S01 Attachment 1 SOW New Orleans LA.pdf

Statement of Work

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Deputy Chief of Programs Operational Meeting

(Downtown) New Orleans, LA

February 25th – February 27th 2025

1. Background The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service Deputy Chief of Programs is conducting an in-person operational meeting for approximately 120 participants and requires meeting space and related services within the specific geographic area of downtown New Orleans, LA, in a facility as defined in this document.

2. Hotel/Facility Requirements The hotel and meeting facility shall meet the following requirements:

• Be in a secure location, and all guest rooms shall have interior entry. Entrance doors that are not manned by hotel personnel are locked for security.

• Be on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) List of Approved Hotels and Motels for Federal Travelers (https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/hotel/) or provide certification that it offers the minimum level of fire safety by 1) having at least one, single-station, hard-wired smoke alarm in each guest room and 2) each room having additional protection provided by an automatic fire sprinkler system, if the building is four or more stories tall.

• Compliant with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

• The hotel/meeting facility must be in the downtown New Orleans, LA, area and within approximately a 5-minute walking distance of at least four dine-in restaurants (information must be provided with quote).

3. Lodging The hotel shall block 120 sleeping rooms for the nights listed in Table A and hold the block for a minimum of 30 calendar days after award of the contract. Participants may book between 1-4 nights during the conference. The hotel will provide a room block name. The hotel is free to release the remaining rooms not reserved by the hold end date. If fewer than 120 rooms are reserved by the hold end date, no attrition or any other fees or penalties will be assessed to USDA.

Each participant will make their own lodging reservations using the room block name and pay for lodging rate using their government issued travel card or private credit card. There will be no hold placed on the card and the card will not be charged until the day of checkout. Lodging will not be paid for through the purchase order payment process.

Once a reservation is made by a participant, the hotel’s cancellation policy applicable for that reservation applies should the individual not be able to travel and needs to cancel the reservation. If the participant does not cancel within the cancellation period, the participant is responsible for paying any cancellation fee, and it will not be paid by USDA through a resultant contract for the services defined in this Statement of Work. The cancellation period shall not exceed three calendar days prior to arrival.

All sleeping rooms must be provided at the Federal government per diem rate published at https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates for the relevant location and time period, which is currently $179.00 per night with no additional fees. If the Federal government is not exempt from state and local sales tax, taxes are the only additional amounts that can be added to the nightly rate, if applicable.

If possible, the hotel should offer maximum flexibility on an earlier check-in time to accommodate early arrivals. The check-in and check-out times must be provided. Additionally, some partial week reservations will need to be accommodated where some participants may check out on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. These participants will only reserve a room for one, two, or three nights instead of four at the time they make their reservation. This potential reduction in the number of nights shall not impact the pricing for the other services required in this Statement of Work.

USDA is not authorized to pay for and is not liable for any additional lodging related costs (e.g., in-room movies, alcohol, or food and beverage). Any such costs must be paid for directly by the room occupant using a payment method other than a government travel card issued by USDA.

4. Dates of Training – USDA has established the following dates for this meeting:

Hotel room Check-in is Monday February 24, 2025 Hotel room Check-out is Friday, February 28, 2025

5. Audio Visual (AV) Equipment Needs The hotel shall provide the AV equipment defined in Table A for the dates specified. Hotel provided equipment must be in good working order for the duration of the meeting. If the equipment fails, the hotel is responsible for immediately resolving the issue and providing working equipment (e.g., fix or replace).

The equipment must be set up, tested, and ready for use prior to the event beginning to ensure it is ready. A USDA representative will be given access to the meeting space(s) the evening before the meeting, so they can ensure it is ready for the meeting and become familiar with its use. The equipment will be available from 6:00AM to 7:00PM each meeting day.

USDA is permitted to use its own government-issued AV equipment at its discretion in the meeting space (e.g., external PC camera and microphone) at no additional cost or fee, and the AV staff will provide connection support to hotel supplied equipment as necessary.

The Federal government is exempt from sales and other taxes on the goods and services it acquires through contract, and these taxes should be excluded from the cost for audio visual services.

6. Light Refreshments and Meals A sufficient supply of drinking water with ice, coffee, and tea and cups/glasses must be provided for 120 participants for the duration of the meeting time each day, as identified in Table A.

Morning and afternoon refreshment breaks will include coffee, juice, tea, and/or sodas throughout the event, as well as light snacks with gluten free options as defined in Table A, sufficient for 120 participants.

If the breakout meeting rooms for our group are not all located in the same area in the hotel, a snack area will be set up for each group area. The hotel must provide a logistics plan for how they will ensure all participants have close access to AM/PM refreshments.

The listed beverages and snacks are examples of the types of beverages and light snack assortments that shall be provided by the hotel. Beverages and snacks would be served once during an AM break (e.g., https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates coffee, juice, nuts, fruit, muffin, and Danish) and a second time during a PM break (e.g., tea, sodas, crackers, chips, and cookies) each meeting day.

The Federal government is exempt from sales and other taxes on the goods and services it acquires through contract, and these taxes should be excluded from the cost for food and beverage.

Function Space Requirements cont.

MEETING ROOM

SETUP/ AUDIO VISUAL

REQUIREMETNS

Meeting rooms must be booked on a 24-hour hold beginning from the day and time the Government takes possession of function space.

Registration Area (1):

One rectangular-style table provided with chairs to seat 3 people located in front of general session room. Table provided with a white tablecloth.

Wi-Fi Available.

General Sessions Room (1):

Classroom-style room arrangement with tables and padded seating for 120 people.

Presentation stage provided with podium with either mounted or wireless microphones and speakers.

Presentation stage should accommodate a rectangular table with a white tablecloth and 5 chairs set up classroom style.

3 round tables and padded seating on the back of room for speakers with a charging station in each table.

2 – Handheld Mics Projection – provide a minimum of 5,000 lumen projector and two 6’ x 10’ screens with Truss Dress Kit Black, Screen Frame, and front projector surface with black back that can be seen easily by everyone in the room. Both screens must be cloned to project the same image/presentation from the presenter’s computer.

Appendix A

MEETING

NAME

FY25 NRCS DCP Operational Meeting

MEETING DATES

February 25th – February 27th, Sleeping Room Requirements Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Date 2/23/25 2/24/25 2/25/25 2/26/25 2/27/25 02/28/2024 2/23/25

Rooms Booked/Night

0 120 120 120 120 0 0

NOTES Room block requested may be amended slightly. Room Block of 120 participants. If fewer than 120 rooms are reserved by the hold end date, no attrition or any other fees or penalties will be assessed to

USDA.

Function Space Requirements Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Date 2/23/25 2/24/25 2/25/25 2/26/25 2/27/25 02/28/2024 Registration Area None 4:30pm to

7:00pm 6:30am-8:30am None None None

General Sessions Room

None Available at 6pm 6:00am – 7:00pm Classroom style set for 120 people

6:00am – 7:00pm Classroom style set for

120 people

6:00am – 7:00pm Classroom style set for 120 people

None

Conference Breakout Rooms (4)

None None None 6:00am-7:00pm Classroom style set for 30 people each

6:00am-7:00pm Classroom style set for 30 people each

None

Logistics Room (1)

None Available at 1pm until 7 pm

6:00am-7:00pm 6:00am-7:00pm 6:00am-7:00pm None

High Speed Wi-Fi Access for presenter Presenter laptop audio must also be able to be played through speakers in the room. A variety of adapters monitor cables and adapters must be available for compatibility with USDA laptops (i.e., HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, and VDA). At least 10 Power strips and extension cords.

6 - trashcans 4- easels with a self-adhesive flip chart pad and a marker set.

High speed Wi-Fi, audio-visual equipment, and room set up completed by 6pm on Monday February 24th, 2025, prior to occupancy by attendees.

Conference Breakout Rooms (4) Conference rooms should be near the General Session room. Minimum of four separate rooms with classroom-style room arrangement. Each room should hold at least 30 people and include tables with padded seating and the following equipment:

2 – Handheld mics 1 – Standalone podium w/ mic (either mounted or wireless) connected to the speakers in the room. Laptop audio must also be able to be played through speakers in the room.

1 – minimum of 5000 lumen projector and one 6’ x 10’ screen with Truss Dress Kit Black, Screen Frame, and front projector surface with black back that can be seen easily by everyone in the room. The projector cart must be set up far enough from the screen to be able to use the entire projection area and should not block audience view once the projector is seated on the cart.

A variety of adapters monitor cables and adapters must be available for compatibility with USDA laptops (i.e., HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, and VDA). Power strips and extension cords.

High speed Wi-Fi Access for presenter.

2- trashcans provided in each room for duration of event.

1 - easel with a self adhesive flip chart pad and a marker set for each breakout room. Post-it notes on the tables provided on day one High speed Wi-Fi, audio-visual equipment, and room set up completed by 6pm on Tuesday February 25th, 2025, prior to occupancy by attendees.

Logistics Room (1):

Boardroom Style room arrangement to include tables with padded seating for 15 people.

Room should have electrical outlets and power strips to accommodate 15 laptops and high-speed Wi-Fi.

ashcan provided for duration of event.

High speed Wi-Fi, equipment, and room set up completed by 1pm on Monday, February 24th, 2025, prior to occupancy by attendees.

**All meeting rooms must not have any obstructions that impede the view of attendees to the speaker’s area, or screens, including no obstruction cause by projector cart.**

LIGHT

REFRESHMENTS

Water, coffee, and tea service in all meeting rooms throughout the event.

AM/PM refreshments shall be provided once in the morning (as selected by NRCS) and a second time during a PM break (as selected by NRCS) each meeting day. Refreshment times will be agreed upon 15 days prior to the event.

If the breakout meeting rooms for our group are not all located in the same area in the hotel, a snack area will be set up for each group area. The hotel must provide a logistics plan for how they will ensure all participants have close access to AM/PM refreshments.

USDA requests a pre-con meeting with the hotel sales, banquets, and AV staff that will be managing our event in the afternoon of Monday, February 24th, 2025. This meeting will take place with the USDA project lead and the contractor lead (or assigned representatives). At this meeting there will be a review of the banquet event orders for final approval and a review of the hotel room block list at this time. The meeting can be in any location within the hotel, and the USDA team would like a tour of the group’s meeting rooms being used throughout the week.