123A9423Q0045 Amendment 001.pdf

(x)

123A9423Q0045 x x

1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted ; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE

RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR

OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted , such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

x

FSIS-ASD-ACQUISITION

BELTSVILLE MD 20705-5230

5601 SUNNYSIDE AVENUE

MAILDROP 5230

USDA, FSIS, ASD, ACQUISITIONS

06/08/20230001

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) is not extended.is extended, Items 8 and 15, and returning

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended , by one of the following methods: (a) By completing

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

FACILITY CODE CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)CODE 6. ISSUED BY

PAGE OF PAGES

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.3. EFFECTIVE DATE2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

06/08/2023

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority) appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return __________________ copies to the issuing office.

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to questions received for this solicitation.

Q1. Are all 17 participants expected to attend each session so that there is no need to repeat a session? Meaning we are only doing the 4 sessions and no more.

A1. The USDA is expecting a total of 10 sessions (broken down by two groups of supervisory staff), none will be repeated sessions, every participant will make their best efforts to attend. Please refer to our vision at top of page 40 of the RFQ:

- Director Level Supervision and below (17 people): 4 sessions up to 3 hours per session of

Facilitated Supervisory Training to include education on topics with facilitated breakout

Role Playing Exercises ensuring all participants practice. Examples of topics to be

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16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

BARBARA R. NELSON

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Previous edition unusable

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9 A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect .

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

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123A9423Q0045/0001 included in this level of training could be

Difficult Conversations, Managing Up, Time

Management, De-escalating Conflict, etc.

- Branch Chief Level Supervision and below (11 people): 5 to 6 sessions up to 2 hours per session of facilitated supervisory conversations on topics seeded by upper management, if necessary, but organically grown throughout these supervisory conversations. Examples of topics could include Managing Up, Giving Good Feedback, Supporting the Party Line even if you don't agree, etc.

Q2. Are the topics of each session going to be repeated in multiple sessions in the event that some of the 17 were unable to attend?

A2. No

Q3. Are we repeating the same topics every 3-4 months, or are we training a specific topic(s) each month so that something new is trained throughout the year?

A3. Please refer to our vision at top of page 40 of the RFQ.

Q4. In the cover page, the box for Unrestricted is checked and then a size standard of $15 is noted. Is this restricted or open?

A4. It's open.

Q5. Does the government intend for the selected contractor to provide the facilitated training, exercise and conversation course content?

A5. Yes.

Q6. Does the 10 page limit include "Vol 2 - Past

Performance"?

A6. No.

Q7. Is Factor 4 Past Performance the same thing as Vol 2 past performance?

A7. Yes.

Q8. We see that the government will be evaluating Key Personnel capabilities. Can the government advise the individual(s) it considers to be Key Personnel for this requirement?

A8. Overall Project Manager.

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Sponsored by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.110

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Q9. Can the government provide its resume requirements for our proposed Key Personnel?

A9. Fill this in.

Q10. If resumes are required can the government advise if it will be acceptable to provide these within the Appendix of our response?

A10. Yes.

Q11. Is the government seeking a pricing proposal volume for this response? If so, is this to be labeled Volume III Price/Cost or is there another designation that the government would like for us to use? If not, how would the government like us to present this information?

A11. Yes, to be labeled Volume III Price/Cost.

Q12. Does USDA anticipate providing post-training evaluations from participants in this training? If so, will USDA be administering the process or is it an expectation that the vendor will provide for the provision and administration of evaluation surveys?

A12. The USDA is not requiring post training evaluations, if the vendor wants to include them we are happy for them to be included in the proposal.

Q13. Is the government open to vendors recommending potential follow-up initiatives for sustained implementation of this training? If so, how should we address that in our price proposal?

A13. The USDA is open to recommendations on follow up initiatives. Price as an option.

Q14. As it is our assumption that all training will be provided virtually, we anticipate that all coursework materials will be delivered via download. Is this an accurate assumption? If not, can the government please advise how it would like coursework materials delivered?

A14. Training will be provided virtually, and coursework may be delivered via in some electronically appropriate method.

Q15. Regardless of the method of coursework materials delivery, can the government please advise how we should account for any type of materials course within our pricing proposal?

A15. The vendor should include pricing for any

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123A9423Q0045/0001 materials in their proposal.

Q16. On solicitation page 39 the government advises there are 5/6 sessions required for the

Branch Chief level, however on page 40 under

Performance Objective the requirement appears to be for 6 sessions. Can the government please confirm the requirement for the number of Branch

Chief training sessions?

A16. It will be 6 sessions.

Q17. Can the government please confirm if there are any specific Past Performance requirements other than that vendors provide references for three similar projects (i.e., is there specific information regarding Past Performance or any timeframe within which our work was performed that is of particular interest to the government?)

A17. There are no specific Past Performance requirements other than as stated in the solicitation, more recent references will be given more weight.

Q18. It appears that the USDA is seeking vendors who can provide Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) training and does not require any courseware customization (i.e., COTS modifications to include practical application to USDA work requirement). Can the government please confirm this is an accurate assumption?

A18. The USDA is open to either scenario. If providing COTS training the vendor should have a sufficient library to cover the as yet to be determined subjects of training sessions.

Q19. Can the government confirm that it is acceptable to provide important but not substantive response information within the 1 inch page margin headers and footers (e.g., information such as name, page number, date, solicitation number, and so forth)?

A19. Yes.

Q20. Can the government please consider revising the font size to allow for Times New Roman 10 font to be used within any charts, graphs, tables, and other such information we may provide in our response?

A20. Yes.

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Q21. Can the government advise if our SAM.gov information is sufficient should a review be required or if there is a requirement to complete and provide a copy of section E.8.1

REPRESENTATION BY CORPORATIONS REGARDING AN

UNPAID DELINQUENT TAX LIABILITY OR A FELONY

CONVICTION (DEVIATION 2012-01) (FEB 2012) (AGAR

452.209-70) within our response? If we are to provide this within our response, can the government please advise if this is to be provided in the technical response or the pricing response?

A21. SAM.gov information is sufficient. You must provide the Unique ID number in your quote.

Q22. Can the government please advise if there is a particular technology platform it wishes to have vendors use for support of this virtual training requirement?

A22. No.

Q23. If there is an incumbent for this requirement can the government please provide the incumbent name and most current contract number for the work performed?

A23. This is a new initiative.

Q24. Attachment A provides the complete current supervisory chart for the OFCO. There appears to be a mix of Branch Chiefs, Supervisors, and

Staff. Can the government confirm that only 28 individuals from this list of staff will be participating in the training to be provided over the one-year contract term?

A24. The full chart is provided to give context to the number of individuals being supervised by each supervisor, there will be 17 participants in the training.

Period of Performance: 08/01/2023 to 09/30/2024

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