Appraiser training notice.doc

United States Department of Agriculture

Rural Development

Kentucky State Office

November 16, 2011

TRAINING NOTICE

To all Appraisers interested in doing business with USDA Rural Development. At least one appraiser in your company certified by the Kentucky Appraisal Board as a Certified General Real Property Appraiser, or as a Certified Real Property Appraiser must attend the orientation session for your firm to receive Purchase Orders resulting from this competition.

This training and competition is only for USDA Rural Development Single Family housing appraisals.

Attendance at prior sessions will NOT qualify your firm.

Current appraisers must attend one of these sessions to receive a new BPA or Purchase Order.

Our office determined that changes to the appraisal program are so significant to require that all appraisers attend a mandatory orientation session to compete for the next Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) to be issued by our office. Attendance at a prior orientation session will NOT qualify you to receive a new BPA regardless of the price you quote.

We will hold two sessions. You need attend only one session. You may attend either of the sessions to qualify. Sessions begin at 9:00 AM. The doors are scheduled to be open by 8:30 AM. You must attend the entire session to receive credit for attendance. We reserve the right to make audio recordings of the entire session. Business casual dress is appropriate.

At least one appraiser certified by the Kentucky Appraisal Board as a Certified General Appraiser, or as a Certified Residential Appraiser must attend the orientation session for your firm to compete and qualify to receive our next purchase orders or Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs). We anticipate that sessions will be completed by 12:00 NOON. We will provide copies of the Request for Quotation either at the orientation session, or shortly thereafter. Generally, only one BPA will be issued per county, unless equal evaluated quotations are received. You may compete for as many counties as you choose. NOTE: We are especially seeking additional appraisers in southeastern Kentucky.

MANDATORY ORIENTATION SESSION SCHEDULE

December 16, 2011 Bowling Green, KY at:

Holiday Inn University Plaza

1021 Wilkinson Trace

Bowling Green, KY 42103 December 19, 2011 Lexington, KY at:

Fayette County Cooperative Extension Service 1140 Red Mile Place Lexington, KY 40504

We have a phone line to give status on sessions so you can check in advance for delays or cancellation. That phone number is 859-224-7677. The phone line will not be monitored for incoming messages.

Competitors must have current and valid registrations in the following US Government systems to receive an award:

Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system, and On Line Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) system.

While these usually take only about an hour each, with a few days wait between CCR and ORCA registrations, however, there can be circumstances and incidents causing significant delays. If you do not have all registrations current and complete we advise you start immediately.

By December 12, 2011 please register for the session you wish to attend.

CONTINUED ON REVERSE SIDE

If you wish to compete, please register by Monday, December 12, 2011 Send a registration Email message to linda.wolfe@ky.usda.gov You may request a read receipt, but be aware that we will not read registration messages for extraneous information or requests.

To register please send one email message for each attendee to both of the above Email addresses.

Format the “SUBJECT” line of the message to read:

REGISTRATION-Name of City-Name of attendee (last name then first name) If you need accessibility accommodations include “-ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATION NEEDED” at the end of the subject line, and in the body of the message describe the accommodation needed. Do not specify if an accessibility accommodation is NOT needed.

For Example the subject line would read:

REGISTRATION-Lexington-Smith John- ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATION NEEDED

(NOTE-Be sure to include the – in all places indicated in the example).

The phrase “-ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATION NEEDED” is to be used ONLY if such an accommodation is needed.

It is important to pre-register by December 12, 2011 or as soon as possible thereafter, so we will have enough copies of the RFQ and training materials which we plan to distribute at the sessions. We will make only a few extra copies of the RFQ and training materials, so if you do not pre-register, you might have to wait for copies to be mailed to you.

If you have not completed the CCR and ORCA registrations or do not have a current and valid USDA VID#, you can request our “New Vendor Packet” which explains about those registrations by sending a separate Email message to the same Email addresses referenced above for registrations. We will furnish the information by return Email.

The subject line of that Email message should read:

“REQUEST FOR NEW VENDOR PACKET”

If you get this notice after Monday, December 12, 2011, please register as soon as you receive this notice. You may, however, attend without pre-registering.

Please include all of the below requested information in your registration:

Appraiser’s Name:_______________________________________________________

Company Name:_________________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________

City/State/Zip:_______________________________

Email address:_______________________________

Phone:_____________________________________

Alternate Phone:_____________________________

Selected Appraiser Orientation Meeting Reservation:

/_/ -December 16, 2011 at Bowling Green, KY

/_/ -December 19, 2011 at Lexington, KY

Sessions will begin at 9:00 AM Local time at each location.

Sincerely, Linda D. Wolfe, Contracting Officer

771 Corporate Drive • Suite 20 • Lexington, KY 40503

Phone: (859) 224-7300 • Fax: (859) 224-7425 • TDD: (859) 224-7422 • Web: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ky

Committed to the future of rural communities.

“USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.”

To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD).