Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION NWFSC Sequencing Services for Genome Skimming and Related Data (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format i... COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION NWFSC Sequencing Services for Genome Skimming and Related Data (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice and in accordance with the simplified acquisition procedures authorized in FAR Part 13. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested, and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) This solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). Submit written quotes on RFQ Number 1333MF25Q0088. (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-05 (Aug 2025) (Deviation 2025-07) (May 2025). (iv) This solicitation is being issued as a total Small Business Set-Aside. The associated NAICS code is 541714. The small business size standard is 1,000 Employees. (v) This combined solicitation/synopsis is for the purchase of the following commercial services: CLIN 0001 Services, non-personal, to provide all labor, equipment, and materials (unless otherwise provided herein) necessary to collect next-generation sequencing data for genome skimming, population structure, and related genomic data needs in management-relevant marine species, in accordance with the Statement of Work. The Period of Performance shall be for two years and one month from the date of award. (vi) Description of requirements is as follows: See attached Statement of Work, which applies to the period of performance of two years and one month from the date of the award. INVOICES TO BE BILLED MONTHLY IN ARREARS. PROVIDE PRICING FOR A TWO-YEAR AND ONE-MONTH PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE. QUOTE PRICING MAY BE PROVIDED ON ATTACHED SF18 FORM OR ON COMPANY LETTERHEAD. (vii) Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance: Period of performance shall be: Two years and one month from Date of Award (DOA). Place of Performance is at the Contractor’s facility. (viii) FAR provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sept 2023), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. (ix) FAR provision 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. (x) FAR provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024) (Deviation 2025-02) (Deviation 2025-03) (Feb 2025), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. Offerors are advised to include a completed copy of the provision with its offer, unless the offeror’s Reps & Certs section on SAM.gov is accurate and current. Per Deviation 2025-02/03: System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations, including 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals—Representation, and paragraph (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Examples include 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance, and paragraph (d) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Contracting officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM. (xi) FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2023), applies to this acquisition and can be found on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. (xii) FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Jan 2025) (Deviation 2025-02) (Deviation 2025-03) (Feb 2025), applies to this acquisition and can be found in full text on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. (xiii) Any additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions that apply can be found on the Request for Quote form SF18 attachment. (xiv) Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating does not apply. (xv) Quotes are required to be received in the contracting office no later than 5:00PM EST on 09/08/2025. All quotes must be submitted electronically via email to the Contracting Officer, Raynier Camerino, raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. (xvi) Any questions regarding this solicitation should be submitted electronically via email to the Contracting Officer, Raynier Camerino, raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. UTILIZATION OF FEDCONNECT® FOR CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION The Department of Commerce will utilize the FedConnect® web portal in administering this award. The contractor must be registered in FedConnect® and have access to the FedConnect® website located at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect® questions please call the FedConnect® Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at support@fedconnect.net. There is no charge for registration in or use of FedConnect®. (End) 1352.215-72 Inquiries (Apr 2010) OFFERORS MUST SUBMIT ALL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THIS SOLICITATION IN WRITING VIA EMAIL TO raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. QUESTIONS SHOULD BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 5 CALENDAR DAYS FROM THE POSTING DATE. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (End of clause) FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023) NOTICE TO OFFERORS: Instructions for submitting quotations under this request for quote must be followed. Failure to provide all information to aid in the evaluation may be considered non-responsive. Offers that are non-responsive may be excluded from further evaluation and rejected without further notification to the offeror. 1. Submit PDF or Microsoft Word format quotations to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the time specified in the solicitation. Quote documents shall include signed copies of the SF 18 and SF 30(s) to acknowledge the solicitation and any applicable amendments. Email quotes are required and can be sent to raynier.camerino@noaa.gov. 2. Offeror shall have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM found at https://sam.gov/content/home) in order to provide a quote and be eligible for award. Must provide their UEID/CAGE CODE with their quote. 3. Offerors shall assume that the Government has no prior knowledge of them or their capability. 4. Offerors must provide all evaluation criteria in accordance with FAR 52.212-2. Offerors who do not provide all evaluation criteria may not be considered. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR NON-RECEIPT OF QUOTES. IT IS THE CONTRACTOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO REQUEST AND RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION OF THE QUOTE RECEIPT. FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation- Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2021) Offers will be evaluated based on price and the factors set forth in paragraph (a). The evaluation will consider the Non-Price Technical Solution (Technical knowledge, capabilities, experience, and past performance) to be significantly more important than price. However, as quotes are determined to be more equal in the non-price evaluation factor, price becomes more important and may become the determining factor for award. If, at any stage of the evaluation, all vendors are determined to have submitted equal, or virtually equal, Non-Price Technical Solutions, price could become the factor in determining which vendor will receive the award. The Government intends to evaluate the quotes and award a purchase order based on the Offeror’s initial quote; therefore, the Offeror’s initial quote should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a Non-Price Technical Solution and price standpoint. The Government reserves the right not to award a purchase order depending on the quality of the quote(s) submitted and the availability of funds. Furthermore, the Government may waive informalities and minor irregularities or omissions in quotes received. The Government may make award to other than the lowest-priced Offeror or the Offeror with the highest technical rating if the Contracting Officer determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government. The Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall price to achieve only slightly superior performance capability. (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. Paragraph (a) is hereby completed as follows: Evaluation will be based on the following: Factor 1 - The offeror shall have all the required technical knowledge and capabilities to provide the needed services described in the Statement of Work, in terms of the scope to accomplish the tasks, and meet the delivery schedule requirements. The vendor shall provide a detailed response to support their technical knowledge and capabilities for these evaluation factors. Factor 2 - Experience. The offeror shall provide a background, experience, and qualifications that will support the offeror’s capability to successfully perform the contract requirements. Factor 3 - PAST PERFORMANCE. The offeror's past performance on related contracts will be evaluated to determine, as appropriate, successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, effective management of subcontractors, cost management, level of communication between the contracting parties, proactive management, and customer satisfaction. If a quoter has no relevant past performance, the quoter must affirmatively state that it possesses no relevant past performance history. Offerors who fail to either provide past performance information or affirmatively state that they have none may be considered non-compliant with the solicitation. Factor 4 - FIRM-FIXED PRICE. The proposed prices/costs will be evaluated. The cost evaluation will determine whether the proposed costs are realistic, complete, and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements. Proposed costs must be entirely compatible with the technical knowledge and capabilities. The Government intends to award a trade-off, single firm fixed-price purchase order on an all or none basis with payment terms of Net 30. The evaluation factors are listed in descending order of importance. (b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (End of provision) STATEMENT OF WORK National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NOAA FISHERIES (NMFS) Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Sequencing Services for Genome Skimming and Related Data Background/Overview The NWFSC provides scientific and technical support to NMFS for the management, conservation, and wise use of the Northwest region's marine and anadromous resources. The NWFSC Conservation Biology Division is interested in the conservation of marine species. Obtaining next-generation sequencing service is needed to fulfill our research objectives to evaluate genetic diversity in marine organisms, from corals to anadromous salmonids, under the statutory authority outlined Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (2007), 16 U.S.C. 1881 MSA § 401 TITLE IV—FISHERY MONITORING AND RESEARCH. Scope of Work The objective of the services requested herein is to collect next-generation sequencing data for genome skimming, population structure, and related genomic data needs in management-relevant marine species. Tasks Key tasks include: 1. The contractor shall receive pre-made Illumina-compatible, dual-indexed libraries from the NWFSC, and shall conduct a pre-sequencing quality control (QC) analysis to evaluate if library insert size and DNA quantity are sufficient for sequencing. These analyses shall be conducted using an Agilent TapeStation and qPCR, or equivalent. The library pool(s) may be submitted in batches at different times. The NWFSC will submit a single library pool as a minimum for a single ‘lane’ of sequencing. NWFSC will provide a total of 6 single lane libraries over the contract period 2. The contractor shall provide the QC analysis to the NWFSC, and flag any libraries that do not meet minimum quality standards as specified by Illumina or equivalent. In this event, the NWFSC will have the option of either a) remaking and providing substitute libraries for those that failed to meet QC standards, b) not sequencing the low-quality libraries and removing them from the analysis, or c) electing to sequence them anyway. 3. The contractor shall produce short-read, paired end (2 x 150 bp), high-throughput DNA sequences from the libraries using an Illumina Novaseq X platform using 25B chemistry The specified chemistry is necessary to preserve continuity amongst data sets 4. The contractor shall de-multiplex the data using the indices provided by the NWFSC 5. The contractor shall provide the NWFSC with the de-multiplexed DNA sequence data in FASTQ format within 30 days after receiving each batch of libraries from the NWFSC. Data shall be made available by either sFTP, a cloud-based service that is accessible to the NWFSC, or a securely-shipped external hard drive provided by the contractor. Period of Performance The Period of Performance shall be from the date of award, 2 years and one month. Place of Performance Work will be conducted at other than the government facility (i.e. off-site) Deliverable Schedule Task 1 deliverable A: An email to the NWFSC technical representative acknowledging receipt of the libraries and a schedule for their QC analysis and sequencing. Task 2 deliverable B: An email or customer portal report to the NWFSC technical representative providing the results of the QC analysis. Tasks 3 and 4 deliverable C: A weekly update (via email or customer portal) to the NWFSC’s technical representative on the status of the sequencing. Task 5 deliverable D: The de-multiplexed sequencing data (in FASTQ format) as described in the task. SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES Reference Statement of Work in the attached SF18. The shipping cost of deliverables shall be included in the total firm-fixed price. Government Furnished Resources The Government will provide all necessary information, data and documents to the Contractor for work required under this contract. The Government will not furnish any resources to the Contractor in support of this contract other than the DNA libraries and associated information on library preparation and indices used, as described in Task 1. Security Requirements There are no unique security requirements associated with the performance of this contract. The contractor will not require access to NOAA IT systems, secure facilities, or sensitive information. The position does not involve work that warrants a risk designation or background investigation under NOAA’s Position Designation Tool. Therefore, no special passes, security clearances, or escort provisions are necessary for contract execution. Data Privacy Should work on this agreement require that personnel have access to Privacy information, personnel shall adhere to the Privacy Act, Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Section 552a and applicable agency rules and regulations. Data created, obtained and collected during the performance of this agreement is the property of NMFS. Data may not be released by any party without written consent from the NMFS POC. Data must be protected from unauthorized disclosure. Personnel must comply with all Federal, DOC, NOAA, and NMFS policies relating to IT and data security. Non-Personal Service Personnel performing services under this order will be controlled, directed and supervised at all times by management personnel of the contractor. Personnel will perform independent of and without the supervision of any Government official. Actions of contractor employees may not be interpreted or implemented in any manner that results in any employee creating or modifying Federal policy, obligating the appropriated funds of the U.S. Government, overseeing the work of Federal employees, providing direct personal services to any Federal employee or otherwise violating the prohibitions set forth in Parts 7.5 and 37.1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. The NMFS will perform the inspection and acceptance of the completed work. Applicable Standards Not Applicable Special Requirements Confidentiality and Data Privacy This contract may require that services contractors have access to Privacy Information. Service contractors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all subjects and materials and may be required to sign and adhere to a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA). Intellectual Property Rights All deliverables are the property of the U.S. Government. All documents, analyses, files (digital or other), reports, notes and photos are to be used only by Contractor personnel assigned to this purchase order. Documents, files and other data are to be stored exclusively on government-owned equipment and at no point should be saved or archived on personal drives or devices. Copies are not to be disseminated to anyone outside of the NMFS or to any other contractor personnel without explicit release from the Government. IT Security The contractor will not require access to Federal Buildings, DOC Systems and includes an IT component. Inclusion of Clause 52.217-8 Inclusion of FAR clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, is for use by the Government as outlined at FAR 37.111, Extension of Services. If an option is included, it will be exercised as needed at any time during the life of the contract using the rates applicable at the time of exercise. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). Required Knowledge and Experience The contractor must have clearly demonstrated, direct experience and expertise in the following: High throughput sequencing of genomic DNA using an Illumina Novaseq X sequencing platform or equivalent. This will typically be done or overseen by a scientist or technician with a PhD or MS degree in a relevant field, such as genomics, genetics, or biotechnology. An ability to effectively consult in English on high throughput sequencing of genomic DNA using an Illumina sequencing platform or equivalent. A demonstrated track record of providing high-throughput DNA sequencing services at a scale equal to or greater than described in this Statement of Work, and on timelines of 30 days or fewer from delivery of user-prepared libraries to delivery of data to the NWFSC. Evaluation Factors The Government will issue an order resulting from this request for quotation to the responsible offeror whose quotation results in the best value to the Government, considering both price and non-price factors. The following factors will be used to evaluate quotations: Factor 1 - The offeror shall have all the required technical knowledge and capabilities to provide the needed services described in the Statement of Work, in terms of the scope to accomplish the tasks, and meet the delivery schedule requirements. The vendor shall provide a detailed response to support their technical knowledge and capabilities for these evaluation factors. Factor 2 - Experience. The offeror shall provide a background, experience, and qualifications that will support the offeror’s capability to successfully perform the contract requirements. Factor 3 - PAST PERFORMANCE. The offeror's past performance on related contracts will be evaluated to determine, as appropriate, successful performance of contract requirements, quality and timeliness of delivery of goods and services, effective management of subcontractors, cost management, level of communication between the contracting parties, proactive management, and customer satisfaction. If a quoter has no relevant past performance, the quoter must affirmatively state that it possesses no relevant past performance history. Offerors who fail to either provide past performance information or affirmatively state that they have none may be considered non-compliant with the solicitation. Factor 4 - FIRM-FIXED PRICE. The proposed prices/costs will be evaluated. The cost evaluation will determine whether the proposed costs are realistic, complete, and reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements. Proposed costs must be entirely compatible with the technical knowledge and capabilities. Project Lead: Krista Nichols, krista.nichols@noaa.gov, 206.302.2470 (Google Voice) Invoice Approver: Krista Nichols, krista.nichols@noaa.gov, 206.302.2470 (Google Voice) CONTRACTORS INVOICE INVOICES MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ARREARS Per NAM 1330-52.232-71 ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PAYMENT REQUESTS (FEB 2023) The Contractor must submit payment requests electronically through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP). The Contractor must use the IPP website to register, access, and submit payment requests. The IPP website address is https://www.ipp.gov. "Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment to the Contractor. To be considered proper, invoices must be prepared in accordance with, and contain all elements specified in, the contract payment clause (e.g., FAR 52.212-4(g), FAR 52.232-25(a)(3), FAR 52.232-26(a)(2), FAR 52.232-27(a)(2)). The Contractor must include the following documents as attachments to payment requests submitted through the IPP: Contractor’s Invoice. If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to submit payment requests through the IPP due to a threat to national security; a matter of unusual or compelling urgency; or because the political, financial, or communications infrastructure of a foreign country does not support access to the IPP, the Contractor must request an exception in writing. Contact the Contracting Officer for more information about requesting an exception. (End of Clause)