Combined_Synopsis-Solicitation_-_62000179904.pdf

(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared for the purchase of instructor led off-the-shelf courses on a wide range of securities topics (such as: securities, law, finance, accounting, regulations, economic analysis, compliance, risk management and anything else related to the securities industry) in support of the SEC Headquarters and Regional Offices, in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, “Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Items,” and FAR Part 13.5, “Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items” as supplemented with additional information included in this notice and the Statement of Work (Attachment 1). This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii) Solicitation Number 62000-17-9904 is issued as a Request for Quotes.

(iii) The solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through FAC 2005-95 effective January 19, 2017.

(iv) Solicitation Number 62000-17-9904 is a 100% Total Small Business set-aside.

The NAICS code for this procurement is 611430, Size Standard $7.0 Million.

(v) Quoters shall provide a list of courses and firm-fixed pricing, specifically securities industry series courses in accordance with Attachment 1, Statement of Work.

(vi) Description of requirements for items to be acquired.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intends to award a non-personal services Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide instructor led off-the-shelf courses on a wide range of securities topics (such as: securities, law, finance, accounting, regulations, economic analysis, compliance, risk management and anything else related to the securities industry) in support of the SEC Headquarters and Regional Offices. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn, is responsible to the Government.

The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to complete and deliver the services as defined in accordance with Attachment 1, Statement of Work.

(vii) The anticipated period of performance shall be a five (5) year ordering period.

Anticipated Contract Type: The Government anticipates awarding an Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) type contract with firm fixed-price task order(s). The Government reserves the right to make multiple awards or no award.

file://FSPIH_NT/regs$/Working/far_doc/FAR12.DOC#s126

The places of performance are listed in the attached Places of Performance (Attachment 2).

The anticipated date of contract award(s) is September 1, 2017.

(viii) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial, applies to this acquisition. Offerors may obtain full text versions of these clauses electronically at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/.

Parties responding to this solicitation who believe they can provide instructor led off-the-shelf courses on a wide range of securities topics may submit their offer in accordance with their standard commercial practices (e.g., on company letterhead, formal proposal form, etc.) but must include the following information:

1. The Solicitation Number 62000-17-9904;

2. The time and date specified in the solicitation for receipt of proposals (12:00 PM EST, Tuesday June 20, 2017);

3. Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS);

4. Contact Name, Email address, and telephone number;

5. Complete business mailing address;

6. Price and any discount terms (Note: that pricing shall be separate from Vendor's technical approach and understanding and past performance.);

7. "Remit to" address, if different than mailing address;

8. A completed copy of the representations and certifications at FAR 52.212-3 (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the Quoter shall complete electronically) or indicate that the representations and certifications are available on-line;

9. A copy of System for Award Management (SAM) registration (see https://www.sam.gov/), or indicate that representations and certifications are available on-line in the Reps & Certs section of their System for Award Management (SAM) record available at https://www.sam.gov, or a copy of System for Award Management application;

10. Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments, if applicable;

11. A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may also include product literature, or other documents, if necessary;

12. Narrative addressing the capability to provide instructor led off-the-shelf courses in support of the SEC Headquarters and Regional Offices (see Attachment 2, Places of Performance);

13. A statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Quotes that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration; and

14. Period for acceptance of quotes. The Quoter agrees to hold the prices in its quote firm for 180 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of quotes, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation.

http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ https://www.sam.gov/

(ix) The provision at FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items (Oct 2014), applies to this acquisition as follows:

52.212-2 Evaluation-Commercial Items (Oct 2014)

a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Quoter whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. This is a Best Value Procurement. The following factors, in descending order, shall be used to evaluate quotes:

1. Technical Approach and Understanding

2. Past Performance

3. Price

Technical Approach and Understanding will be accorded more weight than Past Performance. Technical Approach and Understanding and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. As the technical quotes become more equal, price becomes more important in making the award determination. In the event that two or more quotes are determined not to have any substantial technical differences, i.e., are technically equivalent, award may be made to the lower priced quote. It should be noted that award may be made to other than the lowest priced quote if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government may also award to other than the highest technically rated quote, if the Government determines that a price premium is not warranted.

The Quoter’s technical quote (Volume 1) must demonstrate the vendor’s capability to perform the requirements outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW). Quoters shall provide a technical offer that includes the following two (2) general areas/factors: Factor 1, Technical Approach and Understanding and Factor 2, Past Performance.

Technical Approach and Understanding: The Offeror’s technical approach shall describe how the firm addresses specifications and government requirements as listed in the Statement of Work. The Quoter’s technical approach shall clearly describe and address the Quoter’s understanding of the desired outcomes contained in the SOW. Statements such as “the Quoter understands” or “the Quoter will comply” and statements that paraphrase the SOW or other contract requirements are inadequate. Specifically the contractor shall address how it intends to accomplish the following:

• Deliver a series of classroom instructor-led courses that receive excellent evaluations from the target audience;

• Deliver instructor-led courses via electronic platforms that receive excellent evaluations from the target audience;

• Provide multiple options to allow for instructor-led courses to be delivered in time blocks of less than 8 hours (e.g. two 4-hour sessions, condensed sessions of 2 hours in length, etc.);

• Provide course materials to all participants in DC and/or the Regional Offices where the courses are scheduled to be offered. Deliver the course materials prior to the course execution, via shipment of binders or electronic means when requested; and,

• Provide Continuing Professional Education (CPE) certificates to eligible participants for completed courses that are NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) compliant.

Evaluation of technical approach and understanding will be based on the degree to which the quoter effectively demonstrates a knowledge, understanding, and technical ability to successfully meet the government’s requirements.

Past Performance: The Government will evaluate relevant past performance of each quoter. The quoter shall identify three (3) contracts/task orders with the Federal Government or Industry that demonstrate recent and relevant past performance. Recent is defined as within the last three (3) years. Relevant is defined as work similar in complexity and magnitude to the work identified in the SOW. Please include the following information:

• Project Title

• Description of the Project

• Contract/Task Order Number

• Contract/Task Order Amount

• Government Agency/Organization

• COR’s name, address, phone number and email address

• Contracting Officer’s name, address, telephone number and email address

• Current status, e.g. completed and/or in progress, start and estimated completion dates

• Key personnel, please identify those individuals who worked on the relevant project and are also proposed for this effort

• A brief narrative of why your firm believes this reference is relevant to the proposed task.

CPARS Assessments are preferred and if a quoter has three (3) relevant and recent CPARS Assessments then the Quoter does not need to have the Past Performance Questionnaire completed. The Quoter may substitute a completed Past Performance Questionnaire if a CPARS Assessment is not available for the submitted reference. The Government may consider other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government.

The quoter must complete the part of the Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment 3) and provide it to no more than three (3) references. The references are expected to submit the Past Performance Questionnaire by email to Khaleelah Wright at wrightkh@sec.gov no later than the closing date/time of the solicitation.

It is the responsibility of the quoter to ensure that the Past Performance Questionnaire is returned to the correct email address no later than the solicitation closing date/time.

Evaluation of past performance will be based on consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances.

Information utilized shall be obtained from the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS); and may be obtained from references listed in the quote, other customers known to the Government, consumer protection organizations, and others who may have useful and relevant information.

In the case of a quote that does not have past contract performance information or with respect to which information on past contract performance is not available, the quote will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on the factor of past performance.

Each Quoter shall submit a technical quote separate from the price quote.

Technical quotes shall be limited to 15 one-sided pages. Past performance questionnaire is not included in the page limitation.

VOLUME 2 - PRICE PROPOSAL:

The Task Order(s) will consist of up to one hundred (100) courses, which will be billed at a fixed price.

For the purposes of the evaluation, the Government will compare the cost of the courses per year as indicated in the Contractor’s Price Quote.

Each Quoter shall submit a price quote separate from the technical quote.

The price quote shall include the following:

a) A list of courses with their applicable prices in an Excel Spreadsheet.

b) If applicable, Prime Contractor/Subcontractor Arrangement or Contractor Team Arrangement Supporting Documentation: If subcontracting is proposed, the Government will evaluate the acceptability of any subcontracting as part of its evaluation of price.

Price Quote: The Government expects to receive price competition through the submission of several price quotes. The Quoter’s proposed pricing will be evaluated against the Independent Government Estimate. Quoters shall propose fixed prices that are both realistic and reasonable.

mailto:wrightkh@sec.gov

A written notice of award or acceptance of a quote, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful Quoter within the time for acceptance specified in the quote, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the quote’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept a quote (or part of a quote), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(x) Quoters shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror

Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, with its quote, or indicate that representations and certifications are available on-line in the Reps & Certs section of their System for Award Management (SAM) record available at https://www.sam.gov.

(x) FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items (Jan

2017), applies to this acquisition and a statement regarding any addenda to the clause.

(xi) FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Items (Jan 2017) applies to this acquisition, and specifically the following FAR clauses under paragraphs (b) and (c) are applicable:

52.203-6 Restriction on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sept 2006);

52.203-13 Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct (Apr 2010);

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement To Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights (Apr 2014);

52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Oct 2016);

52.204-15, Service Contract Reporting Requirements for Indefinite-Delivery Contracts (Oct 2016);

52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment (Oct 2015);

52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul 2013);

52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (Jan 2017);

52.222-3 Convict Labor (Jun 2003);

52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015);

52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (Sep 2016);

52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans (Oct 2015);

52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers With Disabilities (Jul 2014);

52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans (Feb 2016);

52.222-40 Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (Dec 2010);

52.222-60 Paycheck Transparency (Executive Order 13673)(Oct 2016)

52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (Aug 2011);

52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (Jun 2008);

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - System for Award Management (Jul 2013);

52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (Dec 2013);

(xii) Contract financing arrangements and warranty requirements are not applicable.

The following FAR Clauses apply to this procurement:

52.216-1 Type of Contract (Apr 1984).

The Government contemplates award of an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract resulting from this solicitation with cost type and firm fixed-price task order(s).

52.216-18 Ordering (Oct 1995).

(a) Any supplies and services to be furnished under this contract shall be ordered by issuance of delivery orders or task orders by the individuals or activities designated in the Schedule. Such orders may be issued through the period of performance of the contract.

(b) All delivery orders or task orders are subject to the terms and conditions of this contract. In the event of conflict between a delivery order or task order and this contract, the contract shall control.

(c) If mailed, a delivery order or task order is considered "issued" when the Government deposits the order in the mail. Orders may be issued orally, by facsimile, or by electronic commerce methods only if authorized in the Schedule.

52.216-19 Order Limitations (Oct 1995)

(a) Minimum order. When the Government requires supplies or services covered by this contract in an amount of less than $20,000.00, the Government is not obligated to purchase, nor is the Contractor obligated to furnish, those supplies or services under the contract.

(b) Maximum order. The Contractor is not obligated to honor—

(1) Any order for a single item in excess of $956,683.00;

(2) Any order for a combination of items in excess of $4,512,766.00; or

(3) A series of orders from the same ordering office within 30 days that together call for quantities exceeding the limitation in paragraph (b)(1) or (2) of this section.

(c) If this is a requirements contract (i.e., includes the Requirements clause at subsection 52.216-21 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)), the Government is not required to order a part of any one requirement from the Contractor if that requirement exceeds the maximum-order limitations in paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the Contractor shall honor any order exceeding the maximum order limitations in paragraph (b), unless that order (or https://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/52_216.html#wp1115057 orders) is returned to the ordering office within 10 days after issuance, with written notice stating the Contractor’s intent not to ship the item (or items) called for and the reasons.

Upon receiving this notice, the Government may acquire the supplies or services from another source. (End of clause)

52.216-22 Indefinite Quantity (Oct 1995)

(a) This is an indefinite-quantity contract for the supplies or services specified, and effective for the period stated, in the Schedule. The quantities of supplies and services specified in the Schedule are estimates only and are not purchased by this contract.

(b) Delivery or performance shall be made only as authorized by orders issued in accordance with the Ordering clause. The Contractor shall furnish to the Government, when and if ordered, the supplies or services specified in the Schedule up to and including the quantity designated in the Schedule as the “maximum.” The Government shall order at least the quantity of supplies or services designated in the Schedule as the “minimum.”

(c) Except for any limitations on quantities in the Order Limitations clause or in the Schedule, there is no limit on the number of orders that may be issued. The Government may issue orders requiring delivery to multiple destinations or performance at multiple locations.

(d) Any order issued during the effective period of this contract and not completed within that period shall be completed by the Contractor within the time specified in the order.

The contract shall govern the Contractor’s and Government’s rights and obligations with respect to that order to the same extent as if the order were completed during the contract’s effective period; provided, that the Contractor shall not be required to make any deliveries under this contract after five (5) years of award of contract. (End of clause)

MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM QUANTITIES

As referred to in paragraph (b) of FAR Clause 52.216-22, “Indefinite Quantity” of this contract, the contract minimum quantity is establish at $20,000. The contract maximum quantity is hereby established at the total amount of $4,512,766.00.

52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999) The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within the period of performance of the contract.

5001.00 Contract Administration (Dec 2011)

This contract will be administered by the SEC’s Office of Acquisitions. All inquiries should be directed to the following address:

Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Acquisitions Attn: Khaleelah Wright Email: wrightkh@sec.gov 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549

5003.00 Submission of Invoices (Apr 2012)

The Securities and Exchange Commission accepts only electronic/e-mail invoices.

Invoices shall be submitted on a monthly basis.

Contractors should submit invoices in accordance with the SEC Prompt Payment Provision of the contract. Contractors are cautioned against submitting an invoice prior to goods and services being received/accepted. Invoices submitted prematurely may be rejected.

Electronic/e-mail Invoice Instructions:

• Invoices must be in PDF Format and may not exceed 10MB

• Subject Line: Company name and the invoice number

• e-mail Message:

• Company logo or letterhead

• Company name and payment address

• Company point of contact (POC) for the invoice with phone and e-mail

• Invoice Number

• SEC Contract or Order number

• SEC COR

For supplies: contract line item number, item description, quantity delivered, and unit and extended price, per Section B CLIN structure

For services: contract line item number, item description, period of performance and associated costs, per Section B, contract line item, CLIN, structure

Shipping and handling charges, if applicable

Clearly mark duplicates of previous invoice submissions with “DUPLICATE”

Clearly mark the final invoice with “FINAL INVOICE”

Attach the invoice and any supporting documents in a secure tamper-proof or tamper-resistant format compatible with Adobe Acrobat.

Electronic signatures are acceptable in scanned documents. Each page of a document must be clearly marked with information identifying it with the company, the contract, the invoice, and any other information required by the contract.

E-mail invoices to the following address: 9-AMC-AMZ-SEC-Invoices@faa.gov. If you have questions regarding submission of invoices, the SEC’s Office of Financial Management may be reached at (202) 551-7860.

5004.00 Appointment of Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) (Nov 2012)

a. Laura Brown (brownla@sec.gov), is hereby designated the Securities and Exchange Commission COR for administration and information relating to this contract. Joseph McHale, Jr. (mchalej@sec.gov) is hereby designated as the Alternate COR for this contract.

b. The Contracting Officer (CO) shall appoint, in writing, a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and, if possible, an Alternate COR for this award. The COR and Alternate COR shall have a current Federal Acquisition Certification for CORs (FAC-COR) at the appropriate certification level for the contract. A COR may serve on a contract requiring certification at or below his/her level, but not on one requiring a higher level. The CO shall provide the Contractor with a copy of the COR appointment letter(s). The COR may not re-delegate his or her authority; only the CO has this authority.

c. The COR will manage the contract in coordination with the CO and within the terms of the contract and the boundaries of a COR’s duties as outlined in the document “Instructions for CORs and Their Supervisors.” The COR’s responsibilities include reviewing invoices and charges by the Contractor and informing the CO of areas where exceptions are taken. If this is an award for services and contractor personnel are brought on-site to SEC facilities, the COR must adhere to SECR 10-24.

d. Only the CO has the authority to change the terms and conditions of this contract.

The COR may request a contract modification, but the CO will make the final determination. The COR may not agree to or issue a change to the contract terms and conditions. In the event the Contractor effects changes to the contract at the direction of any person other than the CO, the changes will be considered to have been made without any authority and no adjustments will be made to the contract.

5007.00 Payment Information (Feb 2012)

Payment will be made to small business contractors within 15 days of receipt of a valid invoice.

Unless otherwise stated, and the contractor is not a small business, payment will be made within the guidelines of the Prompt Payment Act and requires that payment is made within 30 days from receipt of a valid invoice.

6020.00 Contractor Workforce Inclusion (Aug 2015)

The Contractor confirms its commitment to equal opportunity in employment and contracting, and that it shall ensure, to the maximum extent possible and consistent with applicable law, the fair inclusion of minorities and women in its workforce.

The Contractor shall insert the substance of this contract standard in each subcontract for services awarded for performance of this contract with a dollar value of $100,000 or more.

Within ten (10) business days of a written request from the Director of the Commission's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI Director) or designee, or such longer time as the OMWI Director or designee determines, and without any additional consideration, action or authorization required from the OMWI Director, the Contractor shall provide documentation, satisfactory to the OMWI Director, of the actions it has undertaken (and as applicable, the actions each covered subcontractor under the contract has undertaken) to demonstrate its good faith efforts to comply with the aforementioned provisions.

For purposes of this contract, "good faith efforts" shall include actions by the Contractor (and as applicable, actions by each covered subcontractor under the Service Contract) to identify and, if present, remove barriers to minority and women employment or expansion of employment opportunities for minorities and women within its workforce. Efforts to remove such barriers may include, but are not limited to, recruiting to ensure that applicant pools include minorities and women, providing job-related training, or other activity that could lead to removing such barriers.

The documentation requested by the OMWI Director or designee to demonstrate good faith efforts may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following:

- The total number of Contractor's employees, and the number of employees by race, ethnicity, gender, and job title or EEO-1 Report job category (e.g., EEO-1 Report(s));

- A list of covered subcontract awards for services under the contract, and for each covered subcontract award, the dollar amount, date of award, and the subcontractor's race, ethnicity, and/or gender ownership status;

- The Contractor's plan for ensuring the fair inclusion of minorities and women in its workforce, including outreach efforts; and

- For each covered subcontractor, the documentation specified in bullets 1 and 3 above.

Consistent with Section 342(c)(3) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"), 12 U.S.C. 5452(c)(3), a Contractor's failure to demonstrate to the OMWI Director that it has made good faith efforts to include minorities and women in its workforce (and as applicable, failure to demonstrate that its subcontractor(s) has made such good faith efforts) may result in termination of the contract for default after the contractor is provided written notice and an opportunity to cure the failure in accordance with the procedures set forth in FAR Subpart 49.402-3(d), other contractual remedies, referral to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), or other appropriate action.

Compliance with this standard does not necessarily satisfy the requirements of EO 11246, as amended, nor does it preclude OFCCP compliance evaluations and/or enforcement actions undertaken pursuant to that Executive Order, or demonstrate compliance with other FAR clauses that may be included in this contract.

(xiv) Defense Priority and Allocations System (DPAS) is not applicable.

(xv) The due date and time for Quotes is Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 12:00 PM EST.

Late quotes shall not be accepted.

Quotes shall be delivered via email to Khaleelah Wright, wrightkh@sec.gov, and cc'd to Gabriel Aviles, avilesg@sec.gov, respectively.

Quotes shall consist of three (3) electronic files, Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or Microsoft Excel type files:

1. Volume 1 – Technical Quote (Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF)

2. Volume 2 – Price Quote (Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF)

3. Price (Microsoft Excel)

(xvi) All questions concerning this solicitation shall be submitted in writing to Khaleelah

Wright at wrightkh@sec.gov, no later than 12:00 PM EST, Friday, June 9, 2017.

Questions will not be answered orally. E-mail submission of questions is required.

Questions submitted after the specified time/date may not be addressed.

(xvii) Attachments:

1. Statement of Work

2. Places of Performance

3. Past Performance Questionnaire mailto:avilesg@sec.gov mailto:wrightkh@sec.gov