Inactive

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(5) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-5 -- Authorized or Required by Statute -- Section 874(b)(2) of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- Pilot Pro... 4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(5) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-5 -- Authorized or Required by Statute -- Section 874(b)(2) of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- Pilot Program to Incentivize Contracting with Employee- Owned Businesses 5. Reason for Authority Cited: On [Redacted], this anticipated procurement was approved by the Acting Director of Contract Policy (CP), Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)), under the Pilot Program to Incentivize Contracting with Employee-Owned Businesses authorized by Section 874 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2022 (Pub. L. 117-81). This Pilot Program allows the noncompetitive award for certain follow-on contracts to an employee-owned business that meets the definition of a "qualified business." Section 874 defines a "qualified business" as an S corporation (as defined in section 1361(a)(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for which 100 percent of the outstanding stock is held through an employee stock ownership plan as defined in section 4975(e)(7) of such code. ARL received approval from Defense Pricing and Contracting to sole source this procurement to ARA under the Section 874 Pilot Program using the authority at FAR 6.302-5, Authorized or Required by Statute. ARA has certified that it meets the definition of a qualified business, wholly owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and is a participant in this pilot program. Therefore, ARA is the sole source for the subject requirement for GEOINT Production Systems. ARL will use this new contract to extend the existing ARA-lead projects currently supporting [Redacted]. The pilot authority will allow ARL to ensure that the truly mission critical work that ARA is performing will be seamlessly supported. The pilot program will result in a sole source extension. [Redacted]. As such, ARL will take advantage of ARA’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) status to enable/ensure continuous support of the projects they lead. [Redacted] Therefore, based upon the approval from Defense Pricing and Contracting to sole source this procurement to ARA under the Section 874 Pilot Program, this procurement will be sole sourced to ARA for the aforementioned GEOINT Production Systems. No other company is positioned to continue to provide seamless support to ongoing [Redacted]. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: As required by FAR 5.201, a synopsis was posted to SAM.gov on 27 February 2023, and any responses from industry will be considered. a. Effective competition. Effective competition is not anticipated for this procurement based upon the Government’s market research and approval from Defense Pricing and Contracting to sole source this procurement to ARA under the Section 874 Pilot Program using the authority at FAR 6.302-5, Authorized or Required by Statute. To date, no sources other than ARA have written to express interest in this acquisition. b. Subcontracting competition. An Individual Subcontracting Plan will be required as this is a non-commercial purchase over $750,000.00 awarded to an other than small business. In order to promote subcontracting competition, the resultant contract will include FAR clauses, 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, and 52.244-5, Competition in Subcontracting. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: ARL will continue to monitor the market for other potential sources to increase future competition for this requirement and any associated services. ARL will continue to pursue web searches, consultations with knowledgeable Government, university, and industry personnel, and attend trade shows or web-based communications to help locate alternative sources that can provide the required services. The Government does not plan to compete this requirement to other sources due to the approval from Defense Pricing and Contracting to sole source this procurement to ARA under the Section 874 Pilot Program using the authority at FAR 6.302-5, Authorized or Required by Statute. The Government will also continue to evaluate opportunities to promote competition by considering the feasibility of pulling out portions of future sole source requirements for competition. 8. Market Research: Market research was performed from June 2021 through September 2022 by the NGA Technical Executive and Contracting Officer’s Representative for the services being procured. The Government contacted knowledgeable people and subject matter experts within Government and industry to determine if other vendors have the capabilities to meet the requirements of the projects noted above. In addition, Government representatives continually provide market research surveillance by searching and reviewing catalogs, literature on manufacturers, distributors, and dealers, along with online sources, such as, Amazon Cloud Products Offering, The Drone Databook, and GSA Technology & Services Online Capability Resource to seek qualified and interested vendors. There are currently no other companies offering the system services and associated training for the technical areas note above that meet the accreditation and security requirements with the associated NGA architecture. Thus, no other company is positioned to continue to provide the seamless support to [Redacted]. 9. Interested Sources: To date, only the proposed vendor, ARA, has written to express interest in this acquisition. 10. Other Facts: a. Procurement History Contract: [Redacted] Contractor: Applied Research Associates Award Date: 26 September 2019 Period of Performance: 28 September 2018 – 8 March 2023 Dollar Value: [Redacted] Competitive Status: Competitive Task Order Authority: Not Applicable