73351019Q0063_SOW.docx

Solicitation No.

73351019Q0063 Document Title Research on Barriers to Veteran Entrepreneurship

Research on Barriers to Veteran Entrepreneurship Statement of Work The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, including past research projects, visit https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/research/economic-reports/.

Type of contract: The government anticipates awarding a firm-fixed price type award Location of work: To be completed by the contractor at the contractor’s facility Anticipated period of performance: Not more than one year from the award date Clearance required: None Purpose The purpose of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis on barriers to entrepreneurship encountered by veteran entrepreneurs.

Background The veteran population totals 19.2 million individuals, representing about 8 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population age 18 and over.[footnoteRef:1] As past Advocacy research has noted, veterans of our Armed Forces are a vital part of the nation’s population, labor force and business sector, and their economic success is a national priority.[footnoteRef:2] Veterans are majority owners of over 2.5 million businesses, including over 375,000 businesses with employees, accounting for about 9 percent of all U.S. businesses. These businesses employ 4.2 million workers, make $901 billion in total annual receipts, and pay $182 billion in total annual payroll.[footnoteRef:3] [1: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment Situation of Veterans 2018,” March 2019, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/vet.pdf ] [2: Compendium Federal Technology, “An Exploration of Veteran Business Creation and Management Using the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation,” U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, February 2014, https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/15130707/An-Exploration-of-Veteran-Business-Creation-and-Management-using-the-Census-Bureaus-Survey-of-Income-and-Program-Participation-Report.pdf. ] [3: Esposito, Nora, “Small Business Facts: Spotlight on Veteran-owned Business,” December 2018, https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/07100130/Small-Business-Facts-Spotlight-on-Veteran-Owned-Employer-Businesses.pdf ]

Previous research has shown that veterans gain important skills and leadership experience from their active duty and reserve service that are relevant to business ownership. Bureau of Labor Statistics data has historically shown that veterans have had a higher rate of self-employment than non-veterans. However, there is evidence that this trend has narrowed more recently. Recent research has shown that veterans now have about the same self-employment rate as non-veterans.[footnoteRef:4] While previous research had found that young veteran entrepreneurs may be at some relative disadvantage to young non-veteran entrepreneurs, this gap may be growing in recent years. With entrepreneurship rates falling overall, especially for younger generations[footnoteRef:5], research is limited on veteran entrepreneurship and the unique barriers they face when starting up a business. Although access to capital is a challenge for all entrepreneurs, evidence exists that veteran entrepreneurs face more difficulty in accessing credit than non-veterans.[footnoteRef:6] Little is known about the causal factors that explain this or other relevant barriers for veteran entrepreneurs. Additionally, while age demographics amongst veteran entrepreneurs have been explored, little research exists examining differences in outcomes amongst veteran entrepreneurs by gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as across geographic areas and industries. [4: Sankaran, Sid; Battisto, Jessica, “Financing Their Future: Veteran Entrepreneurs and Capital Access,” Federal Reserve of New York, November 2018, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/smallbusiness/2017/Report-on-Veteran-Entrepreneurs-and-Capital-Access.pdf ] [5: Wilmoth, Daniel, “The Missing Millennial Entrepreneurs,” U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, February 2016, https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/07133439/Millenial_IB.pdf ] [6: Sankaran, Sid; Battisto, Jessica, “Financing Their Future: Veteran Entrepreneurs and Capital Access,” Federal Reserve of New York, November 2018, https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/smallbusiness/2017/Report-on-Veteran-Entrepreneurs-and-Capital-Access.pdf]

As the characteristics of veteran business owners evolve and face new challenges, more research on the current barriers veteran entrepreneurs face and ways to improve their entrepreneurial outcomes is needed for policymakers and those providing program services to veterans such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor, and state governments.

Scope Overview

1. Any additional terms must be submitted with the quote. No additional terms or agreements will be considered following award.

1. The research contract will incorporate by reference the contractor’s complete research quote, the complete Statement of Work (SOW), and additional documents.

1. This is a nonpersonal services contract to provide services as detailed herein and in the contractor’s complete research quote.

1. The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform this service as defined in this SOW. The contractor shall perform to the standards identified in this contract.

Quote Expectations This solicitation is for empirical research. Research quotes should exhibit strong knowledge of the research area. The hypotheses to be tested should be presented, and the data that will be used to test them should be identified. Research quotes can use a wide range of data sources. Modern statistical techniques and timely data are preferred.

Potential Areas of Research Focus Potential areas of research focus may consider and is not limited to the following:

a. Barriers to entrepreneurship differences among: rural and urban veterans; older and younger veterans; racial minorities and gender.

b. Role of exit/separation military rank on entrepreneurship outcomes

c. Role of war campaign/military cohort on entrepreneurship outcomes

d. Role of federal contracting opportunities on veteran entrepreneurship Research Methods The quote should describe the empirical methods that will be used. The use of modern statistical techniques to test hypotheses about causal relationships is preferred. Quotes involving instrumental variables should identify the instruments to be used and defend their suitability. The software that will be used to conduct the analysis should be identified. Research should be thoroughly documented and reproducible, and scripts of the analysis in statistical packages like R or Stata should be available upon request.

Data Sources The quote should identify the data that will be analyzed. The following list includes potential sources of data appropriate for this research. It is not a comprehensive list of all such data sources, and quotes that use these sources will not necessarily be given preference.

a. Census Current Population Survey (CPS)

b. Census Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB)

c. Census American Community Survey (ACS)

d. Census Survey of Business Owners (SBO) (limited)

e. Census Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (2015 ASE)

f. Department of Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC)

g. Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System

h. Defense Assistance Awards Data System (DAADS); alternatively, data from similar public data source such as usaspending.gov.

i. VA’s National Survey of Veterans (NSV)

j. Census Survey of Income and Program Participation Statistics (SIPP)

k. Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey

1.1 Components of Finished Research

The final research product should contain an executive summary, a thorough review of the current and relevant literature, discussion and description of the data and methodology, results, policy implications, and overall conclusions. The final research product should be thorough, clear, concise, and cohesive.

Deliverables Final Deliverable Schedule The following is a general set of deliverables and deadlines for the delivery of those deliverables. More specific deliverables and a more specific deliverable schedule shall be finalized following the award of the contract and shall be mutually agreed upon by the Contractor, Contracting Officer, and Contracting Officer Representative at the kick-off meeting for the contract. The deliverables and deliverable schedule shall be based on the milestones identified in this section, the accepted quote, and the specific period of performance of the contract upon award, including specific due dates within the contract term. The final deliverable schedule shall be formally amended to the contract through a modification.

Progress of Deliverables Deliverables must show significant progress relative to each previous deliverable and must be consistent with all parts of section 5 of the Statement of Work, Performance Requirements.[footnoteRef:7] SBA’s Office of Advocacy will not cover the costs associated with correcting rejected deliverables. [7: Significant progress means at least…]

Acceptance of Deliverables The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) shall review submitted deliverables over a reasonable amount of time and shall make an express determination of whether to accept or reject the deliverable.[footnoteRef:8] [8: A reasonable amount of time means no longer than…]

Detailed Contract Deliverables Milestones

a. Outline – establishes planned overarching structure for report

b. Initial Briefing – contractor presents outline, projected research path, and any preliminary findings.

a. Draft Introduction, Literature Review, & Data Discussion sections – submitted for COR and editorial review in complete or nearly complete form.

a. Draft Methodology section - submitted for COR and editorial review, including: preliminary model & results, descriptive statistics/cross-tabulations, preliminary graphics, preliminary discussion of results

b. Polished Draft Methodology section – submitted for COR and editorial review, including: polished methodology, model, results, and discussion

a. Polished Discussion, Draft Executive Summary & Policy Implications – submitted for COR and editorial review, including: polished discussion of results & graphics/tables, draft ES, draft policy implication discussion

b. First Draft including all report sections and Peer Review or External Consultation – complete first draft submitted for COR, editorial, and peer review or external consultation

a. Peer review or external consultation and COR, editorial feedback distributed – contractor will receive comments

b. Response to peer review or external consultation – submitted for COR review, including comments accepted and declined with brief explanation.

a. Final round of comments distributed – contractor will receive final substantive comments following internal review of first draft, peer review/external comments, and contractor responses to peer review/external comments.

b. Final Passbacks of Draft Report – submitted for COR and editorial review, including final revisions in response to comments/edits.

Performance Requirements General Requirements

1. The methodology and hypotheses put forth in the quote will clearly show how the research will be conducted, are binding upon award, and are expected to be reflected in the final report(s).

1. All research team members listed in the quote, including but not limited to subject matter and technical experts, will actively contribute through the performance of these services.

1. The resulting final submission will fully document the analysis and conclusions to fully support the position asserted.

1. The final product should contain a thorough review of the current and relevant literature, discussion of the data and findings, and overall conclusions.

1. The report should demonstrate policy relevance to current issues.

1. Deliverables as listed in the final deliverable schedule will reflect reasonable progress toward the final product and should be submitted according to final product formatting requirements, meaning all deliverables should be thoroughly proofread and edited, written clearly and concisely and free of grammatical and typographical errors.

1. For other details on the final product, see section 4 of the Statement of Work on deliverables and section 5.2 of the Statement of Work on additional requirements.

Additional Requirements Contractors must adhere to the following when submitting draft and final deliverables, with the draft and final versions completed by the listed deadlines:

Adherence to Contract Terms All submissions will be presented by the prescribed deadlines; presented under the prescribed methodology; in the prescribed format to the contracting officer’s representative (COR). Documents shall be clearly annotated and/or identified as either a draft or a final document.

Deliverables The contractor will provide the Office of Advocacy with an electronic version of the final deliverable within the contract term. All of the deliverables listed in the deliverables chart of this SOW and any subsequent modifications to the contract, including all drafts identified as deliverables, shall be created in accordance with the terms and conditions detailed in this document. The research is expected to progress along the timeline and benchmarks as noted in the Deliverables section and as incorporated into the contract.

Contract Team

1. Key Personnel Key personnel shall have the technical skills requisite to perform the project. This requires a minimum of advanced technical training in applied economic and econometric analysis and demonstrated experience as subject matter experts. For example, a Ph.D. in Economics or survey methodology would be considered acceptable. Offerors shall submit resumes that demonstrate these minimum qualifications for key personnel, such as project leads.

1. Changes in Contract Team Contractors must seek prior written approval from the contracting officer and COR before any changes are implemented among the key personnel and other staff listed in the quote. Individuals that the contractor proposes to use as replacements for those listed in the quote shall satisfy the minimum qualification requirements contained in the solicitation and the contractor must provide resumes for each proposed replacement as part of its request for prior written approval.

Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements When surveys or new information collections are necessary, contractors must meet the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) where applicable. In order to do so, the contractor will need to anticipate within the performance term the required public notice and OMB review for information collections under the PRA. The creation of a new information collection will require the contractor to develop survey procedures; identify appropriate respondents; provide clarification of the collection process; provide realistic estimates of the response rates; and work to develop an appropriate survey instrument (see, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/federal-collection-information/). It is the contractor’s responsibility to prepare any materials necessary to obtain PRA clearances associated with the work to be performed.

Data Quality and Transparency Requirements All research and data projects are subject to the Office of Management and Budget Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies (see, https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2002-02-22/pdf/R2-59.pdf).

Per these guidelines, data source disclosure and robustness checks will be required for any research or data project, including all data coding necessary to replicate findings and datasets derived through coding and query and used in support of analysis, unless otherwise limited by special access agreements. Peer review may range from internal Advocacy staff review to that of external reviewers in relevant fields such as academics or technical experts. Feedback from this process will be incorporated into subsequent drafts before the report can be finalized for release.

Data Rights Rights in Data under FAR §§ 52.227-14 (alternates 2 and 5), 52.22715, and 52.227-16 shall apply.

Editing and Proofreading Requirements The documented submissions related to the post award service, including the final report and all intervening deliverables, must be thoroughly edited and of high professional quality before submission to the COR. These high professional quality drafts and reports shall include professional language, presentation, and citations commensurate with published research in academic journals in the relevant subject matter field and shall be free of typographical and grammatical errors.

Style Requirements The final report(s) must contain an executive summary and table of contents. It must conform to the current version of one of the major style guides, such as the University of Chicago Manual of Style or the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual, in terms of grammar, style, and organization. In particular, each table and figure must have a source specified on the page; references, footnotes and bibliographies shall be formatted consistent with a major style guide; and all pages shall have page numbers, including tables and figures.

ADA Section 508 Requirements All government agency electronic and information technology (EIT) is required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Section 508 of the ADA’s 1998 amendments requires the electronic documents posted by Federal agencies to be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities to the extent that it does not pose an "undue burden." To comply with this mandate, the final report(s) must be formatted in accordance with Section 508 requirements. The according to the Office of Advocacy will provide guidance to achieve 508 compatibility at the time of award; however, it is ultimately the contractor’s responsibility to provide all deliverables in accordance with the legal requirements for section 508 compliance. Per the guidelines, written descriptions of all figures and charts in the final report(s) must be provided in a separate document.

Formatting Requirements Final report(s) must be double-spaced. The format of the electronic version must be a native word processing software format. An Acrobat (PDF) file is not acceptable. All tables, graphics, and charts must be supplied in an editable software format. The font size used in the document will be no smaller than 12 point for manuscript text; 10 point for tables, graphics and charts; and 9 point for footnotes.

Disclaimer The Office of Advocacy will prepare a cover page carrying the following disclaimer, "The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Advocacy, the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Government."

Product Release If the contracted product is a complete publishable report, following approval and acceptance of the final report(s), the Office of Advocacy will assign a date for public release of the report. Upon release, an electronic final report(s), along with an Office of Advocacy-prepared research summary, will be posted on Advocacy's web site, https://advocacy.sba.gov/.

Definition of Small Business Within the research product, the definition of small businesses should be the same as that of the quote and should be consistent with either the general definition of small businesses (less than 500 employees), the definition of small business established by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Size Standards, or a reasonably justified definition of small business as substantiated in the contractor’s quote.

Future Publication and Attribution Prior to the Office of Advocacy’s release, the Contractor shall not release, distribute, or publish the final research product without written permission of the Office of Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy encourages contractors to publish their findings in professional journals, if possible, but they can do so only after completing the contract, and, if prior to the Office of Advocacy’s release, receiving written permission of the Office of Advocacy. Prior to publication, the Contractor must notify the Contracting Officer Representative in writing regarding attribution to the Office of Advocacy. Attribution must cite the SBA contract number under which the research was performed.