Questions and Answers - 12C0BA21R0005.pdf

12C0BA21R0005 Questions and Answers

Question Number Question Section of RFP or PWS Page Number Answer

Did the solicitation mean to include an SF 1449 form that the offeror must submit with their proosal? General Question N/A

No. The SF1449 will be sent to the awardee. The SF1449 will not be present on the solicitation.

Will the contractor have to validate any applicant information outside of the intake system? General Question N/A

Majority of information will be contained in the application but items such as DUNS Number and SAM's registration will need to be verified outside the system.

Envirnomental information will also need to be verified outside the system and possibly certain assumptions as well as confiming certain certifications such as Debarment and Do Not Pay

In which volume should the offeror include its statement on having or not having any Conflicts of Interest? 8.3 16 Technical Volume I and will not be counted towards the page count.

4 Will there be a contract management system that can be used for creation, signature, data analysis and manage legal award/closing documents? 2.2.1 51

We have developed a Sharepoint site to manage the overall process of application review.

There is a review manual that is currently being updated to include the changes for the Round 3 or ReConnect that will be made avaialbe to you. This Sharepoint site manages all aspects of the review and award process.

Will there be an intake system that has document/contract automation capability engining with fillable fields? 2.2.1 51

The process is identified in the sharepoint process but there is not an automated process for completing contract/document automation

Will the intake system have the ability to connect all the documents/templates to multiple data sources simultaneouly for document generation? 2.2.1 51 no

7 Will the intake system have the capability to keep track and monitor modifications/revisions on closing documents upon request of changes from awardees? 2.2.7 52 Changes are tracked in the sharepoint process

8 Will the contractor have to provide offline review tools for the L1 Review process, or will the contractor be able to conduct all the reviews using the intake Salesforce system? 4.1 57 The contractor should be prepared to provide customized offline reports.

Will the contractor have to customize offline reporting tools to generate dashboards, weekly/monthly status reports, ad-hoc reports, or will the contractor be able to pull and build reports in SalesForce system and directly share with all personnel that has access to SalesForce for real time information? 4.4.6 59 The contractor should be prepared to provide customized offline reports.

10 Is there an anticipated breakdown between the RUS L2 Analysts ande the Contractor L2 Analysts? 2.2.3 52

RUS staff will be blended with contractor staff and there will be no difference in the processes uses. Exact administration of RUS staff will be worked out with the RUS Program Manager after award.

Is the Service Area Validation solely a governmental determination under the updated ReConnect Broadband Program (RPB)? 3.3 54 Per Section 3.3 Service Area Validation (SAV) support is not indluded in this PWS.

Will the indicated use of the Risk Rating Tool continue to be broken down based on the applicant type? 3.3.1.5 Subsection C 55

Modification of the Risk rating tool are acceptable and will need to be developed with the RUS Program Manager

The Proposal Structure table on page 36 calls for 3 Past Performance Questionnaires to be submitted but in Section 12.2.2, it states that the PPQs should be sent to all of our POCs listed as Past Performacnes references, which can be up to 6. Do we need 3 PPQs to be submitted or do we need up to 6 PPQs? Section 11.2 and Section 12.2.2. Pg. 36 and pg. 42 Up to Six (6) PPQs. Corrected Proprosal Structure on Page 36

The PPQ Cover letter (Attachment L-1) states that the PPQs should be sent to Erin Lush, Allen Hunt, and Daniel Lewis. The solicitation documents states that they should be sent to Erin Lush and Ryan Shappell. Could you please confirm who at USDA should receive the PPQs? Attachment L-1 and Section 12.2.2 42 Erin Lush, Allen Hunt, and Daniel Lewis. Correcting L1 and 12.2.2

Attachment L-2 instructs the sender to submit the PPQ no later than October 15, 2020.

Can you confirm that all PPQs must be received by the Government by COB 9/10/21 (5 business days in advance of proposal submission)? Since we have no control over schedules and availability of Government references filling in PPQs, will PPQs still be accepted by Government clients after this date but before the proposal due date? Attachment L-2, Paragraph E Pg. 2 of Attachment L-2 PPQ's will be due by September 17, 2021. Correcting L-2 Attachment

In Section 5 Pages Not Included in Page Count, Attachment J-3 Non-Disclosure Agreement is listed as not included in page count. In section 12.5 (p44) it states “The successful awardee will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (see Attachment J-3 Non-Disclosure Agreement).” Since Attachment J-3 would be signed after the award, should Section 5.0 instead read Attachment J-5 Consent & Certification to Disclosure – Resume Personal? 5.0 Pages Not Included in Page Count 33 Correcting to "Attachment J-5 Consent & Certification to Disclosure"

J-4 is listed in Section 10.0 as Visual Identity Guidelines, yet in the Solicitation, p. 79 it is listed as Attachment J-5. Attachment J-5 to the Solicitation is the Consent & Certification to Disclosure – Resume Personal Data yet it is listed on page 40 of the Solicitation as J-4. We are assuming this is an error and the numbers have been transposed. Please confirm. 10.0 List of Attachments 26 Numbers have been Transposed. Corrected on Page 26

Question Number Question Section of RFP or PWS Page Number Answer

A Transition In/Out Plan is required in the Management Plan. Is this included in the page count? 12.1.b Subfactor 2 – Management Plan 38 This is included in the page count

Please confirm that the Program Manager is the only key personnel required, and as such is the only Resume and J-4 (?) Consent & Certification to Disclosure – Resume Personal Data to be submitted? 12.1.c Subfactor C – Staffing Plan 40 See requirements listed under Section 4.2.1

In Section 4.4, tasks include “communications / outreach to program stakeholders. This may include onsite workshops and / or webinars” and “assist in development of webpage content for announcing funding windows, communicating requirements of the funding window, announcing awards and other necessary webpage development supporting the Reconnect program.” Please confirm that these tasks are L3 activities only and do not include any outreach or communication to accompany FOA tasks.

4.4 L3 Administration and Award Monitoring

Requirements and Key Personnel Functional Area 2 59

L3 process will be developed with the RUS Program Manager and depending on timing of the award of the contract could include certain FOA activities

The instructions state: “The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only).” Are identifiers for team members to be removed as well? 12.1 Volume I, Technical Approach (Factor 1) 37

All identifiers on the "Redacted" version will remove anything that identifies the company, to include the team members. An unredacted version will also be submitted.

The instructions state: “The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only).” Does this mean that company identifiers should be removed from resumes? 12.1 Volume I, Technical Approach (Factor 1) 37

All identifiers on the "Redacted" version will remove anything that identifies the company, to include company identifiers. An unredacted version will also be submitted.

The instructions state: “The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only).” Does this mean that company identifiers should be removed from the Corporate Signed Letter of Commitment, p.40 12.1 Volume I, Technical Approach (Factor 1) 37

All identifiers on the "Redacted" version will remove anything that identifies the company, to include company identifiers. An unredacted version will also be submitted.

The instructions state: “The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only).” Does this apply to the Past Performance Volume? 12.1 Volume I, Technical Approach (Factor 1) 37 This does not apply to the Past Performance Volume. Just the Technical Volume I

The instructions state: “The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only).” Does this apply to Corporate information and statements in the Pricing Volume? 12.1 Volume I, Technical Approach (Factor 1) 37 This does not apply to the Pricing Volume. Just the Technical Volume I

Are the three references required for the key personnel to be included as part of the 2-page resumes?

12.1.3 Subfactor C - Staffing Plan: key Personnel

b) 40 Yes

On page 6 in Attach. A, section 12.1 reads 'The Offeror’s submission must contain responses to the following and not exceed the 30-page limit' - however, on page 2 in Attach. A, sec. 4, it read 'Offerors must limit Volume I, Technical Approach, of their initial offers to 40 pages.' In this same section, it reads 'the Government will evaluate up to 40 pages of the permitted number of pages only.' In addition, the table on page 5, Attach. A, sec. 11.2, the page limit for the Technical Volume is listed as 40 pages. Will the govenrnment confirm that the Technical Volume page limit is 40 pages, please?

Attach A, sec. 12.1, Attach. A, sec 4.0 Attach. A, sec. 11.2 pg. 6, pg. 2, pg. 5 The page Limitation is 40 Pages. Corrected Page 37

The Governement indicates that the offeror is not allowed to use smaller than 12 point font for text, but does not indicate a font size for graphics and tables. Will the Government allow the offeror to use no smaller than 9 point font in graphics and tables? Attach. A, sec 4.0 pg. 2 9 Point is acceptable on graphics and tables. Font for text will remain at 12 point

In Attach. A, sec. 12.1, the Governement indicates that the cover of the Technical Volume should not contain any company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers.

There is no such request for the covers of Volume II, Past Performance or Volume III, Price. Will the Government confirm that this requirement applies only to the cover of Volume I, Technical, please?

Attch. A, sec. 12.1 (Vol 1) Attch. A, sec.

12.2 (Vol II) Attch. A, sec. 12.3 (Vol III)

pg. 6 pg. 10 pg.

12 This only applies to Technical Volume I

In Attach. A, sec. 11.2, the Government indicates that offerors are required to submit 3 past performance examples, but does not indicate that an offeror is able to submit up to 6 examples. In Attach, A, sec. 12.2.1, the solicitation indicates that the offerorer is able to submit up to 6 past performance examples, but does not indicate a minumum number of required examples. Will the Goverment clarify the minumum number of examples required and the maximum number of past performance examples allowed, please?

Attach. A, sec. 11.2 Attach. A, sec.

12.2.1 pg. 5 pg. 10 Up to six (6) PPQs. Corrected Proprosal Structure on Page 36

The soliciation seems to indicate that a proposal matrix is only required in the Technical Volume (Volume I). Will the government confirm that a proposal matrix is not required in the Past Performance (Volume II) and Pricing Volume (Volume III) of this proposal? Attach A, sec, 9.0 pg. 4 Proposal Matrix is only required on Volume I

Question Number Question Section of RFP or PWS Page Number Answer

In Attach, A, sec. 12.1.c in the 'Key Personnel' section, the soliciation reads 'The Offeror must provide a signed letter of commitment that provides evidence of thecorporate intent to commit these key personnel in the service of the project from the date of contract award.

The letter of commitment must include the name of the key personnel for whom a resume is provided. However, two sentences later, it reads , 'Key Personnel is identified as the Offeror’s Program Manager.' In addition, in the Evaluation Criteria, sec. 6.1, the solicitation reads 'The offeror must discuss the extent to which key personnel have a demonstrated track record of success in their experience, including direct experience with proposed key personnel who will be assigned to the project team; their roles and responsibilities and how each key personnel meets or exceeds the experience and skills requirements for the positions for which he/she is proposed. The track record of key personnel will demonstrate the minimum required experience as identified above (see table in Section “INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS”, 12.1c Key Personnel); with experience relative to the PWS tasks' during three (3) years prior to the date of proposal submission. The offeror must submit resumes (NOT TO EXCEED 2 PAGES EACH) that will include the information noted below in paragraph, “Key Personnel Resumes.”

This wording indicates that more than one Key Personnel needs to be identified in the proposal. Will the Government clarify if there are additional key personnel that need to identified in the offeror's proposal, please? Or, is the Program Manager the only Key Personnel that needs to be identified with a resume in the offeror's proposal? Attach. A, sec. 12.1.c Eval Criteria, 6.1 pg. 9 pg. 16 See requirements listed under Section 4.2.1 of the PWS

In Attach A., sec. 9, will the Government please clarify what it is looking for in column 2 labeled 'RFP Requirement' in the proposed proposal matrix struture, please? This seems to be repetitive of what the government is asking for in the column labeled 'Section “INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS”/or Instructions to Offers.' Would the government consider removing the column labled 'RFP Requirement from the table, please? Attach. A, sec 9 pg. 4 Will remove "RFP Requirement" rom the table

Per the pricing table in J.1, it appears that the only vendor that can accurately estimate the level of effort for completeness and complexity of the applications as they come into the system is the incumbent(s), themselves. Therefore, will the government please provide clarification on how they would like vendors to articulate assumptions and risks due to the FFP pricing by the “review bundle,” or change the pricing model to account for this risk and lack of transparency for interested parties in the level of effort? J.1 n/a

The level of effort will require a detail financial, technical and environmental review of each application. Each application includes detailed information and assumptions on each of the topics and the vendor is expected to include the necessary personnel to complete a comprehensive review of a business plan for a broadband/telecommunications enitity. All vendors must have this inherent capbility in the staff that they are bringing to this engagement.

What is the number of months anticipated to perform the reviews per “pricing bundle?”

Is there a specific deadline (e.g. a publicly announced milestone) that will affect the timeline for these reviews? J.1 n/a

The timeframe for processing the reviews is dependent on the number of applications that are submitted. There is no publicaly announced deadline. Timeline is dependent on a number of factors that cannot be fully defined at this time.

Does the Government have any kind of an anticipated deadline for the 500+ review “pricing bundle?” J.1 n/a

There is no specific timeline as it cannot be determined as to the number of application that will be eligible. Eligible applications take much longer to review than ineligible application. We anticipate that all applications would be processed and awarded in the base period for Round three. Average processing time was 2-3 days per application in the first two rounds.

Because of the complexity of the requirements, will the Government consider extending the proposal due date to September 28 to allow vendors adequate time to adjust their proposals based on answers to questions?

Solicitation Attachment A Section 7.0: Deadline for Submission of Proposals pg. 3 Offerors due date remains at September 17, 2021

38 Will the Government consider making the past performance questionnaire forms from our Government Points of Contact due on the same date as the solicitation due date?

Solicitation Attachment A Section 12.2.2 Past Performance Cover Letter and Past Performance Questionnaires and Attachments L1 & L2 pg. 11 Correcting to Due date of September 17, 2021

39 Can the government confirm that subcontractors may request PPQs to be completed by a Federal program manager for work which they performed as a subcontractor? RFP- 12.2.1 Past Performance Information 10 of 18

Subcontractors may only request PPQ's from their Prime. Government Personnel will only complete PPQs with company that holds the signed contract. Subcontractors may ask Prime to complete PPQ.

The document states: "A page is considered to be one-side of a single page of 8-1/2” x 11” paper, single spaced, using not smaller than 12-point type font." Can offerors use 9pt font from the Arial family for graphic, charts, and tables? Does font in tables, figures, and graphics need to be 12 pt font?

Technical Proposal

4.0 Limitation on Size of

Technical Proposal 33,2 9 Point for charts, graphics and tables will be acceptable. Text remain at 12 point font.

Question Number Question Section of RFP or PWS Page Number Answer

Can the government confirm if/that Functional Area 1 encompasses application review activities and Functional Area 2 encompasses all other activities (management and administration, award monitoring, reporting, and training development and execution, and transition in/out)? Technical Proposal and PWS 4.4

4 - 13, 53 - 62

In general functional area 1 is all aspect of application review and functional area 2 is everthing. However.please note that functional areas 1 and 2 cross over for certain activities.

42 Can the government clarify that the only place the names of the offeror and any subcontractors can appear is the cover page per the guidance "The Offeror’s submission must not contain the company name, logo or vendor specific identifiers (cover page only) and that it may not appear in any other portions of the Technical volume? Technical Proposal 12.1 Volume I 37, 6 This is for the redacted version. All identifiers will be removed in Technical Volume I.

Can offers submit their most recent CPARS in lieu of a Questionnaire?

12.2.2 Past Performance

Cover Letter and Past Performance Questionnaires 11 of 18 Yes

This section states that the Non-Disclosure Agreeemnt (J-3) will not be inclued in the page count for the proposal. However, Section 12.5 Proposal Forms & Certifications, and SECTION 10.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

both state that the Non-Disclosure statement is required only after contract award. Please confirm that Offerors do not need to submit Attachment J-3 with their proposal submission.

RFP 5.0 Pages Not Included in Page Count 33

J-3 will not be submitted and included in page count. That will only be required of the awardee.

Can the government provide clarification where the offeror should price activities listed under Functional Area 2 in the PWS (Award Announcement, Outreach Support, Report, Management and Administration, Training)? Should these activities be included in the banded reviews or considered elsewhere? Pricing Worksheet These activities should be included in the banded reviews

The deadline for the PPQ Questionnaires currently states October 15, 2020. Please clarify the submission deadline for those questionnaires. Attachment L-2 PPQ Questionnaire PPQ Deadline is September 17, 2021

How should the offeror submit the Project Management Plan? PWS Schedule of Deliverables 62 of 117

The Project Management Plan should be prepared in accordance wtith standards outlined in the latest version of the Project Management Body of Knowlege (PMBOK) as published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in an MS Word format.

Can the government confirm that the only Key Personnel is the Project Manager? Or if other staff described in the PWS should be considered Key?

RFP- 12.1.c. Subfactor 3 – Staffing Plan, Key Personnel 9 of 18 See requirements listed under Section 4.2.1

Can the government clarify if the offeror should submit 3 or 6 PPQs and include 3 or 6 past performances in Volume 2?

RFP- 11.2 Proposal Structure and 12.2.1 Past Performance Information 5 of 18 and 10 of 18 Up to six (6) PPQs. Corrected Proprosal Structure on Page 36

Would the government consider revising the Invoice Structure and Procedures under

19.1 to allow invoicing to be negotiated based on the task order? Under the current structure section 19.1.1 for Level 1 appears to create a potential conflict of interest as Contractors would have a financial incentive to approve an application to move from Level 1 to Level 2 in order for payment for work completed. As it is currently structured, it appears Contractors would not be paid for applications that do not pass Level 1 review or if a batch of applications do not pass Level 1. Furthermore, the current structure will place additional financial burden on a small business. PWS Invoicing Structure and Procedures 19.1 22 or 77 of 117 No. The government will not consider revising the invoicing structure.

Under section 19.1, can the government confirm if it is intending to only pay Contractor per applications or a percentage of the total batch price upon competition of the level review? For example, if Contractor completes a batch of 50 applications and 5 applications are moved from L1 to L2, will Contractor receive 25% of the total price for the batch of 50 or only 25% of the 5 applications moved from L1 to L2. Only being able to bill 25% of the applications moved from L1 to L2 (i.e. per application), will place additional financial burdens on small businesses. PWS Invoicing Structure and Procedures 19.1 22 or 77 of 117

If a contractor completesa bach of 50 applications and 5 applications move from L1 to L2, the contractor would get paid for all 50 at the L1 price point. Then the contractor will be paid 5 for L2, once the 5 are complete with the L2 price point.

50 applications Received 50 applications completed L1 phase (all 50 will be paid at the L1 portion once complete) 45 are rejected, 5 move to L2 (5 Will be paid the L2 portion once complete)

The deadline for questions was 1 hour after the solicitation documents became available on SAM.gov.

Will the government set a new question deadline so Offerors can have time to submit questions after reviewing the RFP documents in more detail? Section 6.0 RFP - Attachment A 3 Questions due was changed via solicitation Amendment 0001 dated 08/27/2021

Question Number Question Section of RFP or PWS Page Number Answer

There are two conflicting dates for the proposal submission deadline (Sept. 10 and Sept.

17). Please clarify when Offerors should submit their proposals.

RFP Page 1 & Section 7.0 RFP - Attachment A 1, 3

Proposal Submission Deadline corrected to 09/17/2021 via Solicitation Amendment 0001 dated 08/27/2021

Please confirm the page limit for Volume I. The RFP lists both 40 pages (Section 11.2) and 30 pages (Section 12.1).

Section 11.2 RFP - Attachment A & Section 12.1 RFP - Attachment A 5, 6 The page Limitation is 40 Pages. Corrected Page 6

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