LINQ Sole Source

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) School Nutrition Unit requires a proprietary Local Food Program (LFP) tracking system to be integrated into its existing LINQ Child Nutrition Portal. The system will capture grant‑related data (vendor, market channel, items purchased, pricing, etc.) for Colorado‑grown food purchases, support reporting requirements under the Healthy School Meals for All Act, and provide analytics for the State. Because LINQ is the sole owner of the portal and holds the current contract (expiring 9/30/2029), CDE is issuing a sole‑source request for enhancements valued at approximately $167,150 in goods and services, billed at $150 per hour. The work will span from 10/1/2026 through 9/30/2029, covering design, development, implementation, and ongoing support of the LFP tracking module. • Scope: Design, develop, and implement a Local Food Program tracking module within the existing LINQ Child Nutrition Portal. • Deliverables: Data entry screens, grant allocation management, item/category tracking, reporting dashboards, and a new data cube for ad‑hoc analysis. • Funding: Estimated total procurement cost ≈ $392,800 (including design, development, and reporting requirements). • Duration: ~3 years (10/1/2026 – 9/30/2029). • Sole‑source justification: LINQ is the exclusive developer/owner of the portal; no alternative vendor can provide compatible proprietary functionality.