The file's text, extracted by GovTribe without its formatting.
Question #
| Question |
| Government Response |
| 3 (Amended) |
| During the Small Business on-ramp forthcoming, if a All Small Business Mentor Protégé Program / Joint Venture is interested in on-ramping, are there any specific requirements outside of the standard on-ramp requirements. |
| Any Joint Venture (JV) under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) All Small Mentor-Protégé Program must have the mentor-protégé agreement approved by SBA and the JV must be CVE-verified as a SDVOSB under the applicable NAICS code at time of proposal submission, as well as at time of award to be eligible. |
| 6 (Amended) |
| A FedHealthIT article, published 27 February 2019, stated there will be an On-Ramp for T4NG for VOSB and SDVOSBs. If this is true, when do you believe the opportunity will be solicited and how can we obtain additional information. Will there be an On-Ramp for other business types? Is it possible to bid as a Joint Venture with a SDVOSB and the Joint Venture be considered a SDVOSB? |
| An On-ramp only for SDVOSBs is contemplated. The Government currently is projecting the release of a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) in September 2019, and the RFP release in November 2019. Requirements will be made publicly available through the Federal Business Opportunities website. JVs may submit proposals for the On-ramp. Any JV under the SBA All Small Mentor-Protégé Program must have the mentor-protégé agreement approved by SBA and the JV must be CVE-verified as a SDVOSB under the applicable NAICS code at time of proposal submission, as well as at time of award to be eligible. |
| 29 (Amended) |
| We are a SDVOSB that has formed a JV with another small business. As the SDVOSB, we are the managing partner of the JV. Will the JV be eligible as an SDVOSB JV for the T4NG on ramp. |
| There are not adequate details to determine eligibility. However, any JV under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) All Small Mentor-Protégé Program must have the mentor-protégé agreement approved by SBA and the JV must be CVE-verified as a SDVOSB under the applicable NAICS code at time of proposal submission, as well as at time of award to be eligible. All size determinations shall be made in accordance with applicable regulations, including 13 CFR 125.8 and 13 CFR 125.18. |
| 65 |
| The Answer to Question #29 indicates that the SBA must approve a Joint Venture that is created under the SBA's All Small Mentor-Protege Program. While this is true for 8(a) Business Development Joint Ventures pursuing an 8(a) contract under its Mentor-Protege Program, it is not true for any other Mentor-Protege arrangement to include SDVOSBs. This is from the SBA website, "... Please note that SBA does not approve Joint Venture Agreements (“JVA”) created pursuant to an approved Mentor-Protégé Agreement (whether approved through the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASBMPP) or the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program) unless the Joint Venture is pursuing an 8(a) contract... " https://www.sba.gov/document/support--mentor-protege-program-joint-venture-agreement-guide. Please clarify this inconsistency. |
| In accordance with 13 CFR 125.9(d)(1)(i), under the All Small Program “SBA must approve the mentor-protégé agreement before the two firms may submit an offer as a joint venture on a particular government prime contract or subcontract in order for the joint venture to receive the exclusion from affiliation.” For more information please see SBAs guidance at: https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/all-small-mentor-protege-program#section-header-4 |
| 66 |
| In the Veterans Employment Factor, how will the TAC determine the number of employees and the number of Veteran employees for the On-Ramp Base IDIQ evaluation when the Prime offeror is an unpopulated Joint Venture? |
| The Government anticipates that for the Veterans Employment Factor joint ventures will be evaluated by combining the total number of employees and total number of Veterans employed for all members of the Joint Venture. Therefore, for a mentor-protégé Joint Venture, the totals will include employees for both the mentor and protégé. |
| 67 |
| In the post-award evaluation of the Veterans Employment aspect of the Past Performance Factor for task orders, how will the TAC determine the number of employees and the number of Veteran employees when the Prime contractor is an unpopulated Joint Venture? |
| While the exact evaluation approach will be specified for each individual task order, it is anticipated that for the Veterans Employment Factor joint ventures will be evaluated by combining the total number of employees and total number of Veterans employed for all members of the Joint Venture. Therefore, for a mentor-protégé Joint Venture, the totals will include employees for both the mentor and protégé. |
| 68 |
| Please provide an explanation of “total contract value” for purposes of calculating the Small Business Participation Commitment percentages. Is it the offeror’s proposed contract price or will it be based on an estimated total contract value given by the Government? If it is the Offeror’s proposed price, will that violate the prohibition on including pricing in any volume but the Price/Cost Volume? |
| For the Small Business Participation Commitments Offerors will be required to propose a percentage for each socioeconomic category that they are committing to meet or exceed during contract performance. Therefore, post-award, successful Offerors will be held to the proposed percentages in relation to the total amount obligated for the totality of their awarded task orders. |
| 69 |
| In the Xcel worksheet published in the previous T4NG RFP, the 35% Small Business participation requirement is equal to the total of the goal percentages for the 5 socioeconomic categories (SDVOSB - 10%; VOSB - 12%; SDB - 8%; WOSB - 5%; and HUBZones - 3% of total contract value). Is this just a coincidence, or is the TAC demonstrating that the requirement is actually arrived at by totaling the 5 individual goals? In other words, can you describe the relationship between the 5 socioeconomic goals and the 35% requirement? (Since the T4NG worksheet did not include any instructions for calculating percentages, etc., would the TAC consider using the original T4 Small Business Participation spreadsheet which included instructions for calculating the goals? The goals have to be based on dollars and the T4NG worksheet does not make that clear. If not, would the TAC provide instructions for calculating individual goal percentages as well as the total goal percentage?) |
| The instructions to Offerors and evaluation factors (Sections L and M, respectively) are likely to be different for the On-ramp than for the original competition. Therefore, any questions associated with the content of those sections from the original T4NG competition should be withheld until the On-ramp version is released. |
| 70 |
| Would the TAC consider eliminating the necessity for an Offeror to propose a number for the “total small business participation” requirement and simply state that there is a 35% small business participation requirement? |
| The instructions to Offerors and evaluation factors (Sections L and M, respectively) are likely to be different for the On-ramp than for the original competition. Therefore, any questions associated with the content of those sections from the original T4NG competition should be withheld until the On-ramp version is released. |
| 71 |
| The previous T4NG RFP contains Small Business Participation Commitment goals of 10% for SDVOSBs and 12% for VOSBs. In April, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie announced that the Department’s goals would be 15% of its total contract dollars to SDVOSBs and at least 17% to VOSBs. Will the new goals be incorporated into the T4NG On-Ramp? |
| The instructions to Offerors and evaluation factors (Sections L and M, respectively) are likely to be different for the On-ramp than for the original competition. Therefore, any questions associated with the content of those sections from the original T4NG competition should be withheld until the On-ramp version is released. |
| 72 |
| Since Joint Ventures are limited to 3 contracts in 2 years (13 CFR 121.103(h)), please confirm that each task order under the T4NG On-Ramp IDIQ will not be counted as a separate contract. |
| VA confirmed with SBA that task orders under the T4NG IDIQ will not be counted as separate contracts as it relates to 13 CFR 121.103(h). |
| 73 |
| In reference to the answer provided to question #63, could the Government confirm that the Past Performance Factor will include the ability for NEW CORPORATE entities to submit data on individuals prior experience as GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS (former federal government employees) in addition to data submitted on prior contracts involving new corporate entities officers and employees? |
Past performance instances will have to meet the recency and relevancy criteria that will be established in the T4NG On-ramp solicitation. Therefore, any instance based on experience as a Government official/employee will have to establish how it meets the recency and relevancy requirements.
| 74 |
| Have you published an Attended List for the T4-NG Industry Day On-Ramp that was held in June? |
If so, where is a copy of the list located/posted?
An attendee list for the Advanced Planning Brief for Industry, which included the T4NG On-ramp Industry Day, is available at https://www.voa.va.gov/. Once on that site click on the drop-down menu next to the “Advanced Planning Brief to Industry 2019” tab on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Then, click on “APBI Document Library 2019,” which will bring up a screen listing 5 documents to include the “APBI Attendee List.”