Veteran Outreach with Radio for Holiday Season for Cincinnati VAMC The purpose of this sources sought notice is to seek responses from all qualified prospective offerors interested in the forthcoming solicitation for the subject requirement summarized as follows: Short Title: Veteran Outreach with Radio for Holiday Season in Dayton Ohio NAICS-515111: Radio Networks Place of Performance: Contractor facility for Dayton VAMC Anticipated Periods of Performance: Base Year: 18 August 2021 to 17 August 2022 Option Year One (1): 18 August 2022 to 17 August 2023 Draft Evaluation Criteria A draft version of evaluation criteria are provided in full text below summarized as follows Price Technical Past Performance Signed Statement of Labor Hour Compliance Signed Statement of FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) Compliance Attachments for Reference: A draft version of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) is attached for your reference as appropriate. Request all prospective offerors interested in this requirement email their company name, DUNS number, CAGE code and business socio-economic size status in Adobe PDF format to perform subject requirement to
[email protected] not later than 16 July 2021 at 1300-EST. Please also provide signed copies of both the Labor Hour Compliance and FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) Compliance Letters. Feel free to contact Brad Burhite at
[email protected] if you have any questions. Please note that this requirement is subject to availability of funds in accordance with FAR 52.232-18 (Availability of Funds). PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT Veteran Outreach with Radio during Holiday Season for Cincinnati VAMC 6 July 2021 Section 1: General Information General: Cincinnati VA Public Affairs Department seeks to utilize holiday programming on a local radio station to deliver educational messages to Veterans for a full 47-day period from 8 November 2021 to 25 December 2022. The holiday radio programming shall offer the opportunity during the 47-day captive audience time to educate the Tri-State market catchment area for Cincinnati about the health care benefits available for Veterans through Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Based upon market demographics, the messaging capabilities of the radio platform shall be able to offer exposure to large amounts of Veterans within the market catchment area of the Cincinnati VA (OH-IN-KY). The government anticipates that the planning meetings for this requirement to commence in the August 2021 for the base period and August 2022 for option period one (1). Period of Performance - The performance period(s) for this requirement are summarized as follows: Base Period: 18 August 2021 to 17 August 2022 Option Period One (1): 18 August 2022 to 17 August 2023 1.3 Place of Performance: The place of performance shall be at the contractor facility for Cincinnati VAMC. 1.4 Hours of Operation: The operating hours of radio station shall be the operating hours for this requirement. 1.5 Work Schedule: All work shall be coordinated with the government project manager (PM) and if the PM has any or all questions concerning the requirements within the contract, the PM will consult with the Contracting Officer or designated representative to avoid disruptions or conflicts between the government functions and the provision of service under this contract. 1.6 Type of Contract: The government will award a Firm Fixed Price contract. 1.7 Contract Changes: If the contractor receives a request from VA personnel directing or requesting work that the contractor believes is not within the terms of the PWS or the contract, then the contractor must notify the government PM and the Contracting Officer of the request. The only person that has the authority to modify the terms of the contract or request work for which compensation will be provided is the Contracting Officer. 1.8 Invoicing: All invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests. VA s Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment System The FSC uses a third-party contractor, Tungsten, to transition vendors from paper to electronic invoice submission. Please go to this website: http://www.tungsten-network.com/US/en/veterans-affairs/ to begin submitting electronic invoices, free of charge. More information on the VA Financial Services Center is available at http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp. Section 2: Definitions & Acronyms 2.1 Definitions: Contractor. A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime. Contracting Officer (CO). A person with the authority to enter into, administers, and/or terminates contracts and makes related findings. The Contracting Officer is the only individual who has the authority to contractually bind the Government. The Contracting Officer may designate a Government employee to act as his authorized technical representative. Project Manager (PM). The person designated as the authorized representative of the Contracting Officer acting within the limits of his/her authority. This individual shall not be authorized to award, agree to, or sign any contract or modification thereto, or in any way to obligate the payment of money by the Government. The PM advises the Contracting Officer on matters relating to this contract, verifies completion of the work, certifies invoices related to completed work, and ensures compliance with all provisions of the contract. Corrective Action. Action taken by the Contractor to correct a deficiency and identify the cause(s) of the deficiency. 2.2 Acronyms: CO Contracting Officer PWS Performance Work Statement PM Project Manager VA Veterans Affairs Section 3: Government Furnished Property, Equipment, and Services GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES The government will not provide any government furnished equipment/supplies for this contract. CONTRACTOR USE OF VAMC EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES The contractor shall not utilize any VAMC equipment or supplies for this contract. Section 4: Contractor Furnished Items and Services The contractor shall provide all personnel necessary to assure that all services are in accordance with the contract and all applicable laws and regulations. The contractor shall ensure all work meets performance standards specified in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) and referenced documents. Section 5: Specific Tasks Standards: All digital media communication messages, content, and representation is fully controlled and managed by the Cincinnati VAMC Office of Public Affairs staff. 5.1 Tasks Standards - The following table summarizes the tasks required under this PWS. 5.1 Performance Requirements Summary. The performance requirements are the thresholds of minimum acceptable levels of service critical to successful performance of this contract which are summarized as follows: PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY Performance Objectives Performance Standard Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) Method of Monitoring 1) Radio Messages The contractor shall provide 350 radio messages that are :30 seconds in length delivered at 50 messages per week during the period of 8 November 2021 to 25 December 2021. 100% Compliance The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 2) Radio Digital Display on Car Radios The contractor shall provide 6 weeks of non-stop radio digital display that appears on car radios during the weeks of 15 November 2021 through 21 December 2021. 100% Compliance The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 3) Full Control of Content The contractor shall provide the government full control of custom content delivery for radio messages with unlimited changes to the messages. 100% Compliance The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 4) Monthly Report The contractor shall provide a detailed analytic reporting each month due not later than the 7th day of every month as required by the government PM. 95% On-Time The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 5) Invoicing Accuracy, Timeliness and Billing Errors The contractor shall submit invoices in a timely manner for work performed on a monthly basis in the arrears not later than 2 weeks after performance in accordance with the PRICE/COST SCHEDULE, the PWS and the overall terms and conditions established in the contract. 98% The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 6) Compliance with English Language Requirement The contractor shall ensure that all employees are fully proficient in the English language at a level sufficient to seamlessly perform all services required in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract. 100% Compliance The PM or government representative designated in writing by the CO will conduct random checks to ensure compliance with this performance standard. 7) Compliance with FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting Requirements The contractor shall submit confirmation of compliance with the FAR 52.219-14 -- Limitations on Subcontracting requirement that at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern as specified by the Contracting Officer (CO) in writing within four (4) hours of request. 100% Compliance The Contracting Officer (CO) will conduct random compliance checks with the contractor as necessary. 8) Compliance with DOL Wage Determination Labor Rate Requirement The contractor shall submit confirmation of compliance with the current Department of Labor (DOL) wage determination (WD) hourly rate if requested by the Contracting Officer (CO) in writing within four (4) hours of request which may include an itemized list of the hourly rate being paid for all employees performing services under this contract. 100% Compliance The Contracting Officer (CO) will conduct random compliance checks with the contractor as necessary. NOTE: The performance of these requirements by contractor will be documented by the government in the CPARS system based on the contractor s ability to comply with the terms and conditions established in the contract. 5.2 Contractor Personnel The contractor or representative shall be available during normal duty hours to respond by telephone within thirty (30) minutes of notification by the PM and shall be available to meet with PM or designated representative within 2 hours after notification to discuss problem areas. After normal duty hours, the contractor or representative shall be available within 3 hours. The contractor s employees shall be fluent in English and shall be able to read, write, speak, understand and communicate effectively in English. Prior to beginning performance under this contract, the contractor shall provide the following: Contact phone numbers and email addresses of employees who will provide services under this contract The contractor shall notify the PM in writing whenever there is a change of personnel appointed to fulfill supervisory or shift leader function or when there is a planned absence of key personnel. The contractor shall also be responsible for adhering to all requirements under the Privacy Act due to the possibility that confidential medical record information may be accessible and/or visible to contractor employees during performance of their daily duties. The contractor shall obtain a signed Confidentiality Certificate from each employee prior to allowing them to start work under this contract. The contractor shall keep a copy of confidentiality certificate on site for inspection purposes. 5.3 Building Security. a. Since there are no requirements for the contractor to be within the VAMC, there are no building requirement security measures necessary for this contract. Safety. a. Since there are no requirements for the contractor to be within the VAMC, there are no building requirement safety measures necessary for this contract. 5.5 Interference to Normal Function The Contractor shall provide alternatives to performance of work with this contract if there are interruptions of their work at any time to avoid interference with delivering the tasks within this contract. 5.6 Damage and Equipment Loss Since there is not equipment or supplies provided to the contract this section is not applicable. Section 6: Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan To evaluate contractor performance and ensure quality of work provided by the contractor, the PM will conduct weekly meetings with the Contractor to assure all tasks are delivered in a timely manner as outlined in the contract. E.2 52.212-2 EVALUATION COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014) (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Government intends to issue an award to one (1) single offeror whose offer (or quote) is determined to be lowest-priced technically acceptable (LPTA) in accordance with FAR subpart 13.5. The Government shall review each offer (or quote) to determine if this evaluation factor is technically acceptable (or go ) or technically unacceptable (or no-go ). If any aspect of an offer (or quote) is determined to be a no-go (technically unacceptable) for this evaluation factor, then the Government reserves the right to exclude any such offeror from consideration for issuance of an award for this requirement. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Factor 1 | Price: All data fields in COST/PRICE SCHEDULE must be fully completed by the offeror(s) in order for the Government to determine an offer (or quote) to be technically acceptable. Furthermore, all data fields completed by the offeror(s) must provide an accurate summation by the base period and option(s) to total amount(s) derived from the data elements which correctly add up in order to be technically acceptable. The Government intends to issue an award without entering into discussions. The Government however reserves the right to enter into discussions, if necessary, to validate the price reasonableness of any offers in order to determine which offer (or quote) is the lowest-priced technically acceptable offer (or quote). Factor 2 | Technical: Each offeror must submit a technical proposal which shall describe how the offeror intends to meet the requirement specified in the performance work statement (PWS). All offers shall include the television network, name of the program and program time slots and dates for this requirement. Factor 3 | Past Performance: The government intends to pull CPARS and all other relevant past performance information from the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) for each offeror that submits an offer (or quote). Please note that any CPARS assessment rating of less than satisfactory may be utilized by the government to determine an offer to be technically unacceptable for this evaluation factor. The government may also consider other relevant CPARS and past performance information to determine whether an offer is technically acceptable or unacceptable for this evaluation factor. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, any offeror with no previous contract experience shall be determined to be neutral for Government evaluation of past performance. Factor 4 | Signed Statement of Labor Hour Compliance: All offerors shall submit the attached statement of labor hour compliance provided herein under 52.212-2 (Addendum A) which shall be manually signed by a legally authorized company representative to be considered for award to certify that all employees performing services under this contract (if awarded). Employees shall be paid at an hourly rate that is equal to or greater than current Department of Labor Wage Determination (WD) as specified in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) section of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for all labor categories as appropriate for the county in which the VA medical center being support for this requirement resides. Factor 5 | Signed Statement of FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) Compliance: All offerors shall submit the attached statement of compliance with the FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) letter provided herein under 52.212-2 (Addendum B) that at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern as specified in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) section of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) which shall be manually signed by a legally authorized company representative to be considered for award. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: All offers shall be sent by email to
[email protected] which shall not exceed 10MB for each email. All offerors shall include a signed copy of this solicitation and all solicitation amendments (if any) with their offer which must fully address all requirements specified in this solicitation to be considered technically acceptable for evaluation. Please note that any document identified as an attachment herein shall be considered supporting documentation and, therefore, shall neither be restricted in pages nor counted against any page limitation specified herein. NOTE: The offer due date is ***** and the cut-off date for all offeror questions is *****. Technical and past performance, when combined, have no relative importance compared to the price given that the Government intends to issue an award to one (1) single offeror whose offer (or quote) is determined to be lowest-priced technically acceptable (LPTA) based on technically acceptable (or go ) or technically unacceptable (or no-go ) as specified herein. (b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. (End of Provision) E.3 52.212-2 (Addendum A) Statement of Department of Labor Wage Determination Compliance MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD ____________(Date) REFERENCE: _______________________(Solicitation Number) TO: Bradley Burhite (Contracting Officer), NCO-10 FROM: ___________________________________(Name of Legally Authorized Representative) ___________________________________(Company Name) ___________________________________(Company Street Address) ___________________________________(City, State and Zip Code) ___________________________________(DUNS Number and CAGE Code) SUBJECT: Statement of Department of Labor Wage Determination Compliance I do hereby certify that the offer submitted by our company in response to the subject solicitation is fully compliant with the requirement that all employees performing services under the resultant contract (if awarded) shall be paid at an hourly rate that is equal to or greater than current Department of Labor Wage Determination (WD) as specified in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) section of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for all labor categories as appropriate for the county in which the VA medical center being support for this requirement resides. Legally Authorized Representative (PRINT): ________________________________ Signature: _______________________________ Date: ______________ E.4 52.212-2 (Addendum B) Statement of FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting Compliance MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD ____________(Date) REFERENCE: _______________________(Solicitation Number) TO: Bradley Burhite (Contracting Officer), NCO-10 FROM: ___________________________________(Name of Legally Authorized Representative) ___________________________________(Company Name) ___________________________________(Company Street Address) ___________________________________(City, State and Zip Code) ___________________________________(DUNS Number and CAGE Code) SUBJECT: Statement of FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) Compliance I do hereby certify that the offer submitted by our company in response to the subject solicitation is fully compliant with the requirements of FAR 52.219-14 (Limitations on Subcontracting) that at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern as specified in the Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) section of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) if a contract was awarded to our company. Legally Authorized Representative (PRINT): ________________________________ Signature: _______________________________ Date: ______________