This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes one (1) solicitation which will result in a Firm Fixed Price Purchase Order awards for providing software that allows the government to capture assessment/selection data throughout training cycle. This allows the government to make informed decisions about who we're hiring based on how well their traits/characteristics align with the ST attributes. Additionally, we believe we could use the software to capture performance ratings in the pipeline which allows us to correlated predictor variables (i.e., selection attributes) with outcome variables (i.e., operator performance). Anticipated awards will be the result of Small Business set-aside. Proposals are being requested and written solicitations will not be issued. Solicitation Number F2FT355063A001 is hereby issued as a Request for Proposal. This combined synopsis/solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-80, effective 2 Mar 2015. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this project is 334614 and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 7030. The Size Standard for NAICS 334617 is 750 Employees. This acquisition is solicited as a 100% set-aside for Small Business Concerns Delivery Terms are FOB destination. The following provisions and clauses apply to this solicitation and will remain in full force in any resultant award: 52.204-7 -- System for Award Management. As prescribed in 4.1105(a)(1), use the following provision: System for Award Management (Jul 2013) (a) Definitions. As used in this provision- "Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number" means the 9-digit number assigned by Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) to identify unique business entities. "Data Universal Numbering System+4 (DUNS+4) number" means the DUNS number means the number assigned by D&B plus a 4-character suffix that may be assigned by a business concern. (D&B has no affiliation with this 4-character suffix.) This 4-character suffix may be assigned at the discretion of the business concern to establish additional System for Award Management records for identifying alternative Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) accounts (see the FAR at Subpart 32.11) for the same concern. "Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database" means that- (1) The Offeror has entered all mandatory information, including the DUNS number or the DUNS+4 number, the Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) code, as well as data required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (see Subpart 4.14), into the SAM database; and (2) The offeror has completed the Core, Assertions, and Representations and Certification, and Points of contact sections of the registration in the SAM database; (3) The Government has validated all mandatory data fields, to include validation of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Offeror will be required to provide consent for TIN validation to the Government as a part of the SAM registration process. (4) The Government has marked the record "Active". (b) (1) By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the SAM database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. (2) The offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation "DUNS" or "DUNS+4" followed by the DUNS or DUNS+4 number that identifies the offeror's name and address exactly as stated in the offer. The DUNS number will be used by the Contracting Officer to verify that the offeror is registered in the SAM database. (c) If the offeror does not have a DUNS number, it should contact Dun and Bradstreet directly to obtain one. (1) An offeror may obtain a DUNS number- (i) Via the internet at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform or if the offeror does not have internet access, it may call Dun and Bradstreet at 1-866-705-5711 if located within the United States; or (ii) If located outside the United States, by contacting the local Dun and Bradstreet office. The offeror should indicate that it is an offeror for a U.S. Government contract when contacting the local Dun and Bradstreet office. (2) The offeror should be prepared to provide the following information: (i) Company legal business name. (ii) Tradestyle, doing business, or other name by which your entity is commonly recognized. (iii) Company physical street address, city, state and Zip Code. (iv) Company mailing address, city, state and Zip Code (if separate from physical). (v) Company telephone number. (vi) Date the company was started. (vii) Number of employees at your location. (viii) Chief executive officer/key manager. (ix) Line of business (industry). (x) Company Headquarters name and address (reporting relationship within your entity). (d) If the Offeror does not become registered in the SAM database in the time prescribed by the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer will proceed to award to the next otherwise successful registered Offeror. (e) Processing time, which normally takes 48 hours, should be taken into consideration when registering. Offerors who are not registered should consider applying for registration immediately upon receipt of this solicitation. (f) Offerors may obtain information on registration at https://www.acquisition.gov. (End of Provision) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items (Jul 2013) is amended to read: Offeror shall submit signed and dated offer to 24 SOW/PK, Attn: Michael Wenrick, 223 Cody Avenue, Hurlburt Field FL 32544, by 22 Apr 2014, 2:00 p.m. CST. Submit signed and dated Offer Schedule marked with solicitation number F2FT355063A001. The offeror may submit an electronic copy of their signed and dated offer via e-mail to
[email protected] with the solicitation number in the subject block. The government reserves the right to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Facsimile proposals will not be accepted. Offers shall be evaluated in accordance with FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation of Commercial Items (Jan 1999) which is incorporated into this Request for Proposal below. The Government anticipates the award of one purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offerors whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) Technical capability (ii) Price. Technical capability is approximately equal to price. The Government will award a Firm Fixed Price - purchase order to the technically-acceptable and responsible offeror(s) with the lowest priced offer. Technical acceptability will be determined by the following: Proposals shall meet the following or equal crtieria as a brand name or equal: SOF personnel are incredibly difficult and expensive to select and train, and - once operational - are imbued with incredible responsibilities in unpredictable and diverse situations. SOFware LLC's Assessment TM application seeks to mitigate the risks of making costly mistakes in the Selection and Assessment (S&A) programs of SOF units. What does Assessment TM do for SOF Selection and Assessment programs? A successful S&A program should accomplish several things: -It should be based on, and systematically reinforce, the character profile of successful operators (e.g. stress-‐tolerant, team-‐oriented, high integrity, etc). -Reliably reject candidates with insufficient capability and/or trainability. -Reliably reject candidates with unsatisfactory character. -Reliably select competent, trainable and high-‐character candidates. -Provide feedback on each candidate's strengths and weaknesses, both for the instructor cadre's use and, if desired, for the candidate's own use and growth. -Identify those parts of the training curriculum where candidate performance is consistently poor. Such trends may indicate the training provided to the candidates needs to be improved. -Facilitate many independent observations on candidate performance. Blind, independent assessment at first, rather than group discussions where the opinions of strong personalities overpower potentially more insightful assessments from quieter personalities. -Facilitates assessment of each candidate from a 360-‐degree perspective: from their instructors and peers and from the candidates themselves. SOFware's Assessment TM was designed with all of these requirements in mind. It is designed to optimize both candidate performance data capture and to then compile that captured data into insightful and effective reporting. Candidate Performance Data Capture An effective data capture tool requires two components: first, the tool must enable the right data to be captured and, second, it must make the data capture process easy and intuitive. A failure on either front will lead to inaccurate and incomplete conclusions about candidate suitability. On the first score Assessment TM is completely configurable - it enables the S&A administrators to document the personality characteristics, training events, and standards of performance that they value and need to have measured. On the second front the grading workflows are designed to be intuitive and automated wherever possible, and are optimized for touch-‐based mobile device (e.g., iPad) on-‐the-‐go data capture. Insightful and Effective Reporting Reams of performance data are only useful if they can be presented in graphic summaries that effectively and quickly reveal a candidate's strengths and weaknesses, both on an absolute scale and relative to his peers. Assessment TM provides exactly that. The reports cover both job performance and personal character. Individual candidate reports start at a high-‐level aggregated view, but allow multiple levels of drill-‐down to the very specific. These reports show the candidate's score; that score as a deviation (good or bad) from the unit's standard; the average score of his peers; and finally his percentile ranking within the class. Group leaderboard reports are also provided, allowing relative performance to be more easily discerned. All reports follow a consistent color scheme (green is good, red is bad) to allow decision makers to - at a glance - discern accurate understandings of a candidate's suitability. A report card is provided for each candidate as the one-‐stop-‐shop for accessing all relevant reporting on an individual. FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications (Aug 2013) - Commercial Items and DFARS 252.212-7000 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (June 2005) apply to this Request for Proposal and the offeror must include a completed copy of these provisions with their proposal or indicate (with DUNS Number) that current information is available on the federal government website ORCA (htpps://www.sam.gov) The full text of these clauses and provisions may be accessed electronically at the website: http://farsite.hill.af.mil. Prospective contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration Database prior to award of a government contract. The offeror may access the current replacement site for ORCA, the System for Award Management (SAM), at (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/) FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items (Jul 2013) FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (Sep 2013) apply to this Request for Proposal. (a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (1) 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (FEB 2009) (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)). ____ Alternate I (AUG 2007) of 52.222-50 (22 U.S.C. 7104(g)). (2) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553). (3) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (OCT 2004) (Pub. L. 108-77, 108-78). (b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the contracting officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999). 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (Dec 2010) (E.O. 13496). 52.223-15, Energy Efficiency in Energy-Consuming Products (Dec 2007) (42 U.S.C. 8259b). 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- System for Award Management (Jul 2013) (31 U.S.C. 3332). 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (May 2012) (section 738 of Division C of Public Law 112-74, section 740 of Division C of Pub. L. 111-117, section 743 of Division D of Pub. L. 111-8, and section 745 of Division D of Pub. L. 110-161). 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation (Jul 2013) (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)). 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003) (E.O. 11755). 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Mar 2012) (E.O. 13126). 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (Oct 2010) (29 U.S.C. 793). 52.225-1, Buy American Act--Supplies (Feb 2009) (41 U.S.C. 10a-10d). 52.204-10, Reporting Executive compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Jul 2013) (Pub. L. 109-282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 52.225-3, Buy American Act--Free Trade Agreements--Israeli Trade Act (Nov 2012) (41 U.S.C. chapter 83, 19 U.S.C. 3301 note, 19 U.S.C. 2112 note, 19 U.S.C. 3805 note, 19 U.S.C. 4001 note, Pub. L. 103-182, Pub. L. 108-77, 108-78, 108-286, 108-302, 109-53, 109-169, 109-283, 110-138, 112-41, 112-42, and 112-43). Alternate I (Mar 2012) of 52.225-3. Alternate II (Mar 2012) of 52.225-3. Alternate III (Nov 2012) of 52.225-3. 52.209-6, Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (Aug 2013) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans (Sep 2010) (38 U.S.C. 4212). Required when 52.222-35 is used 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans (Sep 2010) (38 U.S.C. 4212). 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sept 2006), with Alternate I (Oct 1995) (41 U.S.C. 253g and 10 U.S.C. 2402). 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Jul 2013) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)). 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (Nov 2011) (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(14)). 52.223-16, IEEE 1680 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products (Dec 2007) (E.O. 13423). Alternate I (Dec 2007) of 52.223-16. 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving (Aug 2011). 52.225-5, Trade Agreements (Nov 2012) (19 U.S.C. 2501, et seq., 19 U.S.C. 3301 note). 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Mar 2007) (E.O. 11246). 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Aside (Nov 2011) (15 U.S.C. 644). 52.215-20, Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data (Oct 2010) 52.215-21, Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data - Modifications. (Oct 2010) 252.212-7001 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Applicable to Defense Acquisitions of Commercial Items. AFFARS 5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (NOV 2012) (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the Center/MAJCOM/DRU or AFISRA ombudsmen, Lt Col Gerald I Ray, HQ AFSOC/A7K, 427 Cody Avenue, Suite 225, Hurlburt Field, FL 32544; Phone: (850) 884-3990, fax: (850) 884-2476. . Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU or AFISRA level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2397, facsimile number (571) 256-2431.