Inactive 8(a) Set-Aside (FAR 19.8)

Description: This announcement serves as a Sources Sought Notice (FA700021R0010) issued for the purpose of market research as described by FAR 2.101 and in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulati... Description: This announcement serves as a Sources Sought Notice (FA700021R0010) issued for the purpose of market research as described by FAR 2.101 and in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 for an upcoming acquisition at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). This Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or a commitment or obligation on the part of the Government to issue a solicitation. This is NOT a Request for Proposals (RFP), and nothing shall be construed herein or through the Sources Sought process to commit or obligate the Government to further action. DO NOT submit a quote or proposal in response to this notice. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this notice. Vendors responding to this notice bear all risks and expenses of any resources used to provide the requested information. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this notice is purely voluntary. The 10th Contracting Squadron is conducting market research to identify capable, experienced, and potential interested sources to provide Advisory & Assistance Services (A&AS) support to various USAFA organizations. A&AS support may encompass organizational policy development; decision making; management and administration; program and/or management and administration; or Research & Development (R&D) activities. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure offices, departments, and flights have access to the advice, support, and expert services not otherwise available within the Government to fulfill this mission. This Sources Sought is open to all qualified 8(a) small businesses. The proposed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this action is 541990: All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; the size standard is $16.5 million. Estimated Award: Fall 2021 Estimated Ceiling: $15 million Current Contract Ceiling: $13.5 million Contract Vehicle: Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract (FFP Labor and Cost Reimbursable Travel) Estimated Ordering Period: 3 years This notice is provided as information to the marketplace and is an invitation for an expression of interest and demonstration of small business capability to perform the anticipated work. Information provided in response to this posting will be used in this assessment. All 8(a) small businesses capable of providing the types of tasks described herein are invited to respond by completing the Company Capabilities & Market Research Questionnaire. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this Sources Sought notice is voluntary and will not be released to the public. Respondents may elect to have their company point of contact information released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes. Response Instructions: Responses are due no later than 23 March 2021, 2:00 p.m. MDT. Replies via e-mail are preferred; however, fax or mail is also acceptable. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Questions and responses should be addressed to the primary contact, Melissa Staudacher, Contracting Officer, melissa.staudacher@us.af.mil or the alternate point of contact, Sarah Vollbracht, Contracting Officer, sarah.vollbracht@us.af.mil. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in beta.SAM.gov. It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any synopsis or solicitation. Interested companies are invited to complete the following: Company name: Small business status and date of business-type certification: Mailing address: CAGE code and DUNS number, as registered in SAM: Point of Contact: (Provide company point of contact by name (including telephone number and e-mail). Indicate if the company point of contact information is to be released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes.) NACIS: Provide business size and NAICS code(s) Level of interest in this requirement: Highly likely to propose, may propose, or unlikely to propose. Company Capabilities & Market Research Questionnaire: CONTRACT PERFORMANCE: How long have you been in business? Have you ever performed Government contracts? Have you ever performed this type of work in the past? Description of your company’s relevant experience, capability, and past performance; may include examples of prior services provided of similar level of scope and complexity. May submit information on up to three (3) recent contracts that would be consider relevant in demonstrating company capabilities to perform the proposed effort; maximum 1 page in length per contract. To be recent, the contract must be ongoing, or must have been performed or completed during the five years leading up to the date of this sources sought notice posting. Provide contract number, contract title and NAICS code used. Explain what aspects of the cited contracts are deemed relevant to the proposed effort and to what aspects of the proposed effort they relate. This may include a discussion of efforts accomplished to resolve problems encountered on prior contracts as well as past efforts to identify and manage program risk. Provide information on any potential workload and staffing restrictions that may be encountered if similar contracts are being performed concurrently. Subcontracting Arrangements: Discuss current and potential teaming or subcontracting arrangements and how small business plans have and will be utilized. Describe the scope of previous teaming/subcontracting partnership, the role of the prime contractor in that partnership and the percentage of effort assigned to each partner. EVALUATION FACTORS: For the Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) contract, the Government is considering doing a trade-off with past performance being more significant than price. Past performance should include performance as a Prime Contractor or Subcontractor. In addition, the Government would also require staffing approach and transition plans as part of the technical proposal. What are the benefits and/or challenges to using this approach? How has past performance been measured in other source selections in which your company has participated? What benefits and/or challenges would a staffing approach and transition plan provide to the Government? (i.e. Contractor retention rates/employee benefits) Are there any other meaningful discriminators the Government should consider for evaluation factors? CONTRACT TYPE: The Government anticipates awarding a firm fixed price contract with cost reimbursable travel contract line items. What are the benefits and/or challenges to this type of contract? The Government anticipates task orders of a duration not to exceed 12 months for highly specialized requirements. Are there benefits and/or challenges for a two week proposal response period for a task order? For A&AS, what type of performance objectives are meaningful to industry that would assist in reasonable pricing strategies at the task order level? Please feel free to provide any additional comments/recommendations. The following documents are attached to help you better understand the requirement and potential task order requirements. Documents are samples only. Attachment 1 – DRAFT A&AS PWS Attachment 2 – A&AS Labor Rate Pricing Schedule Attachment 3 – A&AS Labor Categories Attachment 4 – Task Order Sample PWS 1 Attachment 5 – Task Order Sample PWS 2 Attachment 6 – Task Order Sample PWS 3