Sole Source Justification.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 Page 1 of 4

NOTE: If a Justification was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved Justification for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant Justification. This applies to Justification staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor Justification will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: >SAT and < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M

Contracting Activity: AFMC OL_H/PZIMA

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: 16770

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): Arbinger Leadership Course BPA

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

Authority: AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2304a, Special Emergency Procurement Authority (41 U.S.C. 1903)

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): $1,500,000 Justification Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a))

Date Lead Acquisition Program Manager Justin L. Simmons

OO-ALC/OBCA, 801-777-3156

Signature

Date

05 Oct 2026

William F Lee william.lee.66@us.af.mil

PZIMA / 801-586-3201

Signature

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date Competition Advocate [ Official Signature Block ]

Signature

LEE.WILLIAM.FRANCIS.1

609747184

Digitally signed by

LEE.WILLIAM.FRANCIS.1609747184

Date: 2026.10.05 10:44:20 -06'00'

SIMMONS.JUSTIN.LEE.1

256189212

Digitally signed by

SIMMONS.JUSTIN.LEE.1256189212

Date: 2026.10.13 11:06:04 -06'00'

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 Page 2 of 4

I. Contracting Activity.

United States Air Force

AFMC AFSC OL:H/PZIMA

6038 Aspen Avenue, Bldg 1289 Hill Air Force Base, UT 84056 PCO: William Lee

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

This is a justification for other than full and open competition to establish a new, single-award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with The Arbinger Institute. This action will provide specialized, proprietary leadership training services for the Ogden Air Logistics Complex (OO-ALC). The BPA will have a five-year ordering period, from approximately 15 February 2027 to 14 February 2032, with an estimated total ceiling of $3M

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The Government requires professional, proprietary, non-advisory and assistance services (non-A&AS) leadership training for approximately 900 leadership and key personnel at OO-ALC and its Geographically Separated Units (GSUs)

- Aeospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ and the 575th AMXS at Randolph AFB, TX. The services include a suite of courses designed to transition organizational culture from an "inward mindset" to an "outward mindset" to improve collaboration, efficiency, and mission outcomes under the "Art of the Possible" (AoP) framework. The specific courses required are:

- Developing and Implementing an Outward Mindset (DIOM)

- Outward Leadership (OL)

- Outward Performance (OP)

- Train-the-Trainer (TTT) certifications for DIOM and OP

The requirement includes all associated proprietary courseware, textbooks, and digital sustainment tools. A key component is the TTT certification pathway to establish a self-sustaining internal training capacity.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements."

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

The use of FAR 6.302-1 is required because The Arbinger Institute is the sole developer, provider, and licensor of its trademarked "Outward Mindset" training programs, course-ware, and associated intellectual property. No other source can satisfy the agency's need for the following reasons:

The Arbinger Institute, from years of working with Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) and other similar military maintenance and repair organizations, has developed a unique curriculum that addresses the specific constraints in leadership and operations inherent in OO-ALC. Other trainings, including internally provided government training, have proven to be ineffective.

The required training methodology is a unique, proprietary product of The Arbinger Institute. OO-ALC previously attempted to remove barriers to competition by having internal personnel facilitate courses modeled on the Arbinger concept. These internal, Government trainers received certification from Arbinger to teach the material, but without consistent refresher, the curriculum tended to drift over time from it's originally intended curriculum. It also failed to keep up with new developments in the state of the art methods employed by Arbinger. Senior leadership determined this internal training lacked the necessary depth, curriculum fidelity, and behavioral impact of the Government provided programs. To restore training efficacy, the services must be delivered by certified Arbinger facilitators using

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 Page 3 of 4 official, licensed courseware.

Other AFMC units utilize Arbinger's specific training model. Adopting this same framework is vital for OO-ALC to maintain leadership consistency, depot maintenance integration, and standardized execution across the command.

No other training vendor has the legal right, licensed materials, or certified personnel to deliver Arbinger's proprietary curriculum. (A letter from Arbinger asserting these rights is attached.)

Therefore, only The Arbinger Institute can provide the specific services that will satisfy the Government's unique requirements.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

Market research surveyed five prominent leadership training vendors, including three small businesses, to assess their capability to meet the requirement. While these vendors are highly qualified in general leadership development, all were excluded because they lack the legal authority and proprietary rights to deliver Arbinger's trademarked curriculum, and the curricula they offer do not provide the same focus on AFMC and OO-ALC specific needs as Arbinger training. Because only The Arbinger Institute can provide the required proprietary services, soliciting offers from other sources was deemed impractical and would not yield additional viable offers. The establishment of the BPA includes a Train-the-Trainer pathway, which is an action the agency may take to reduce dependency on the contractor and build organic capability over the life of the agreement. Though this has not been successful in the past, it is important that the government maintain their organic capabilities so there is a chance to improve upon past failures and keep this pathway open for reducing dependency on contracted services wherever possible.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine the anticipated cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a price analysis comparing the proposed BPA pricing against the pre-negotiated rates on The Arbinger Institute’s GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract (No. 47QREB19D0011). This provides a valid baseline for price reasonableness. Furthermore, the Government will negotiate volume-based discounts for large cohort enrollments to ensure pricing is advantageous.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

Market research included a review of GSA's HCaTS vehicle, SAM.gov, and federal contracting databases. The results confirmed that while a robust market exists for general leadership training, the Government's specific requirement is for the proprietary "Outward Mindset" curriculum developed and exclusively owned by The Arbinger Institute. The research identified four other capable small business training providers (Colleague Consulting, Chitra Productions, CTR Management Group, and Communication Institute International), but all were found to be technically unable to provide the required licensed content. The research concluded that there is no reasonable expectation of competition for this specific, proprietary requirement, making a sole-source action necessary.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

N/A

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Arbinger Institute has expressed interest verbally in fulfilling this requirement and has shared their GSA-accepted rates, but has not submitted any formal written estimates based on the requirements being developed by Hill AFB.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

In the current state, there is little the Government can do to remove barriers to competition and minimize reliance on a sole-source commercial provider. In the long-term, once the "Outwared Mindset" leadership methodologies are endemic within the OO-ALC, the Government will again utilize the Train-the-Trainer (TTT) pathway embedded within this BPA. It is unlikely that OO-ALC will completely eliminate dependency on the sole-source contractor for this requirement, but by certifying internal, organic government facilitators in Arbinger’s proprietary methodologies, OO- ALC can significantly reduce it over time. For subsequent acquisitions, the Government will conduct robust market research to determine if competing licensing agents or authorized third-party resellers can provide these educational materials.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.