Request for Proposal No. 2026-01 (Printing and Mailing)

Mississippi Department of Employment Security
Tate Reeves
Governor
William J. Ashley, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Request for Proposals (RFP)
No. 2026-01
RFx Number: 3180002918
Mississippi Department of Employment Security
Printing and Mailing Services
ISSUE DATE: May 18, 2026
PROPOSAL OPENING LOCATION: Mississippi Department of Employment Security
1235 Echelon Parkway
Jackson, MS 39213
CONTACT: Jeff Crump
bids@mdes.ms.gov
601-321-5481
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Wednesday June 24, 2026, 4:00 PM CDT
PROPOSAL OPENING DATE: Thursday June 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM CDT

Table of Contents
Section 1 - Agency Background ..................................................................................................... 3
Section 2 - Purpose ......................................................................................................................... 3
Section 3 - Procurement Timeline (All times CDT) ...................................................................... 3
Section 4 - Period of Performance ................................................................................................. 4
Section 5 - Contract and Questions/Requests for Clarification...................................................... 4
Section 6 - Scope of Services ......................................................................................................... 5
6.1 Historical Data Relevant to this RFP ............................................................................................ 5
6.2 Scope of this RFP ......................................................................................................................... 6
Section 7 - Minimum Qualifications (Required)......................................................................... 11
Section 8 - Proposal Submission Requirements ........................................................................... 12
8.1 Format & Contents (in order): ................................................................................................... 12
8.2 Submission Requirements ......................................................................................................... 12
Section 9 - Proposal Evaluation and Basis for Award ................................................................. 14
Section 10 - Vendor Certification .............................................................................................. 177
Section 11 - Debarment ................................................................................................................ 17
Section 12 - Registration with Mississippi Secretary of State ..................................................... 18
Section 13 - Insurance, Bonds, or Other Sureties ........................................................................ 18
Section 14 - Request for Reconsideration .................................................................................... 19
Section 15 - Proposal Opening ..................................................................................................... 19
Section 16 - Award Notification .................................................................................................. 20
Section 17 - Procurement Methodology....................................................................................... 20
Section 18 - Required Contract Terms and Conditions ................................................................ 23
Section 19 - Optional Contract Terms and Conditions ................................................................ 23
Section 20 - Agency Website ..................................................................................................... 233
Section 21 - Attachments ............................................................................................................. 23
Attachment A ........................................................................................................................................ 244
Attachment B ........................................................................................................................................ 277
Attachment C ........................................................................................................................................ 300
Attachment D ........................................................................................................................................ 366
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Attachment E ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.8
Attachment F .......................................................................................................................................... 39
Section 1 - Agency Background
The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (hereinafter "MDES", "Agency", or "State")
is a federally funded state agency that administers employment security programs under the
direction of the governor of Mississippi and reports to the Federal Government. MDES oversees,
manages, and directs all Employment Service (ES) labor functions and the Unemployment
Insurance (UI) division. Through these programs, MDES works to expand employment, improve
workforce skills, and enhance productivity for the State of Mississippi.
Section 2 - Purpose
The MDES seeks to attain sealed competitive proposals from qualified vendors to provide
comprehensive design, print, and direct mail services. These services include, but are not limited
to, designing, printing, labeling, sorting, bulk mailing and providing related services and
miscellaneous other mass mail-outs. The MDES desires to contract with an experienced vendor
that possesses the necessary abilities and resources to provide the services specified within this
Request for Proposal (RFP).
The MDES seeks to enter into a multi-term, firm fixed price, requirements contract for the
aforementioned services. This RFP, any amendment thereto, such as Questions and Answer
document(s), as well as the awarded Vendor's proposal, and any requested best and final offer
shall constitute the Contract.
This RFP and any resulting contract shall be governed by the applicable provisions of the
Mississippi Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB) Office of Personal Service Contract
Review Rules and Regulations (OPSCR), a copy of which is available at 501 N. West Street, Suite
701E, Jackson, Mississippi 39201 for inspection or at
https://www.dfa.ms.gov/sites/default/files/Personal%20Service%20Contract%20Review%20Ho
me/Rules%20and%20Regulations/pprb-opscr-rules-and-regulations-efficetive-01182020.pdf
Section 3 - Procurement Timeline (All times CDT)
RFP Issue Date Monday May 18, 2026
First Advertisement Date Monday May 18, 2026
Second Advertisement Date Tuesday May 26, 2026
Questions Submission Deadline Wednesday June 3, 2026 - 2:00 PM
Answers Posted Friday June 12, 2026 - 4:00 PM
Proposal Submission Deadline Wednesday June 24, 2026 -10:00 AM
Proposal Opening Thursday June 25, 2026 -10:00 AM
Anticipated Notice of Intent to Award Wednesday July 15, 2026
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A Proposal received at the place designated in the solicitation for receipt of Proposals after the
exact time specified for receipt will not be considered.
NOTE: Adjustments to the schedule may be made as deemed necessary by MDES.
Section 4 - Period of Performance
The awarded contract will be for three (3) years with the option to extend up to an additional two
(2) years, which may be exercised at the sole discretion of MDES. The effective date of this
contract will be September 27, 2026.
Section 5 - Contract and Questions/Requests for Clarification
5.1 Vendors must carefully review this solicitation, in its entirety. Following review, vendors
may have questions to clarify or interpret the RFP in order to submit the best proposal
possible. All questions and requests for clarifications, must be submitted by the date and
time reflected in Section 2 by the Vendor via email directly to:
MDES Procurement
Email: bids@mdes.ms.gov.
5.2 Vendors should enter "RFP RFx Number 3180002918 - Questions" as the subject for the
email. Question submittals should include a reference to the applicable RFP section and be
submitted in the format shown below:
RFP Section, Page Number Vendor Question/Request for Clarification
1.
5.3 Official responses will be provided only for questions submitted as described above and
only to clarify information already included in the RFP. The identity of the organization
submitting the question(s) will not be revealed. All questions and answers will be
published on the Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search Portal website and
the agency's website as an amendment to the RFP on or before the date and time reflected
in Section 2.
5.4 The MDES will not be bound by any verbal or written information that is not contained
within this RFP unless formally noticed and issued by the contact person as an RFP
amendment. Vendors are cautioned that any statements made by agency personnel that
materially change any portion of the proposal document shall not be relied upon unless
subsequently ratified by a formal written amendment to the proposal document.
5.5 All vendor communications regarding this RFP must be directed to the Proposal
Coordinator. Unauthorized contact regarding the RFP with other employees of the agency
may result in the vendor being disqualified, and the vendor may also be suspended or
debarred from the State.
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5.6 Pre-Proposal Conference, Tour or Site Visit: No pre-proposal conference, tour, or site visit
will be held for this RFP.
5.7 Acknowledgement of Amendments: Should an amendment to the RFP be issued, it will be
posted on the Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search Portal website and the
agency's website in a manner that all Vendors will be able to view. Further, Vendors must
acknowledge receipt of any amendment to the solicitation by providing a signed
"Acknowledgements of Amendments" form, Attachment G. The acknowledgment should
be received by the agency on or before the time, date, and at the place specified for receipt
of proposals of the submission deadline in Section 2. It is the Vendor's sole responsibility
to monitor the websites for any updates or amendments to the RFP. Questions and Answer
document(s) issued/posted on the Mississippi Contract/Procurement Opportunity Search
Portal website and the agency's website must be treated the same as an RFP Amendment.
5.8 The RFP is comprised of the base RFP document, any attachments, any amendments issued
prior to the submission deadline, and any other documents released before contract award.
Section 6 - Scope of Services
This section contains information on services and procedures that the Vendor must provide or
adhere to, in servicing the MDES account. The descriptions are not all-inclusive but are provided
to provide you with an understanding of the expected services or procedures.
Please respond by restating each service listed below, including the number, and confirm your
intention to provide the service as described, respond by stating, "Confirmed". If your company
can provide the service, but not exactly as described, respond by stating, "Confirmed, but with
exceptions", and state the specific exceptions. If your company is currently unable to provide a
listed service, respond by stating, "Unable to provide this service". Any additional details
regarding these services should be provided in your responses to the questionnaire, or as additional
information included as an appendix to your proposal.
Historical Data Relevant to this RFP
Below is the historical data of printed documents, sheet counts, and checks for the previous 19
months. As well as data that shows our printing needs in a high-volume scenario during 2020 and
2021.
Month Document Counts Sheet Counts Checks
Oct-24 32,580 67,982 989
Nov-24 26,074 54,123 217
Dec-24 55,778 126,519 678
Jan-25 38,944 80,188 142
Feb-25 28,162 64,985 116
Mar-25 51,050 106,964 636
Apr-25 30,662 70,135 537
May-25 39,292 85,362 440
Jun-25 43,537 98,435 192
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Jul-25 30,907 70,772 321
Aug-25 34,217 71,601 1311
Sep-25 26,496 55,584 121
Oct-25 27,483 59,805 179
Nov-25 31,212 67,291 120
Dec-25 42,380 98,512 79
Jan-26 39,013 85,730 190
Feb-26 45,582 117,717 89
Mar-26 26,052 60,943 851
Apr-26 30,386 69,424 477
Summary Data
Year Correspondence Checks Totals
2019 802,136 5,583 807,719
2020 2,375,266 4,966 2,380,232
2021 1,775,589 14,720 1,790,309
2022 924,689 13,138 937,827
2023 563,625 12,993 576,618
2024 548,724 7,707 556,431
2025 424,342 4,194 428,536
Scope of this RFP
The winning Vendor will provide MDES comprehensive printing and mailing services, including:
6.2.1 General
6.2.1.1 The Vendor must demonstrate an ability to accept files ranging from raw
data feeds to proprietary formats such as Adobe PDF(R). The Vendor will
include available and acceptable formats for print services as part of their
submission documents.
6.2.1.2 The Vendor must meet mailing service levels as determined by
requirements generated by MDES requests.
6.2.1.3 The Vendor must demonstrate the ability to print, secure, and mail
Unemployment Insurance checks including Forms, Reports, and On
Demand ad hoc prints including Stuffers, Labels, Calendars, Catalogs,
Guides, Brochures and Booklets in both black and white and color.
6.2.1.4 The Vendor must provide a Project Manager and any additional staff at
no cost to the State, required for the analysis and implementation phases
of the transition of services.
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6.2.1.5 The Vendor must provide programming services to meet or exceed
current MDES printing and mailing services using application data files.
6.2.1.6 The Vendor must provide custom programming, consultation and design
services for all the print jobs using current process flows or future process
flow requirements.
6.2.1.7 The Vendor must be able to create, proof, and print ad hoc forms and
reports upon MDES request and complete the tasks on the same business
day.
6.2.1.8 The Vendor must describe in detail, including process flow diagrams, how
our data files will be received and verified as well as how they will be
processed once they have been received. This should also include a
detailed outline for the process of document composition and mail
processing.
6.2.1.9 The Vendor will be accountable for and will manage inventory of
materials for contracted print and mail services. The Vendor must procure
and store all printing stock (including checks), envelopes and related
supplies. They will also manage storage and mailing of any preprinted
materials such as forms and booklets.
6.2.1.10 The Vendor must provide a means for MDES to:
6.2.1.8.1 View and proofread all documents, forms, reports, etc.
6.2.1.8.2 Search all documents by specific criteria based on the
document to allow for reprinting, tracking, etc.
6.2.1.8.3 Identify workflow roles and assign employees certain tasks
by role.
6.2.1.8.4 View versioned history for all documents resulting from the
print jobs. All versions kept should be accessible /
searchable in accordance to comply with Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA).
6.2.1.8.5 Apply dynamic messaging to existing print materials
utilizing existing whitespace on the document format. This
dynamic messaging feature will eliminate creating separate
informational documents and lower the cost of mailing to
MDES.
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6.2.1.8.6 Verify the number of documents/checks were printed and
mailed, and how many documents/checks were not printed
due to any errors.
6.2.1.11 The Vendor must disclose the discounted postal rate(s), and the percent
of forms that will be mailed at that rate.
6.2.1.12 The Vendor must guarantee the lowest postal rates allowed by the Postal
Service, provide current rate schedules and conditions or additional fees
which apply, and indicate price points for reduced cost of services and
method of calculation for accrued services to meet price points.
6.2.1.13 The Vendor must show the appropriate level of insert capabilities, such as
sorting, folding, and inserting by recipient or by address to identify
opportunities for group correspondence and consolidated mailings by
type.
6.2.1.14 The Vendor must provide reports to MDES advising of all bad addresses,
address changes, etc.
6.2.1.15 The Vendor must provide access to an output file which the MDES benefit
system will use to correct bad addresses via agreed upon business rules.
6.2.1.16 The Vendor must be CASS certified, and scrub for bad addresses. Please
provide evidence of CASS software and US Postal certification in your
submission.
6.2.1.17 The Vendor must have the ability upon request to track a piece of mail to
the point where it is handed off to the mail carrier.
6.2.1.18 The Vendor must print 2D barcodes on all automated forms containing
recipient information for purposes of tracking and verification of process
integrity.
6.2.1.19 The Vendor must have the ability to receive all returned mail daily, scan
and upload them for MDES review. The Vendor must have the ability to
return returned checks to MDES.
6.2.1.20 The Vendor must provide documentation of their ability to process
Canadian and other foreign mail.
6.2.1.21 The Vendor must provide a description of the process used to track and
charge postal rates based on overall volume on a monthly or other agreed
upon process which provides the greatest benefit of accumulative volume
pricing to MDES.
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6.2.1.22 The Vendor must adhere to the postal addressing standards outlined in
URL http://pe.usps.gov/text/pub28/welcome.htm
6.2.1.23 The Vendor must invoice MDES monthly for billable services provided
the previous month. The invoice format must be acceptable to MDES;
including a summarized breakdown of the number of prints mailed at each
discounted postal rate, including the beginning and ending balance or
prepaid postage.
6.2.2 Start-Up / Transition Phase
6.2.2.1 During the Start-up Phase, all work must be completed (programming,
printing, inserting, testing, mailing, etc.) approval before the contract
starts.
6.2.2.2 The Vendor, at no cost to MDES, must print and mail PDF(R) files and
checks for testing purposes. User acceptance testing (UAT) of services
will be incorporated into the conversion and delivery process plan.
6.2.3 Project Work Plan
The Vendor must submit a detailed operations plan describing how duties will be
performed, including workflows for print, finishing, mail induction, return mail
processing, QC, SLAs, staffing, equipment, and contingencies. This Plan that must
include but not be limited to the following:
6.2.3.1 Transition Phase: Verification of all documents for printing including
checks.
6.2.3.2 Finishing & Preparation: Sorting, folding, inserting into envelopes
(single and multi-insert), sealing, addressing, and metering.
6.2.3.3 Outbound Mailing: USPS-compliant processing, presort services,
Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb), automation discounts, tray/sack
preparation, manifesting, and induction to USPS.
6.2.3.4 Mail Tracking, Address Verification, and Return Mail Processing:
Tracking of outgoing mail including delivery information where
available. Receipt, logging, scanning/imaging (if applicable) of outgoing
mail, address verification and hygiene updates (NCOA/CASS, address
correction service) where possible, designated handling workflows, and
reporting to MDES. Ability to intake and process returned mail.
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6.2.3.5 Quality Control: Error rate thresholds, sample pulls, reconciliation,
USPS acceptance documentation, and incident management.
6.2.3.6 Data Handling & Security: Secure receipt of print files
(SFTP/API/portal), encryption in transit and at rest, restricted access
controls, chain-of-custody, retention, and data destruction protocol.
6.2.3.7 Reporting & Invoicing: Daily production logs, weekly volume reports,
monthly billing with itemized services (print impressions, inserts,
envelopes, postage class, returns processed).
6.2.3.8 Account Management: Dedicated PM, onboarding plan, transition
timeline, operational escalation matrix.
6.2.3.9 Disaster Recovery: Facility redundancy, power/cooling, backup
equipment, recovery time objectives (RTO), and failover procedures.
6.2.3.10 Printing/Mailing Timeline Expectations:
Standard production windows for MDES are that all documents will
o
be mailed the same or next day.
Peak/Surge handling capacity and contingency plans.
o
6.2.3.11 Scaling: The successful Vendor will be able to scale services to
accommodate an increase or decrease in demand on an as-needed basis
without disrupting processing.
6.2.4 Security / Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery
6.2.4.1 The Vendor must provide a means for secure data transmission and
confirm receipt of the Department's data and files.
6.2.4.2 The Vendor must accept and receive File Transfer Protocol Secure
transmissions to ensure secure data exchanges.
6.2.4.3 For the purposes of disaster recovery and business continuity, the Vendor
must have access to a dedicated 24/7/365 restoration process that offers
full restoration and recovery of services within 24 hours or agreed upon
Shared-Loss Agreement standards.
6.2.4.4 The Vendor must also provide the business continuity plan illustrating
redundancies in existing facilities and equipment to ensure continuous
operations and high availability of services.
6.2.4.5 The Vendor must provide a copy of their most recent SSAE 16 Audit
Report, other third-party assessments and copy of business
continuity/disaster recovery plan for printing, mailing and computing.
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