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

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY Title: Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Desktop Publishing (Printed Media and Digital Publishing, Writing/Editing, and Graphic Support Services) Sources Soug... THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY Title: Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Desktop Publishing (Printed Media and Digital Publishing, Writing/Editing, and Graphic Support Services) Sources Sought Post Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2024 Sources Sought Response Date: CHANGED FROM: Monday 03 June 2024 at 2:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) CHANGED TO: Wednesday 05 June 2024 at 2:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) NAICS: 561410 Document Preparation Services Product Service Code: T001 Photo/Map/Print/Publication- Arts/Graphics 1.0 SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE To facilitate market research, the Government is looking to identify qualified 8(a) sources under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 561410 Document Preparation Services. This notice seeks capability statements to assist the Government in identifying capable firms. This Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall NOT be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Government. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs incurred in the preparation of a response to this Notice. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by firms for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any 8(a) firms responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the firm’s qualifications to perform the work. The contracting officer will use the responses received from this notice to identify 8(a) firms. The Government DOES NOT intend to award a contract based on the responses to this Sources Sought Notice. This Sources Sought Notice is to gain knowledge regarding the capabilities of 8(a) vendors. At this time, no solicitation exists, however a solicitation may be synopsized on either PIEE Solicitation Module or SAM.gov at a later date. Interested 8(a) firms may ask the Contracting Officer for a copy of the solicitation in accordance with FAR 19.202-4(c). If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov unless an exception exists. It is the responsibility of the potential responders to monitor SAM.gov for additional information pertaining to this subject. 2.0 BACKGROUND The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is a corporate university of the United States Department of Defense offering "acquisition and sustainment" (A&S) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and is accredited by the American Council on Education (ACE), International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and the Council on Occupational Education (COE). DAU coordinates the Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition education and training program to meet the training and performance support requirements of more than 200,000 military and civilian personnel serving in acquisition positions worldwide. Through its dispersed campuses, the DAU sponsors acquisition curriculum and instructor training to provide a full range of basic, intermediate, and advanced courses to support the career goals and professional development of the Defense Acquisition Workforce. 3.0 OBJECTIVE The objective of this Source Sought Notice is to obtain information to identify 8(a) firms capable of providing services to DAU, through the office of Visual Arts & Press, to achieve and maintain high quality publication services in the areas of desktop and digital publishing, photography, writing/editing, and graphic support. Procurement History for Similar Services This requirement has previously been procured via sole source 8(a) contract HQ003419P0021 under RFQ HQ003419Q0002. Award was issued to Chickasaw Management Services, LLC (CAGE 76QX9) on 01 January 2019 for a Base + 4 Option Years. 4.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE The Contractor will provide both onsite and offsite desktop and digital publishing, writing/editing and graphics support services to DAU, located at 9820 Belvoir Road, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Anticipated Security Requirement(s): No clearance is required to comply with this contract, but a National Agency check must be completed and validated. Estimated Value: The acquisition has an estimated dollar value range of $6M - $7M. Anticipated Contract Award Date: 28 June 2024 Anticipated Contract Start Date: 01 July 2024 5.0 TECHNICAL AREAS FOR SUPPORT SERVICES Interested firms submitting a response to this Source Sought Notice are requested to provide information addressing their experience, skills and capabilities necessary to perform the following Technical Areas in their capabilities statement. Interested parties are NOT to submit marketing materials; but rather, speak directly and specifically to their experience with the areas outlined below. Please refer to the attached draft PWS for additional details. Area 1: Onsite editing of DAU publications. Area 2: Offsite technical editing support. Area 3: Onsite desktop and digital publishing support. Area 4: Onsite editorial, administrative, and photography support. 6.0 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Interested firms should respond by submitting a capability statement covering technical capabilities. The information provided should address your capability to fulfill the technical areas above and demonstrate how the firm’s recent experience (5-7 years) is relevant including the dollar value, period of performance, size and scope of the firm’s prior contracts. Firm’s capabilities statement should address as many of the task elements/technical areas identified above to demonstrate how the firm’s experience relates to the specific areas in order to be considered capable of satisfying the Government’s requirement. ***To help the government in its assessment of technical capabilities please be as specific as possible in your response. It is highly recommended that firms include as much of the following information as possible when discussing past experience: contract type (FFP, CPFF, etc.), contract award amount, contract number, period of performance, and Government or Commercial Point of Contract name and email address, if any. CONFIDENTIALITY: Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in your response to this Request for Information Notice. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation. Responses to this Notice will not be returned. 7.0 CAPABILITY STATEMENTS There is a maximum page limitation of four (4) typed pages using 12-font Calibri or Times New Roman within an 8.5 x 11 inches page size. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, general capabilities statements, etc.) will not be reviewed. No hard copy or facsimile submissions will be accepted. To facilitate a timely and comprehensive review of all submitted responses, firms must respond using the format requested in this Notice. ANY deviation from this format may lead to the rejection of the response. Interested firms shall submit their response to include requested information in the following order: A. General Information: Company name, address, point of contact name, telephone, and email address. SAM.gov Unique Entity ID and/or Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code (Please note in order to do business with the U.S. Government as a prime contractor your firm must be registered in SAM.gov by the time of award of any resultant contract.) Business size and socioeconomic categories as defined in FAR Part 19 (e.g., 8(a), SDB, HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.) for NAICS 561410 Document Preparation Services Subcontracting Information: Indicate if your firm will submit a proposal if a Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued and whether the vendor desires to participate in this requirement as a prime contractor, teaming agreement, subcontractor, or joint venture. This information will assist WHS/AD in establishing a basis for developing set-asides and/or subcontracting opportunities, if necessary. Identify which, if any, critical task areas you plan to utilize small business teaming partners and/or subcontractors. Identify if your company has any pre-existing contract vehicles related to the scope of this requirement and provide the contract number for similar services. Responses may be used to determine whether a Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) or Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) can be used. Example: GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Number B. Technical/Management Capability: Provide information to support the firm’s ability to perform as many of the four (4) technical areas identified in Section 5.0. Identify each task area and provide information to support the firm’s experience, capability to staff, and overall ability to perform the technical area. Evidence of experience must include contracts/task orders from the past 5-7 years similar in scope. Examples must include contract numbers, project titles, dollar amounts, periods of performance, and Government points of contact (telephone numbers or email addresses). Documented information to support the firm’s ability to provide the personnel required for this effort in a timely fashion who are United States citizens and have the ability to work within 100 miles of the National Capital Region (NCR). For any task areas where your firm does NOT have experience and/or past performance on a commercial or government contract to demonstrate those capabilities, explain how you would attain those abilities. (Example: If you anticipate utilizing subcontractors, please highlight for which specific tasks and the percentage of subcontracting contemplated to fulfill the requirement.) C. Supplemental Information: Recommended NAICS code and/or PSC code for this effort with justification. Responses may be used to refine or determine which industry to classify the requirement under. Please highlight any information missing from the PWS that would provide a better understanding of the effort desired by the government. Please highlight any information that is or may be unduly restrictive to small business as listed in the draft PWS. Please indicate how much time your firm would need to prepare a response to a Request for Quote/Proposal. Would your firm need a transition period? If yes, how long? e.g.: 15 days / 30 days. And, why? Are there any task areas you see as moderate to high risks in providing the support services requested? Recommended Contract type for this effort. Identify any affiliation with the incumbent contractor, Chickasaw Management Services, LLC (CAGE 76QX9). *** The Supplemental Information will not count toward the page limit. *** 8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS All responses to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically to Michael Kline, Team Lead/Contracting Officer at michael.a.kline42.civ@mail.mil and Maria Theresa Evans, Contract Specialist, at maria.t.evans.civ@mail.mil Responses to this Sources Sought notice are due no later than Wednesday, 05 June 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Capability statements received after this date and time will not be considered. The subject of the email must be titled “Sources Sought: DAU Desktop Publishing Support - ” Deadline for questions submitted concerning this Sources Sought Notice is COB Tuesday, 21 May 2024.