Sound Transit · Technical Assistance Program
Sound Transit Technical
Assistance Program (TAP)
Welcome! We're walking through Sound Transit's TAP — what it is, how it works, and what's next for our team.
Today's agenda.
- 01Program Overview · What TAP is, why it exists, and Sound Transit's mission behind it
- 02Program Life Cycle · From intake to services closed — how the process flows
- 03RFTOP & Task Orders · How work is assigned, what your response should include
- 04Reporting & KPIs · What you'll track and how performance is measured by schedule
- 05Contract Roles & Next Steps · Key contacts, invoicing, and upcoming onboarding events
About Sound Transit.
Enthusiastically transforming the map of Central Puget Sound and connecting people to opportunity through clean, frequent, reliable transit.
Connecting more people to more places to make life better and create opportunities for all.
Champions Sound Transit's commitment to business access and opportunity through DBE, Small Business Program, Business Outreach, and capacity building initiatives.
A free, equity-centered technical assistance program.
“To provide small businesses a free, equity-centered structured technical assistance program that strengthens their firm's readiness to pursue and perform Sound Transit contracting opportunities.”
Level the playing field
Designed to level the playing field for small and disadvantaged businesses seeking public contracting opportunities.
Strengthen firm readiness
Targeted consulting, advisement, and skill development across six service schedules.
Pursue & perform
Prepares small businesses to successfully pursue and perform on Sound Transit and other public agency contracts.
The six service schedules.
TAP is organized into six specialized schedules. As a Launch Industries subcontractor, you've been assigned to one or more of these areas.
Government Contracting Consulting & Advisement
Accounting and Financial Consulting & Advisement
Business Operations & Development — Construction
Business Operations & Development — Non-Construction / Professional Services
Bonding & Insurance Consulting & Advisement
Marketing & Branding Consulting & Advisement
Schedule A — Government Contracting.
Government Contracting Consulting & Advisement — 8 service line items.
| # | Service Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | General Government / Sound Transit Procurement Guidance |
| 2 | DBE Certification Requirements Assistance |
| 3 | Small Business Certification Requirements Assistance |
| 4 | Sound Transit Procurement System(s) Registration Assistance |
| 5 | Capability Statement Development / MRSC Roster Registrations |
| 6 | Sound Transit Bid Preparation |
| 7 | Consultation on Understanding Your Sound Transit Contract: Onboarding |
| 8 | Navigating Sound Transit Contract Compliance Systems (e.g. B2Gnow) |
Schedule B — Accounting & Financial.
Accounting and Financial Consulting & Advisement — 8 service line items.
| # | Service Description |
|---|---|
| 2 | Accounting Practices |
| 3 | Financial Literacy |
| 7 | Financial Documentation: Credit Report — Review / Assistance |
| 8 | Financial Documentation: Profit and Loss Statement — Review / Assistance |
| 9 | Financial Documentation: Balance Sheet, Income Statement — Review / Assistance |
| 10 | Financial Documentation: Tax Documentation — Review / Assistance |
| 11 | Financial Documentation: Personal Financial Documentation — Review / Assistance |
| 14 | Understanding Loans & Loan Terms (Fiscal Management, Fiscal Responsibility, etc.) |
Schedule D — Non-Construction / Professional Services.
Business Operations & Development — Non-Construction / Professional Services — 3 service line items.
| # | Service Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Workflow and Operations: Administrative Organization |
| 2 | Understanding Teaming for Sound Transit Contracts |
| 3 | Consultation: Growing from a Subcontractor to a Prime Contractor |
Schedule F — Marketing & Branding.
Marketing & Branding Consulting & Advisement — 2 service line items.
| # | Service Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Business Marketing: Promoting business with Agency, potential teaming with Primes. |
| 2 | Business Branding: logos, brochures, marketing development, web development and maintenance, etc. |
Program life cycle.
ST Intake
Receive program request and documents.
ST Needs Assessment
Analyze requirements and scope.
RFTOP Issued
Release request for task order proposals.
Task Order Issued
Award task order and notify teams.
14–22 business days.
From initial intake through task order issuance and introduction.
Net 30 to Launch.
Upon approved deliverables and invoice submission. Launch is subject to Prompt Pay — we pay subcontractors within 5 days of funds becoming available.
Request for Task Order Proposals (RFTOP).
A mini-competition for a specific assignment under an existing contract, used for specific scopes of work.
Only firms holding the relevant schedule contract are contacted. You are part of an approved, pre-qualified pool.
Sound Transit has the right to refuse proposed subcontractors. All subcontractor proposals must be approved.
Responding to a RFTOP.
Each response is unique. Anticipated elements are 1–2 pages and should address:
Capacity
Demonstrate your firm's ability to perform the specific task order.
Approach & Methodology
Describe how you will deliver the requested services.
Staffing Plan
Identify key personnel who will perform the work.
Conflicts of Interest
Disclose any potential conflicts relevant to the engagement.
Cost / Price
Provide your proposed cost using your awarded rate schedule.
Subconsultants
Identify any subconsultants you intend to use (subject to ST approval).
Launch will lead writing and responding to the RFTOP proposals. When we receive a RFTOP request, we'll reach out (within your schedule and agreed tasks) to verify your capacity, approach & methodology, specific skill set, estimated hours, and conflicts of interest.
ST required reporting & performance metrics.
Per task order, consultants are expected to track the following on an ongoing basis:
Hours
All hours worked per task order — for accurate invoicing and reporting.
Deliverables
Capacity built, contracts pursued, workshops delivered, and other tangible outputs.
Reporting
Monthly and/or per engagement — specific cadence will be defined in each task order.
All reporting requirements will be confirmed in your individual task orders. Stay organized from day one.
KPIs by schedule.
- Bidding & MRSC Roster registrations
- Capabilities statements developed
- New & renewed business certifications facilitated
- DBE/Small Business graduations & post-certification contract awards
- Client credit score awareness & business credit impacts
- Business plan financials consultations
- Impact to client financing capacity
- New users for Safe Harbor Rate program
- Prompt payment improvements
- Change in size of contracts attained
- Revenue impact for clients
- Employment changes for clients
- New NAICS codes & new equipment/systems
- Branding projects completed
- Website SEO scores or traffic growth
- Testimonials or success stories
All schedules also track: clients served, consultation hours, and workshops/attendees.
Contract roles & responsibilities.
Any authorized commitment or direction related to contract requirements must be made in writing. Only the contracting officer may alter the contract.
Any change to the contract must be made by formal contract modification. Verbal directions do not constitute authorization.
The ST Project Manager may approve or reject proposed key individuals without a formal modification. Proposed individuals must demonstrate they meet stated requirements.
Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCOI).
There is an ongoing duty to disclose potential or actual conflicts of interest after contract award. This obligation extends to subconsultants.
Impaired Objectivity
When a firm's ability to render impartial advice is compromised by a competing interest.
Biased Ground Rules
When a firm has influenced the rules or specifications in a way that favors its own proposal.
Unequal Access to Information
When a firm has access to non-public information that gives it an unfair competitive advantage.
Heads up: Sound Transit communications are subject to public disclosure requirements.
Billing rules.
- 01Rates are fully-burdened — travel is included.
- 02You are only eligible to bill for line items your firm has been awarded.
- 03If awarded, you may track all time spent within the allotted quantity of hours.
Launch internal team.
Core team
Monica Colgan
Program Director
Stacia Weller Clarke
Senior Project Manager
Liberty Tanghal
Finance & Bookkeeping
Teah Delfino
Human Resources
Back-of-house
Lorena Ramos
Executive Assistant
Mary Angela Porras
Administrative Support
Your onboarding roadmap.
TAP orientation complete
You understand the program, life cycle, and your schedule.
OMWBE DBE Personal Narrative
Guidance session (Schedules A, C, D, F).
Program Launch
TAP hard launch — begin serving small business clients under your awarded schedule.
Train-the-Trainer
Sound Transit Procurement Guidance (Schedules A, B, C, D, F).
Launch Software, Reporting & KPIs
Internal systems training.
OMWBE DBE Personal Narrative Guidance.
Tentative Schedules: A, D, F
Monday, April 27
Time: TBD (between 12:00 – 3:30 pm)
Location: TBD
Tuesday, April 28
Time: TBD (between 9:30 – 12:30 pm)
Platform: Microsoft Teams
This session provides guidance on OMWBE DBE Personal Narrative requirements. Relevant subcontractors on Schedules A, C, D, and F should plan to attend one option.
Train-the-Trainer: Sound Transit Procurement Guidance.
Ideal Tentative Schedules: A, B, D, F
Monday, May 4
TBD
(between 1:00 – 4:00 pm)
Microsoft Teams
Virtual
Attendance is strongly encouraged. This session provides foundational guidance on supporting small businesses through Sound Transit's procurement process.
May 11 — Launch Industries systems training.
1:00 – 2:50 PM
Before you begin serving clients, all Launch Industries subcontractors will complete onboarding on our cohesive internal systems — ensuring we operate as a unified, efficient team.
- Participant scheduling
- Welcome calls
- Communications (email, texting, calls, virtual meetings)
- Meeting recordings & notetaking
- Project management
- Timecard submissions
- Continuity of service & handoffs
- Report submissions for KPI tracking
- Participant ghosting protocol
- Calendly or equivalent — free or paid
- Zoom — free or paid
- Google Workspace — we issue you a paid account (no cost)
- Fellow — we issue you a paid account (no cost)
- ClickUp — access to our workspace (no cost)
- Harvest — access to our Launch account (no cost)
- Nutshell — shared account access (no cost)
Open discussion
Questions?
Thank you for joining today's orientation. We're glad to have you on the Launch Industries team as we support Sound Transit's mission to connect people to opportunity.