Inactive

1.0 Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Acquisition Division (WAD), on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Management and Budge... 1.0 Description The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Acquisition Division (WAD), on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is seeking possible sources able to provide NMFS Grants Enterprise Analysis and Implementation of Best Practices services. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 541618 Other Management Consulting Services. The small business size standard for this NAICS code is $16.5 Million. 2.0 Background and Objective Grants and Cooperative Agreements are the legal instrument reflecting the relationship between NMFS and a recipient where the principal purpose of the relationship is to transfer anything of value to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation of a federal statute that guides NMFS’ mission. In order to promote the most efficient use of NMFS funds towards meeting the mission and program goals of Fisheries, the MB/Financial Assistance Division (Grants Division) annually oversees the obligation of greater than 700 grants totaling more than $500M. Annually, this number reflects approximately 50% of NMFS’ budget. It is the Grants Division’s vision to ensure NMFS’ program goals are accomplished through efficient and effective solicitation, selection, and monitoring of external financial assistance awards. Though NMFS continues to lead NOAA in grants best practices, NMFS is still striving to improve their role as stewards of the taxpayers dollar and to be the best public servants possible. It is the division’s goal to change the culture of NMFS, and even NOAA, to stop looking at grants as an administrative burden and start acknowledging that NMFS are public servants who are responsible for the oversight of critical dollars and the use of those dollars towards the implementation of the diverse mission goals of NMFS and our constituents. A comprehensive program analysis will assess the way NMFS addresses its financial assistance awards and identify areas in which they can better serve this constituency. Consultant support is required to analyze NMFS’ grants management administration and to identify best practices to maximize the purpose and use of taxpayer dollars, as NMFS continually strives to reduce organizational risk and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse.This is a follow-on study to two contracts spanning FY 2017-2021, which produced studies and included intensive site visits 3.0 Requirements In order to promote the most efficient use of NMFS funds towards meeting the mission and program goals of the OMB/Financial Assistance Division (Grants Division), NMFS requires a contractor that can provide services to help analyze and achieve these program goals. This shall include; a. Develop a plan for project execution to identify scope, schedule, resources, risk and issue management, and communication management. b. Provide functional alignment analyses and support consistent with best practices and recommendations. c. Conduct analyses and make recommendations for Commission and Council grants, and with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. d. Further explore findings and recommendations to develop products, tools, and NMFS training needed to implement recommendations and best practices for specific training and to help develop plans, processes and support for NMFS Grants Enterprise transition efforts. e. Preparation of monthly and annual status reports and briefings for NOAA Fisheries management, including project progress, milestones, and setbacks for all programs. 4.0 Desired Capabilities Please see the attached document for desired capability questions. A. The contractor shall have knowledge and expertise of NOAA Fisheries policies and programs including: ? Program analysis of marine fisheries information or other science-based programs ? Process improvement methodologies B. The contractor shall have experience with planning, and Federal financial management and operations including: ? Developing performance metrics and milestones ? Developing and monitoring resource investment strategies 5.0 Requested Information Contractors shall submit a Capability Statement and a completed response to the questionnaire (see attached desired capability questions sheet). The submitted shall demonstrate how they meet the requirements of this Sources Sought notice. Please limit responses to three pages. Standard brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice. The submitted Capability Statement shall include the following: 1. Company Overview a. Company Name and Address b. A brief description of your company c. Social-economic status, business size, and size standard/applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. d. Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number e. Website address f. Up to five recent (within the past three years) and relevant projects similar in size and magnitude to the NMFS’ Grant portfolio ? Identify your experience as a Prime or a Sub on similar efforts ? Identify any work with the Fisheries, MB/Financial Assistance Division (Grants Division) 6.0 Summary THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT REQUEST ONLY to identify sources that can furnish expert management and budget consulting services to provide analysis and implementation of best practices for the OMB, NMFS Grants. The information provided in the Sources Sought is subject to change and is not binding on NOAA. The NMFS Grants Division has not made a commitment or an authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Responses must be submitted in writing no later than January 28, 2022 by 2:00 p.m, MT, sent via email to max.math@noaa.gov and elliott.waxman@noaa.gov. Emailed responses must be received in a supported Adobe or Microsoft Office file format. These formats are the only acceptable methods of submitting a quote electronically. Zip Files, Cloud storage providers, google docs, web based drop boxes, OneNote/OneDrive, URLs, web-based format, or any other virtual/web-based memory service are NOT acceptable methods of submitting a response electronically. Documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.