,000?
Proposals should consider travel costs for attendance at the Economic Accelerator event. Proposals do NOT need to include costs for hotel and meals while at the event.
What are the criteria UEDA uses for best practices?
We will use our Awards of Excellence criteria, stated in the RFP as originality, scalability, sustainability, impact, and replicability in other regions.