P00001 - Sole Source Justification - Redacted.pdf

V220T.12 (01/19)

Procurement Request No. V3132501

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

VOLPE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS CENTER (VOLPE CENTER)

INSERT OFFICE OF THE TECHNICAL INITIATOR OF THE PR

SOLE SOURCE OR BRAND NAME SAP JUSTIFICATION

A. Description of Supplies/Services.

The Volpe Center is currently supporting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Office of Registration via GSA Contract No. GS-00F-154DA, Task Order No. 6913G624F50024N. The contractor is Arch Street Communications Inc. The purpose of this Task Order is to develop and execute a communications and outreach strategy to support the release of FMCSA's Federal Registration System. A need for additional work was initiated by Volpe’s Safety Measurement and Analysis office (V313). To perform this additional work, an out-of-scope bilateral modification must be issued. The Statement of Work (SOW) is modified to include the following additional tasks/deliverables: 1) the Copy Platform has expanded to include Help Line Talking points, checklists, and how-to documentations along with added/curated content from training materials to simplify end-use understanding for their delivery to various stakeholder audiences, 2) the Media toolkit has been expanded to also include 2 media releases, suggested questions for reporters, a backgrounder, and pre-written responses to suggested questions 3) the Digital toolkit has been expanded to include texts nuanced posts for industry organizations, surrogate partners, and field staff to use; 4) PowerPoint Slides with high-level notes and talking points, and 5) participation in 2 additional bi-weekly planning meetings with project team and Sponsor.

6913G624F50024N was issued as a Firm-Fixed Price Task Order. The total estimated dollar value of the additional work as a result of this out-of-scope modification is .

Authority: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(C)

B. Market Research and Best Value Determination Prior to award of Task Order No. 6913G624F50024N, market research was conducted in March 2024 using the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)/Professional Services website. Focus was on identifying SBA-Certified Small Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Businesses in MAS category 541613 (Marketing and Public Relations). A solicitation was issued, and quotes were received. Task Order No. 6913G624F50024N was awarded to Arch Street Communications Inc.

(GSA Contract No. GS-00F-154DA) as it provided the best value to the Government upon review of the evaluation factors as stipulated in the solicitation. The Government utilized comparative evaluations to make the best value determination.

C. Supporting Rationale.

(1) Sole Source: In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule.

(i) Arch Street Communications Inc. has commenced work via Task Order No. 6913G624F50024N. Consistent with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(C), the added tasks (as described above) directly impact and logically coincide with the current Task Order.

The Government in the interest of economy and efficiency is best served by modifying 6913G624F50024N to add these additional tasks/deliverables.

(ii) Arch Street Communications Inc. has already performed work that is consistent and integral to the new tasks. Arch Street Communications Inc. has developed example materials and is best suited to apply these designs and approach to the new work.

(iii) FMCSA and the project are best served by issuing an out-of-scope modification to Task Order No.

6913G624F50024N. Arch Street Communications Inc. has an integral knowledge of FMCSA’s needs. The administrative costs and schedule delays of breaking out this additional work in a separate task order would create an unnecessary burden