2025 PAR JA - Final.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Limited Sources Justification

For an Order/BPA Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

FAR 8.405 Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) Multiple Award Schedule Program

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

1a. Requesting Activity Agency: USDA, FS, WO - Human Resources Management 1b. Contracting Activity: USDA, FS, WO – PPS – National Procurement Office, National Contracts Branch

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

• The action being approved is a 12-month BPA Call for Personnel Action Requests, Pay Processing, and eOPF Support Services. This order will be a Firm Fixed Price Order, awarded to GovStrive, LLC under Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 12318721A0008, awarded against a GSA Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

• Services received for this award include but are not limited to: veterans’ preference adjudications, competitive level code/area, bargaining unit, tenure and retirement code(s), etc.;

processing placement into pay status for seasonal employees; temporary/permanent hiring for positions related to public safety; eOPF audits and requested downloads; service computation date (SCD) audits; separation actions; Lump Sum Payments and Record of Leave Data (SF- 1150) requests; and other personnel actions needed to ensure the success of the Administration’s plans for all Agencies to conduct a Workforce Optimization Initiative [EO 14210].

• This order is for a 12-month period of performance of September 15, 2025, to September 14, 2026. The estimated value of this call order is $ $2,995,544.07.

4. Identification of the authority for limiting sources.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) – In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule.

5. Supporting rationale demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

Follow-on and use of this contractor will supplement the government’s capacity to process the aforementioned actions and remain compliant without additional delay caused by ramp-up or training time required for new contractors.

New contractor personnel will require extensive training to develop proficiency with Forest Service systems/databases and Standard Operating Procedures not utilized outside of the agency. Training of new contractor personnel would incur an additional ramp up time of 2 weeks in addition to the initial 12–16-week onboarding. Estimated training costs for new contractor personnel is $86,669.60 and does not include the development or delivery cost of training incurred by government staff.

Loss of productivity during these 14-18 weeks will sustain a negative impact on the processing of personnel actions such as hiring, accession actions, termination actions, etc.; processing timesheets and payroll; and uploading of electronic documentation to electronic personnel folders (eOPF).

Compounding these issues is the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) losses. During September, October, and November, there will be a surge of PAR, Pay, and eOPF work due to the DRP and Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA) participants. This influx of work, if not staffed appropriately, will generate a backlog necessitating additional contractor need or the programs inability to meet required delivery timelines for personnel transition, payments, and records updates – ultimately contributing to significant mission impact and probable litigation.

6. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer (CO) that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

Prices for this call order were determined fair and reasonable under the base BPA. This requirement was competed against all multiple award contract (MAC) BPA holders prior to award of the call order 12318721F0206 and GovStrive’s proposal provided the best value to the Government given the constraints associated with this critical service.

7. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was originally conducted at BPA solicitation. At the time of the solicitation and award, GovStrive, LLC., provided the most comprehensive and cost-effective solution to the government’s request for quote. The government did not speculate better pricing would be available in the foreseeable future. As of August 2025, the government’s position remains unchanged and does not anticipate better pricing if a recompete was accomplished.

8. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The continued performance of this service is critical and necessitates the need for a sole source order in an effort to provide sufficient time to compete a long-term vehicle without a significant lapse in service. The service provided is critical to USDA’s reorganization effort and will be leaned on heavily to achieve those reorganization goals.

9. A statement of actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

The Government will overcome future barriers to competition by providing fair opportunities or open competition for the next contract action.

Certifications & Approval

Supporting data which form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and complete.

MICHAEL

BEACHAM

Digitally signed by

MICHAEL BEACHAM

Date: 2025.09.05 11:22:39 -04'00'

Michael K. Beacham, FAC-COR III Resource Management Analyst

HRM

The information contained in this Limited Sources Justification is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Tracy Doud Contracting Officer

Digitally signed by TRACY DOUD

Additional Reviews & Approvals

Signatures are required at each threshold up to the total estimated dollar value of the acquisition

Advocate for competition for the procuring activity (if over $750,000, but not exceeding $15 million). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Therefore, unless additional approvals are required as prescribed below, as advocate for competition for the procuring activity/MASCO, I hereby approve this justification. If required, my approval constitutes clearance for submission to the Head of the Procuring Activity.

James Beeson Chief of the Contracting Office/Forest Service Competition Advocate USDA, Forest Service, PPS, Assistant Director, Procurement Management