Procurement & RFPs
Doing Business with Tri-Valley Transit
Tri-Valley Transit, Inc. (TVT), formerly Addison County Transit Resources, Inc. (ACTR), located in Middlebury, Vermont and Stagecoach Transportation Services, Inc. (STSI), located in Randolph, Vermont, is a non-profit corporation providing public transit services in Chittenden, Rutland, Orange, Windsor and Addison Counties in Vermont. The company’s procurement office is located at the TVT Addison Office in Middlebury, Vermont. Both agencies provide the full range of rural transit and paratransit services.
The goods and services we purchase are of the utmost importance to providing safe, reliable, accessible and affordable transportation for our customers.
Goods and services purchased by TVT range widely from paper clips to buses. We encourage small businesses owned by minorities and women to pursue contracts to compete for TVT business. Learn more about specific DBE program information.
Who buys for Tri-Valley Transit?
The Senior Managers and/or Executive Director sign off on all purchases for TVT. If anyone has any questions about TVT’s purchasing policies, please contact:
Jim Moulton, Executive Director
Telephone: 802-388-2287
Fax: 802-388-1888
Email: jim@trivalleytransit.org
All forms, bid notices, specifications and other documents can be picked up at the above address during regular office hours, Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
What does TVT buy?
Parts, supplies, equipment, professional, construction and other services required to maintain and operate its transit system as well as a small bus operations/maintenance facility.
How does TVT buy?
All goods and services TVT needs are obtained through either an informal purchasing process or a competitive bidding/request for proposals process.
Goods and/or services valued from $2,500 to $100,000 may be purchased from the lowest and best of two quotations in writing or request for proposal process.
Goods and/or services valued over $100,000 are purchased through a competitive sealed bid or request for proposals process. Vendors are notified of TVT’s intent to obtain bids or proposals by direct mailings from current vendor lists and through newspaper advertisements.
Federal Mandated Third Party Contract Clauses:
As part of an FTA recipient’s obligation to maintain adequate technical capacity to carry out its project and comply with the Common Grant Rules, the recipient’s third party contracting capability must be adequate to undertake its procurements effectively and efficiently in compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local requirements. The Common Grant Rules require the recipient to maintain a contract administration system to ensure that it and its third party contractors comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of their contracts or purchase orders and applicable Federal, State and local requirements. Specific third party contract provisions are required for each third party contract including requirements that each third party contractor extend those provisions to its subcontractors to the extent required. Additional guidelines for third party contract provisions are found by visiting the following website: FTA Circular 4220.1F
Per TVT’s procurement requirements, this link is the TVT General Contract Provisions (additional clauses may be necessary due to varying procurement specifications and needs, and will be cited in the individual RFP/IFB)
The acknowledgement of receipt is necessary for third party vendors to include as part of their bid package as a responsible vendor.
Who receives TVT’s bid notices/requests for proposals?
- Known vendors
- CTAA and Mass Transit Magazine
- Vendors requesting to be on our bid list for specific categories of goods or services that Tri-Valley Transit requires
How does TVT advertise for bids/proposals?
All bid and proposal related advertising appears in the legal notice sections of the Addison County Independent, the Burlington Free Press and/or the Rutland Herald (as appropriate).
How do I get on TVT’s bidder’s list?
Getting on TVT’s bidder’s list is as simple as forwarding a letter of interest to Angela McCluskey, DBE Officer
The following information must accompany your request to be placed on TVT’s bidder’s list:
- Legal / recognized name of your business.
- Street and/or PO Box mailing address(es) of business.
- All business contact phone numbers: 1-800 or similar, fax, pager, cellular, mobile and local phone numbers: e-mail and/or Web site addresses (when available.)
- Business point of contact, names and positions held.
- Future solicitations you wish to be mailed. Please limit requests to services and/or parts that can be provided by your business.
- Identify if business has Vermont Agency of Transportation DBE, MBE, WBE status.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprises
If anyone feels that their firm qualifies as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) under 49 CFR Part 26, please contact:
Angela McCluskey, DBE Liaison Officer
c/o Addison County Transit Resources
297 Creek Road
Middlebury, VT 05753
Telephone: 802-388-2287
Fax: 802-388-1888
angela@trivalleytransit.org
Download a DBE application. On a triennial basis, TVT establishes goals for the participation of disadvantaged businesses in its procurement process. For Federal Fiscal Years 2015-2017, TVT’s DBE goal is 3.88%.
NOTE: There is no DBE set-aside in TVT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program.
Certification eligibility
A Disadvantaged Business Enterprise is defined as a for-profit small business concern:
- That is at least 51% owned by one or more individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged or, in the case of a corporation, in which 51% of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals; and
- Whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more of the socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who own it.
Other criteria include, but are not limited to:
- Membership in a protected class;
- The owners’ personal net worth; and
- Firm meets SBA small business guidelines.