Purpose of this Notice : This notice is a Sources Sought Notice. It is for market research only, and is not a Request for Proposals. Responses to this notice will allow the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain a better understanding of the marketplace and to make appropriate acquisition decisions. Agency Background : The SBA was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the Federal Government to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The Certified Development Company (CDC) Program Background: The SBA licenses nondepository institutions to provide a secondary source of funding to domestic small businesses that might not otherwise be able to obtain financing. The CDC Loan Program is authorized by Congress to provide funding to support job growth and retention, and to promote small business development. The program’s aim is to link a first mortgage loan with a subordinate SBA loan in a joint project development financing for a small business. Proceeds from the SBA loan are used primarily by small business for fixed asset acquisition and for limited debt refinancing. Funding of this subordinate loan is accomplished through the sale of CDC debentures in regularly scheduled debenture offerings, with SBA extending a full-faith and credit guarantee to each debenture and related debenture pool sold by the 504 Trustee. SBA’s current portfolio for the CDC program is estimated at $26.5 billion, comprised of approximately 134,000 active and inactive debenture accounts in approximately 299 pools. Secondary Market Background : The 504 Trustee sells debentures through a monthly debenture pooling process. Debentures are purchased by investors and placed with the 504 Trustee in consideration for a pool certificate (created by the 504 Trustee). These SBA debenture pool certificates carry both a timely payment, and full-faith and credit guarantee of the U.S. Government, with undivided fractional interests in the pool offered for sale. Role of the 504 Trustee : The functions of the 504 Trustee focus primarily on investment securities custody, and account administration of CDC debenture pools held in trust for investors. SBA requires the contractor as the 504 Trustee to have the financial assets, operational expertise, and appropriate bonding and insurance to oversee a trust portfolio of current and future debentures. This trust portfolio currently is composed of 299 pools containing roughly 134,000 active and inactive debenture accounts with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $26.5 billion. The contractor as the 504 Trustee will be appointed by the SBA to serve as trustee for the issuance of government guaranteed debentures and related pool securities. The contractor shall work closely with SBA, market participants, and g overnment contract professionals in the monthly sale of these securities, including the delivery to investors of a book entry form of the pool security. The contractor shall administer a legacy portfolio of pooled debentures, and shall provide SBA and industry participants with timely reporting, on at least a monthly basis. These shall include the payment condition of all pooled debentures and the performance of the program. The contractor shall develop innovative improvements to the program and uphold the highest standard of fiduciary care. These improvements may be of both a substantive and technological nature. The functions performed by the 504 Trustee are time-sensitive, with the funding of small businesses dependent on timely delivery of this service. The contractor shall have significant financial strength, fidelity insurance, professional resources, and state-of-the-art information systems support and technology to ensure service delivery. Contract Need/Requirements : The SBA has a need for professional support of the secondary market for the CDC program. The NAICS code for this requirement is 523991, Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities, with a size standard of $38.5 Million. The Product Service Code is R710, Financial Services . The contractor will be compensated for services rendered through a fixed-fee schedule based on a percentage level of debenture and pool certificate activity. The 504 Trustee fee will be paid monthly, and in arrears. The invoices for the 504 Trustee fee are issued by the contractor to the SBA through a Fiscal and Selling Agent. The 504 Trustee fee is paid as other agent fees, as noted in Sec.120.971(c) of 13 C.F.R. A new contract to support secondary market activity within the CDC is contemplated with a one-year base period and four one-year option periods. It is expected that this contract will be competed full and open due to the insurance, bonding, IT investment, security, and level-of- effort required to service the CDC program. SBA is interested in better assessing the breadth of companies that can provide a high level of successful service as required by the SBA in the delivery of these functions. These functions will be further defined in a Statement of Work (SOW) at the time this requirement is competed. Please refer to the draft SOW attached. Response Requested : Contractor’s response shall include the following information, in the following order: 1. * The full name of Contractor, Contractor’s DUNS number, address, and two points-of-contact with both email addresses and telephone numbers; 2. * Contractor’s socio-economic status and the related NAICS codes for which Contractor is registered in the System for Award Management (SAM); 3. * A description of Contractor’s core business, including its core competencies and services it currently provides; 4. * A Description of Contractor’s relevant experience in performing services covered by NAICS code 523991. Include any relevant contract numbers, Government or business names of parties, periods of performance, and value of contract. Include any GSA Schedule or other Government contracting vehicle to which contractor is a schedule holder or party. For each contract reported, disclose whether Contractor was the Prime Contractor or a subcontractor, the number of transactions performed in a typical 30-Day period, nature of transactions, the financial precision required for transactions, and the time allowed for each transaction; 5. * A description of Contractor’s insurance and bonding capabilities; 6. * A description of Contractor’s information technology (IT) facilities and abilities. Include information on Contractor’s IT security and compliance with prevailing FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) requirements; 7. * A copy of contractor’s draft trustee agreement that it uses for its current trust clients; and 8. * A description of how contractor is compensated for its current trustee services. Response Format and Dates : Responses shall be in English, printable by electronic media on one side of the paper, use 12-point font of any type, and be either single or double-spaced. Responses shall be sent as a pdf file attachment to an email to the Contracting Officer’s email address no later than the date and time provided in this notification. The responses shall be limited in size to (1) 10 pages printed on one side, and (2) 10 megabytes total – both email message and attachment – in order to protect the Contracting Officer’s email capacity. Do not include formatting that requires large megabyte support. If you are providing brochures or sales materials, please provide separately by mail to the address below, with a postmark no later than the response date and time in this notice. General/Related Information : A solicitation is not being issued at this time, and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment of any nature by the Government. No contract will be awarded as a result of this sources sought notice. A request for solicitation documents will not receive a response. All costs associated with providing information as requested by this sources sought notice shall be the responsibility of the contractor. This notice does not restrict the Government in any way to a particular acquisition approach. Submit the information requested above (response) by email to Cheryl T. Flanagan, Contracting Officer,
[email protected] , no later than 3 p.m., Mountain Time, on June 24, 2016. Mail (brochures/sales mater) shall be addressed to the attention of the Contracting Officer at SBA Denver Finance Center, Third Floor, 721 -19 th St., Denver, CO 80202.