The Washington Department of Commerce is initiating this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit Proposals from those qualified and interested in participating in a project to administer a needs-based grant program to eligible cities, counties, tribal nations, and destination marketing organizations (DMOs). The grants will allow award recipients to conduct the necessary planning and activities needed to continue to recover from the pandemic and resulting public health orders, build capacity and resiliency, and restart projects that will increase tourism, generate new revenue and create living-wage jobs.

It is anticipated that this program will receive between 40 and 60 proposals from respondents to the grant application process.

Commerce has received funding for this grant program from a federal EDA Statewide Tourism & Economic Development Planning Grant Award. Commerce has budgeted an amount not to exceed $3,560,000 for this project, including the grants awards. Costs to administer the grant program is capped at 10% (maximum) of the program budget and we intend to award one contract to support the activities described in this RFP.

The deadline to propose is August 2, 2023 5pm, PST Olympia,WA.

The WEBS Customer Reference Number for this RFP is DPADG2023.
Please see Commerce’s web posting to access the RFP document and find information related to this opportunity.