36C10X19C0012-001.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL)

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)- Frederick 5202 Presidents Court, Suite 103

Frederick, MD 21703

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

6.302-5 -- Authorized or required by statute

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)-Frederick (F), on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Human Resources & Administration (HR&A)/Corporate Senior Executive Management Office (CSEMO).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This acquisition proposes to negotiate a non-competitive award (sole-source) with Inspiration Creek Management Consultants, LLC, (hereinafter referred to ICMC) a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) for the procurement of one-on-one Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) coaching, including feedback to Senior Executive Service (SES) candidates on qualifying in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ECQs for SES certification. In addition, ICMC will assist candidates with full developmental support, and editorial services in Resume writing that demonstrates the required ECQ qualifications. The value for this acquisition is $1,007,500, and the period of performance for the awarded contract is an 8-month base period of March 27, 2019-October 26, 2019, with 4 twelve-month options thereafter.

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

This contract is for the contractor to provide one-on-one coaching with each SES candidate for an initial discussion about the candidate’s progress and concerns; and provide relevant, individualized advice and feedback on their initial 10-page ECQ package.

This contract also obtains from the candidate documentation as needed to feed into the ECQ write ups, such as candidates resumes and descriptions of accomplishments, as well as receive, read, edit and prepare feedback to each candidate’s drafts and one final summary.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

§ 253(c)(5) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)- Frederick

5 entitled, “Authorized or required by statute”. The applicable statute is Public Law 109- 461:

“Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006” specifically, the “Veterans First Contracting Program” outlined in 38 USC § 8127(c).

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

ICMC is a registered and verified SDVOSB. Along with its subcontractor, The Federal Executive Resources Management (FERM) Group, another SDVOSB and Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), the company provides coaching to federal employees, specializing in Senior Executive Service (SES) candidates.

The ECQs are required for entry to the SES and is used by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) SES Qualifications Review Board (QRB) to assess a candidate’s demonstrated executive leadership and determine readiness for the SES. The ECQ writing process is daunting and formidable, however, can be successfully navigated with the right tools and support. With 50 years of combined experience, team ICMC/FERM (ICMC, along with its similarly situated subcontractor, The FERM Group) brings extensive technical experience and expertise in the arena of the SES, with experience leading workshops and training, specifically pertaining to ECQ preparation and writing to executive branch agencies’ aspiring SES candidates.

ICMC, based out of Aurora, CO, was founded in 2016 and is a SDVOSB; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has ample expert experience serving on over 50 QRB panels and assisted a number of individuals with the QRB process. ICMC’s subcontractor, The FERM Group, based out of Waldorf, MD, was founded in 2016 and is also a SDVOSB; the CEO has ample with expert experience gained from serving within OPM as a program manager in the SES Operational and QRB programs. Given this experience, the contractor and subcontractor are postured to deliver this requirement to enhance ECQ packages of its aspiring candidates. In support of VA objectives and implementation of effective strategies, high quality support and service for aspiring SES members is paramount. Therefore, sole sourcing to this contractor and subcontractor offers an excellent opportunity to fulfill this requirement.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)- Frederick

In accordance with (IAW) VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) § 819.7007 sole source awards to SDVOSB concerns (b), “The contracting officer’s determination whether to make a sole source award is a business decision wholly within the discretion of the contracting officer. A determination that only one SDVOSB concern is available to meet the requirement is not required.”

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. An award to ICMC in the amount of $1,007,500 is deemed fair and reasonable, IAW FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii), Award and Documentation/Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases. The total prices and subsequent breakdown of fully-loaded hourly rates are similar to General Services Administration (GSA)’s Federal Supply Schedules’ fully-loaded labor rates for other contractors with similar contracts, and therefore, similar qualifications, less the .75% fee that GSA charges for use of other Agencies to use their contracts.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was initially conducted by sending emails sent to ten (10) potential vendors on SAC-F’s Veteran Enterprise Contracting for Transformational and Operational Readiness (VECTOR) internal Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts.

Emails where sent to seven (7) contract holders on Group 6 of the SAC-F’s internal IDIQ contract VECTOR – Services for Human Resource and Staffing. Per emails received back from the potential vendors – all were unable to provide the services required. VECTOR contract holders that were contacted are stated below:

Vendor Name Point of Contact Capability Location Cathexis Corp Terry Peck SDVOSB VECTOR

Terry.peck@cathexiscorp.com

Technical Assets

LLC

John DiLuna SDVOSB VECTOR jdiluna@technicalassent.com

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)- Frederick

Management Support Technology Inc (MSTI)

Rose Lowstuter rlowstuter@msti-net.com

SDVOSB VECTOR

Enterprise Resources Performance, Inc

Chris Meyer Cmeyer@erpi.net

SDVOSB VECTOR

Aptive Resources Rachele.cooper@aptiveresources.com SDVOSB VECTOR ERPI Chris Meyer

Cmeyer@erpi.net

SDVOSB VECTOR

ASG LLC gwhaley@asg-llc.com SDVOSB VECTOR

Further, an email was sent to the only three (3) VOSB/SDVOSB contractors located in the GSA schedule 738X Human Capital Management and Administrative Support Services Special Item Number (SLIN) 595-4 Employee Performance Management, Franklin Maxwell Group – stated they do not have the experience; Rividium – stated they do not have the experience; and Sygnetics – stated they do not have the experience.

However, the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), one of the three primary sub-Agencies of the VA, forwarded capability statements from a Request for Information (RFI) that they issued for a similar requirement of theirs. One of these capability statements was for the Federal Executive Resources Management (FERM) Group, an SDVOSB. The Contract Specialist requested a capability statement for this procurement, to which FERM responded. Since the owner of The FERM Group is a current federal employee (in accordance with FAR Subpart 3.6) award could not be made to The FERM Group as a prime contractor. However, award could be made to ICMC as a prime contractor. Upon review, the program office, CSEMO, and the Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer decided to enter a sole source procurement with ICMC.

ICMC has been determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance. They are registered and certified in VetBiz.gov as an SDVOSB with the NAICS code for this requirement which in accordance with Public Law 109-461 Section 502(c), meeting the requirements of this statute to sole source to a SDVOSB. In addition, a review of their Representations and Certifications was conducted in the System for Award Management (SAM) and ICMC represented that they are an SDVOSB.

In addition, the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) was reviewed and FAPIIS shows no reports for ICMC that would indicate defective pricing, instances

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)- Frederick of contractor fault or recipient not-qualified, terminations for cause, default or material failure to comply, or non-responsibility of the contractor.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

IAW Public Law 109-461, codified at 38 USC § 8127, in order to increase contracting opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans with service-connected disabilities, contracting officers of the VA are given specific statutory authority to award a contract to a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans using procedures other than competitive procedures (i.e. a “sole source” contract). The contracting officer may do so if:

(1) such concern is determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance of such contract opportunity;

(2) the anticipated award price of the contract (including options) will exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (as defined in section 134 of title 41) but will not exceed $5,000,000; and

(3) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.

This procurement meets all of these conditions.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Inspiration Creek Management Consultants, LLC 22921 E. Del Norte Circle Aurora, CO 80016

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

All future requirements will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Toward the expiration of this contract, consideration will be given as to whether the future acquisition should be competitive, if the requirement should arise again.