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Special Notice Special Notice

GENERAL INFORMATION

Regional Procurement Office East Building 32 Suite 1A1111 1010 Delafield Road Pittsburgh PA 15215-1802

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contracting Officer Ms. Millicent Covert millicent.covert@va.gov (No call will be accepted)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

The Regional Procurement Office (RPO) East, intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, with Bell Media, LLC, for digital marketing recruitment strategy and management services for the Birmingham VA Health Care System’s (BVAMC) Research Department.

Services are required as an integral part of meeting ethical standards for recruiting individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide. This research project, “Clinical Context of Suicide following Opioid Transitions in Veterans (CSI:OPIOIDS-V)” is funded by Health Services Research & Development (SDR 21-123). The research design follows that of psychological autopsy. The vendor has extensive experience developing social media marketing campaigns. With their infrastructure and expertise to develop effective and efficient digital marketing recruitment strategies, services shall both meet ethical standards and reach a significant cohort size. This process also involves structured set-up, continuous maintenance and assessments, iterative redesign and/or creation of additional campaigns (as this project is approved to look at both Veteran and non-Veteran decedents). As this study involves recruitment management, participant payment, and non-VA medical record acquisition through contracts with the BVAMC-affiliated University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), it is also crucial for this public-facing recruitment agency to have experience working with UAB.

This project builds upon a pilot study through University of Alabama – Birmingham, the Birmingham VAMC’s educational affiliate. Its partnership with UAB entities will continue through contracts. Due to this, the public study website is hosted on UAB WordPress. As the project’s ads will redirect individuals to the study website and the recruitment survey (also hosted by UAB), it is imperative that UAB branding policies are maintained. Therefore, it is of extremely high value for this public recruitment agency contract to be with an entity with experience working with UAB and is familiar with UAB logos, themes, and media offices. Additionally, this contract work will encompass assistance with the UAB WordPress website. The proposed vendor, Bell Media, LLC, has the necessary and unique experience and relationship as they have worked directly with UAB on 44 campaigns since 2016.

This is a notice of intent and is not a request for competitive quotes; however, any responsible source who believes they are qualified to meet this unique need may submit a capability statement to the contracting office no later than Monday, November 20, 2023, 11:59 AM EST. Interest/capability statements may be sent to Millicent Covert, Contracting Officer, at millicent.covert@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Special Notice