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awhinton

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Posts posted by awhinton

  1. faroutgeek:  Can you continue on with the existing contract/contractor to satisfy the 80 percent of your clients that have not expressed any issues, and award a new shiny contract (or contracts) to satisfy the 20 percent that do have issues?

  2. Wouldn't GSA 8(a) STARS II be the ideal solution to your problem (except for the fact that it is considered BIC)?:

    "The 8(a) STARS II GWAC (STARS II) is a competitively awarded, multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. STARS II was authorized under the provisions of Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act 15 U.S.C. 637(a) and retains the 8(a) sole source, or “directed order,” authority found in FAR 19.8. STARS II resulted from a competitive 8(a) procurement, which was offered to and accepted into the SBA 8(a) program. Given that STARS II was established for exclusive participation among 8(a) contractors, the entire GWAC was accepted into the 8(a) program and all industry partners were verified by SBA as 8(a) eligible prior to GWAC award, as a result individual orders do not have to be offered and accepted into the 8(a) program and 8(a) eligibility of the industry partners has already been verified."

    There are almost 800 8(a) IT service providers on the IDIQ.  

    https://www.gsa.gov/technology/technology-purchasing-programs/governmentwide-acquisition-contracts/8a-stars-ii-governmentwide-acquisition-contract-gwac

     

  3. I realize that for 76fj40's purposes, this thread answered the original question and provided additional helpful insights, but I'd like to tag on to what DWGerard1102 heard at the GSA training event regarding the 8(a) STARS II option period.  

    The 8(a) STARS II multiple award IDIQ contract has one five-year base period (August 31, 2011 to August 30, 2016) with one five-year option period (August 31, 2016 to August 30, 2021).  The five-year option period was exercised back in the summer of 2016, and a number of companies did not have their option exercised as a result of the small business program rerepresentation process described earlier in this thread and included in the 8(a) STARS II contract (FAR 52.219–28, Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation). 

    As far as I am aware, at the basic IDIQ contract level, the general small business program recertification process for the five-year option period is an over and done deal, so the statement that "all contractors will need to recertify their small business status in October per the GSA rep" seems odd to me, both in concept and timing. 

    Does anyone know if GSA is imposing additional (i.e., annual) rerepresentation requirements beyond what is included in the 8(a) STARS II IDIQ contract?  If so, can you please elaborate?

  4. Additionally, see 13 CFR §124.507(b), for general guidance, and 124.507(d) specifically having to do with 8(a) firms whose program terms have expired:

    (d) Award to firms whose program terms have expired. A concern that has completed its term of participation in the 8(a) BD program may be awarded a competitive 8(a) contract if it was a Participant eligible for award of the contract on the initial date specified for receipt of offers contained in the contract solicitation, and if it continues to meet all other applicable eligibility criteria.

    (1) Amendments to the solicitation extending the date for submissions of offers will be disregarded.

    Example to paragraph (d)(1). The program term for 8(a) Participant X is scheduled to expire on December 19. A solicitation for a competitive 8(a) procurement specifies that initial offers are due on December 15. The procuring activity amends the solicitation to extend the date for the receipt of offers to January 5. X submits its offer on January 5 and is selected as the apparent successful offeror. X is eligible for award because it was an eligible 8(a) Participant on the initial date set forth in the solicitation for the receipt of offers.

     

    (2) For a negotiated procurement, a Participant may submit revised offers, including a best and final offer, and be awarded a competitive 8(a) contract if it was eligible as of the initial date specified for the receipt of offers in the solicitation, even though its program term may expire after that date.

     

  5. Fortunately, you can probably use the information that you do know to find the information that you don’t know.  You know that there are 5 incumbent contractors, you presumably know the general nature of the work that they were awarded, and you presumably know the agency that awarded the contracts.  

    You probably know the company name of one or more or all of the incumbents.  That is where I would start, since that will give you a smaller data set to examine and hopefully get you to your goal faster.  If you have a good sense of the incumbents, I would start with the smallest of the incumbents first, again, because you will get a smaller data set.  

    Once you search on company name in FPDS and you find the precise company that you are interested in, I would do a new, separate search on just that company’s DUNS number.  Why?  Company names are inconsistently used in FPDS and you may miss out on some important records (potentially the very contract that you are looking for).  Complicated companies with multiple DUNS, differing Global DUNS of parent companies, name changes/mergers/acquisitions/novations, are a topic for another day.  

    Once you have all of that specific company’s contracts listed in FPDS, dump them to a .csv file (upper right hand corner of the ezSearch results screen).  From there, you can sort by contracting agency and date.  You may get lucky and the company only has one contract from the agency that you are looking for, or you can see the patterns of contracting activity and see the various contract numbers, timing, $ amounts obligated, etc. to get you to the specific contract number that you are looking for.  From there, you can search specific contract number(s) in FPDS and view the details of the record(s) to validate whether you found your target or not.  

    Once you have your first target contract number, you can either repeat the process for the other 4 companies, or you can do some trial and error searches on the contract number pattern.  It is not uncommon for agencies that award multiple-award contracts to do so in a sequence (xxxxxx-xx-x-xx15, xxxxxx-xx-x-xx16, xxxxxx-xx-x-xx17, xxxxxx-xx-x-xx18, xxxxxx-xx-x-xx19)—sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t—it takes 4 seconds to try and see.  If that doesn’t work, try something else.

    As they say, there are more ways than one to skin a cat, and everyone has their own techniques for finding information.  But, this is what I would do in the specific scenario that you described.  Sounds complicated/convoluted, but it takes me WAY less time to do these types of searches and find the precise information that I am looking for than it did for me to type this message up.  Good luck!  If you need assistance, feel free to private message me…

  6. bf64815,

     

    With regard to your question C ), it has happened in at least one case on NIH CIO-SP3 SB.  A small business was awarded the set-aside GWAC as a result of the original CIO-SP3 SB competition. Other than the minimum guarantee ($250), the small business received no task order awards.  The contract was subsequently novated to a large business, and that large business has since received over $125M in funded task order awards under the small business GWAC.  As others have suggested, talk to an attorney.  There are apparently some pretty good ones out there.

  7. My company has a multiple award contract with the following condition tied to the minimum guarantee:


    "For each successful Contractor, irrespective of the number of Domains for which the Contractor has qualified, there will be a one time “minimum guarantee” award amount of $100,000 during the life of the contract. This amount can only be claimed at the end of the contract period, if the Contractor proposes on all Task Order RFTOP’s issued under their qualified domains during the 5 years."


    I don't like it. A few years into the contract with no task order awards and lots of B&P $ and effort expended (on some RFTOPs we absolutely KNEW we would not win), I can relate to Vern's comment "I would not compete for a MATOC that made response to RFTOPs mandatory..." Mandatory RFTOP responses--yuk!--don't do it to yourself or your contractors.

  8. This may help:

    13 CFR § 124.514 Exercise of 8(a) options and modifications.

    (a) Unpriced options. The exercise of an unpriced option is considered to be a new contracting action.

    (1) If a concern has graduated or been terminated from the 8(a) BD program or is no longer small under the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code for the requirement, negotiations to price the option cannot be entered into and the option cannot be exercised.

    (2) If the concern is still a Participant and otherwise eligible for the requirement on a sole source basis, the procuring activity contracting officer may negotiate price and exercise the option provided the option, considered a new contracting action, meets all regulatory requirements, including the procuring activity's offering and SBA's acceptance of the requirement for the 8(a) BD program.

    (3) If the estimated fair market price of the option exceeds the applicable threshold amount set forth in §124.506, the requirement must be competed as a new contract among eligible Participants.

    (B)Priced options. The procuring activity contracting officer may exercise a priced option to an 8(a) contract whether the concern that received the award has graduated or been terminated from the 8(a) BD program or is no longer eligible if to do so is in the best interests of the Government.

    © Modifications beyond the scope. A modification beyond the scope of the initial 8(a) contract award is considered to be a new contracting action. It will be treated the same as an unpriced option as described in paragraph (a) of this section.

    (d) Modifications within the scope. The procuring activity contracting officer may exercise a modification within the scope of the initial 8(a) contract whether the concern that received the award has graduated or been terminated from the 8(a) BD program or is no longer eligible if to do so is in the best interests of the Government.

  9. I don't think this proposed rule has become final, but it does provide insight into SBA's intentions (these are relevant excerpts):

    [Federal Register: October 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 207)]

    [Proposed Rules]

    [Page 55693-55723]

    From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

    [DOCID:fr28oc09-32]

    This rule also proposes to amend Sec. 124.504(e), regarding the

    release of follow-on procurements from the 8(a) BD program. It has

    always been SBA's policy, and implicit in the regulations, that once a

    requirement is awarded as an 8(a) contract, any follow-on procurement

    should generally also be awarded as an 8(a) contract. SBA's regulations

    for both the HUBZone and service disabled veteran-owned small business

    programs address the release of requirements from the 8(a) BD program

    to those programs where no 8(a) firm can currently perform the

    contract. The 8(a) BD regulations did not specifically address release

    of requirements other than those where a firm is graduating from the

    program and needs the follow-on contract to further its business

    development. As such, the proposed rule would require that follow-on or

    repetitive 8(a) procurements would generally remain in the 8(a) BD

    program unless SBA agrees to release them for non-8(a) competition. If

    a procuring agency would like to fulfill a follow-on or repetitive

    acquisition outside of the 8(a) BD program, it must make a written

    request to and receive the concurrence of the AA/BD to do so. Release

    may be based on an agency's achievement of its SDB goal, but failure to

    achieve its HUBZone or SDVO goal, where the requirement is not critical

    to the business development of the 8(a) Participant that is currently

    performing the requirement or another 8(a) BD Participant. The

    requirement that a follow-on procurement must be released from the 8(a)

    BD program in order for it to be fulfilled outside the 8(a) BD program

    would not apply to orders offered to and accepted for the 8(a) BD

    program pursuant to Sec. 124.503(h).

    (d) Release for non-8(a) competition. (1) Except as set forth in

    paragraph (d)(4) of this section, where a procurement is awarded as an

    8(a) contract, its follow-on or renewable acquisition must remain in

    the 8(a) BD program unless SBA agrees to release it for non-8(a)

    competition. If a procuring agency would like to fulfill a follow-on or

    renewable acquisition outside of the 8(a) BD program, it must make a

    written request to and receive the concurrence of the AA/BD to do so.

    In determining whether to release a requirement from the 8(a) BD

    program, SBA will consider:

    (i) Whether the agency has achieved its SDB goal;

    (ii) Where the agency is in achieving its HUBZone, SDVO, WOSB, or

    small business goal, as appropriate; and

    (iii) Whether the requirement is critical to the business

    development of the 8(a) Participant that is currently performing it.

    (2) SBA may decline to accept the offer of a follow-on or renewable

    8(a) acquisition in order to give a concern previously awarded the

    contract that is leaving or has left the 8(a) BD program the

    opportunity to compete for the requirement outside of the 8(a) BD

    program.

    (i) SBA will consider release under this paragraph (d)(2) only

    where:

    (A) The procurement awarded through the 8(a) BD program is being or

    was performed by either a Participant whose program term will expire

    prior to contract completion, or by a former Participant whose program

    term expired within one year of the date of the offering letter;

    (B) The concern requests in writing that SBA decline to accept the

    offer prior to SBA's acceptance of the requirement for award as an 8(a)

    contract; and

    © The concern qualifies as a small business for the requirement

    now offered to the 8(a) BD program.

    (ii) In considering release under this paragraph (d)(2), SBA will

    balance the importance of the requirement to the concern's business

    development needs against the business development needs of other

    Participants that are qualified to perform the requirement. This

    determination will include consideration of whether rejection of the

    requirement would seriously reduce the pool of similar types of

    contracts available for award as 8(a) contracts. SBA will seek the

    views of the procuring agency.

    (3) SBA will release a requirement under this paragraph only where

    the procuring activity agrees to procure the requirement as a small

    business, HUBZone, service disabled veteran-owned small business, or

    women-owned small business set-aside.

    (4) The requirement that a follow-on procurement need must be

    released from the 8(a) BD program in order for it to be fulfilled

    outside the 8(a) BD program does not apply to orders offered to and

    accepted for the 8(a) BD program pursuant to Sec. 124.503(h).

  10. How about this from the Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations?:

    01410 SUPPLY TECHNICIAN

    This position performs limited aspects of technical supply management work (e.g., inventory management, storage management, cataloging, and property utilization) related to depot, local, or other supply activities. Work usually is segregated by commodity area or function, and controlled in terms of difficulty, complexity, or responsibility. Assignments usually relate to stable or standardized segments of technical supply management operations; or to functions or subjects that are narrow in scope or limited in difficulty. The work generally involves individual case problems or supply actions. This work may require consideration of program requirements together with specific variations in or from standardized guidelines. Assignments require:

    (a) a good working knowledge of the governing supply systems, programs, policies, nomenclature, work methods, manuals, or other established guidelines; (:) an understanding of the needs of the organization serviced; and © analytical ability to define or recognize the dimension of the problems involved, to collect the necessary data to establish the facts, and take or recommend action based upon application or interpretation of established guidelines.

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