(c) RFQ publication.

1. (1) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall publish each RFQ solicitation on the Office of the Arkansas Lottery’s web page and, if desired by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery, the Office of State Procurement website established for such solicitations.
2. (2) Notice of the solicitation may also be published in any newspaper or other relevant trade publication.
3. (3) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall further solicit interest in each RFQ by sending a formal notice of such or notice that the specific RFQ has been released to a documented list of qualified vendors, and if the list of potential vendors are comprised mainly of Arkansas businesses, such notice must be published in a newspaper with statewide circulation.
4. (4) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall compile the list of vendors from those known to the Office of the Arkansas Lottery’s staff.

5. (5) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall determine the number of vendors to include on the list by considering the:

   1. (A) Nature of the procurement;
   2. (B) Anticipated amount of the resulting contract; and
   3. (C) Number of known vendors.
6. (6) To the extent practicable, the Office of the Arkansas Lottery will strive to compile lists of potential offerors which are minority-owned businesses and female-owned businesses, and the Office of the Arkansas Lottery will actively solicit bids from such businesses or otherwise make such businesses aware of opportunities to bid for major procurement contracts.
7. (7) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery is not required to send a solicitation notice to more than a total of three (3) vendors, provided, however, that the Office of the Arkansas Lottery may send a solicitation notice to fewer than three (3) vendors.
8. (8) A general or standing request for notice of all solicitations of a given type shall not suffice as a request for a specific solicitation and shall create no obligation on the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

(g) Evaluation and award.

1. (1)

   1. (A) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery will make its initial selection based upon the respondents' qualifications.
   2. (B) Only after the most qualified respondent is identified does cost become a factor in determining the award.
   3. (C) Discussion may be conducted with qualified vendors who, based upon qualifications submitted, are determined to reasonably be susceptible of being selected for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding of and responsiveness to the solicitation requirements, and to obtain best and final offers.
2. (2) Proposals shall be evaluated by a committee established by the Director of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

3. (3)

   1. (A) Prior to reviewing proposals, each proposal evaluation committee member shall review a list of vendors making proposals, determine if a conflict of interest exists with a potential vendor, and sign a statement of whether or not the member has a potential conflict of interest.
   2. (B) Said statement shall be retained as procurement file documentation.
4. (4) Proposals shall be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the solicitation.

5. (5) Evaluations shall be conducted and criteria shall be established to select proposals that provide the:

   1. (A) Greatest overall value;
   2. (B) Greatest long-term benefit to the State of Arkansas;
   3. (C) Greatest integrity for the Office of the Arkansas Lottery; and
   4. (D) Best services and products for the public.
6. (6) Time discounts or cash discounts shall not be considered.
7. (7) Only signed, sealed responses delivered prior to the date and time of bid opening shall be accepted.

8. (8)

   1. (A) The past performance of a bidder/proposer/offeror on a state contract may be used by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery to determine whether the bidder/proposer/offeror is responsible.
   2. (B) Past performance must be supported by written documentation not greater than three (3) years old.
   3. (C) Reports, memos, and files may be in electronic form.
   4. (D) Past performance may be positive or negative.
   5. (E) Past performance on contracts from other Arkansas state agencies may also be used for evaluation.
   6. (F) Supporting documentation should be provided.
   7. (G) Past performance evaluation should not take the place of suspension or debarment procedures.