The City of Charlotte’s Economic Development Department is seeking an experienced and knowledgeable consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive assessment and develop an implementation plan for the small business ecosystem in Charlotte to help increase equitable opportunities and address challenges/gaps in resources. This assessment and implementation plan is to provide an in-depth understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and key factors affecting small businesses in Charlotte.
Small Business Ecosystem Assessment Consulting Services – Cancelled
In April of 2023, Charlotte City Council approved funding from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for small business and entrepreneurship support. The City of Charlotte’s Economic Development Department is seeking an experienced and knowledgeable consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the small business ecosystem in Charlotte to help increase equitable opportunities and address challenges/gaps in resources. The City of Charlotte is committed to supporting the growth and success of local small, minority, and women-owned businesses and is eager to gain insights into the current landscape to inform our future initiatives. This assessment is to provide an in-depth understanding of the challenges, opportunities, and key factors affecting small businesses in Charlotte. The findings will help us develop targeted strategies, programs, and resources to empower and strengthen the local entrepreneurial community.
Strategic Energy Action Plan Consulting Services
The City of Charlotte (“City”) Office of Sustainability and Resilience (OSR) is seeking professional consulting services to update the SEAP five years after adoption to better reflect current trends in Charlotte, updates in available technology, and update science-based targets. The updated plan will need to review its ambitious GHG reduction goals for 2030 and 2050, offering potential revisions, benchmarks, and strategies throughout this work to ensure success. GHG reduction goals are:
- Fuel fleet and facilities by 100% zero-carbon sources by 2030,
- City of Charlotte will be a low-carbon city by 2050.
S70 Light Rail Vehicle Engineering Services
This Request for Proposals is to select one or more firms to provide consulting engineering services to the CATS Rail Car Maintenance department on a task order on-call basis. CATS reserves the right to substitute, delete, or add additional tasks to those outlined in Work because of changes in priorities or unforeseen circumstances. The Consultant services are not considered either complete or all-inclusive and may include any combination thereof. We recognize that some categories are not unique and may be like others, interface with, or be extensions of others.
PSR # 1512
Customer Experience/Internal Culture/Leadership Training Work
This project is part of the assessment the city manager had completed previously. The assessment findings gave objectives to CATS as a part of the next steps. The scope of work below outlines the steps we will take to meet some of these objectives.
Scope of work:
CATS is looking to do internal and external work with employees and riders. Below are detailed areas of focus we are looking to address.
Customer Experience:
A customer experience action statement to be created by staff in focus groups
Pillars of our customer experience- “The How.”
Never and always non-negotiable standards
Launch support of the program
Training program for onboarding new staff and contractors
Video script- day in the life of riders (3)
Project launch across the department
Public relations support for launch- press release, social media, etc.
Six months of project support
Internal Culture
Focus groups across the department to set a baseline and create the program
Roadmap to breaking down silos across the department
Interdepartmental teamwork with a focus on compassion and empathy
Roadmap to handoffs between departments
Understanding how your work impacts other
Understand the internal customer
Improvement of communications
Training program for onboarding new staff and contractors
Video script- day in the life of colleagues (3)
Project launch across the department
Six months of project support
Leadership/Train the Leader
Create the employee experience manual with leadership
Roadmap to increase morale and lower turnover
Leadership training program for leadership
Project launch with leadership
PSR # 1486
Alternatives to Violence Program
In 2019, more than 100 homicides occurred in Charlotte — an 80 percent increase over the previous year and the city’s highest number of homicides since the early 1990s — and hospital emergency departments treated more than 4,000 Mecklenburg County residents for assault-related injuries.
In response to the increase in violence, the City, County and partners have adopted a new public health approach to prevent violent crime.
To help address this problem, the Office of Equity, Mobility and Immigrant Integration seeks one community organization to act as the Lead Agency and implement Cure Violence Global’s violence interruption model in the priority geography of Beatties Ford Rd and Lasalle St.
Fare Equity Analysis
Provide a review of current CATS transit fares and perform a fare equity analysis.
(PSR#: 1341)
Auditing Services of Gross Advertising Sales
Looking for an auditor to verify over the five (5) years of the CATS Transit Advertising contract if the Gross Sales reported by the contractor are accurate and complete based on the monthly billings to the advertisers.
(PSR#: 1342)
Digital Navigation Services
The City is seeking a company knowledgeable and experienced in the strategy and execution of collaboration between government, private, and not-for-profit entities for the purpose of raising awareness and support of public Wi-Fi projects, increasing internet adoption with communities that have low internet adoption rates, and obtaining and sharing data on household broadband connection and the impact of digital inclusion efforts.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing qualitative and quantitative data around digital needs of households in Charlotte and impact of investments; outreach to the public and partners to promote widespread enrollment of qualifying households to the Federal Government’s Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP); and developing sustainable funding plans with partners around digital inclusion.