Sole Source Determination - UNM Rainforest Innovations

Description

Justin S. Greene Adam Fulton Johnson Commissioner, District 1 Commissioner, District 4 Lisa Cacari Stone Hank Hughes Commissioner, District 2 Commissioner, District 5 Camilla Bustamante Gregory S. Shaffer Commissioner, District 3 County Manager MEMORANDUM FOR FILE DATE: August 14, 2026 TO: File FROM: Bill Taylor, Procurement Manager RE: Sole Source Determination Pursuant to NMSA 1978, 13-1-126; Consultant Services for the Provision of Providing a Tribal Liaison for Santa Fe County Regional Economic Development in Support of the Native American Entrepreneurship Initiative Program BACKGROUND Santa Fe County is seeking to contract UNM Rainforest Innovations to strengthen the regional economy by increasing access to resources, capital, and coordinated support for Native American entrepreneurs. UNM Rainforest Innovations through the New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program (NMTEEP) has already built trust, established key infrastructure, relationships, and an effective program model of hiring and managing tribal liaisons, providing a solid foundation from which Santa Fe County can build its own programming and approach for serving and connecting with Native American entrepreneurs. This success and foundation can be seen through the program’s successful years of implementation and execution (April 2022 – June 2025) as well as through the Discovery Report created by the program. These assets make UNM Rainforest Innovations the ideal entity to support Santa Fe County in pursuing a tribal liaison role and expanding this work. (see discovery report attached). ISSUE UNM Rainforest Innovations has undergone years of laying the necessary groundwork to establish a model of connecting with communities of Tribal Entrepreneurs by hiring liaisons to serve as “boots on the ground” navigators, mentors, and champions, fostering relationships with entrepreneurs in their communities, identifying needs and barriers, and seeking solutions by helping entrepreneurs navigate their local, regional, and state-wide entrepreneurial ecosystem. UNM Rainforest Innovations is the only entity in the state who has established hiring liaisons as a best practice for working with entrepreneurs and prides itself on its “bottom-up” model of entrepreneurial economic development.