73351021C004 JOFOC Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Capital Access (OCA) Emergency Support for Grant Programs Authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act

Contract Number: 73351021C0004

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), Acquisition Operations Division, in support of the Office of Capital Access (OCA).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved (FAR 6.303-2(b)(2)).

Approval for a sole source award for a cloud-based commercial off the shelf (COTS) loan platform that addresses the needs of the Government, as well as market needs articulated by small businesses.

The contract contains a firm fixed price (FFP) pricing arrangement.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value) (FAR 6.303-2(b)(3)).

This requirement is to enhance the SBA’s existing Software as a Service (SaaS) loan platform, originally developed to accept and process Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications, with a scalable grant Origination Module that supports the acceptance of new Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grant origination applications, performs data edits and validations, and passes valid loan applications to the Capital Access Financial System (CAFS), which processes SBA grants and loans. This enables the SBA to fulfill the regulations of the RRF enacted as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act.

The performance period for of this contract is April 13, 2021 to December 31, 2021, inclusive of two Option periods Development and testing of the RRF modules will be complete in 14 days or less.

The total value of the contract is $130,369,712.31. The base award is for $49,834,324.90.

4. Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2), Unusual and Compelling Urgency (FAR 6.302-2)

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 United States Code (U.S.C.) 253(c)(1) as set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2 Unusual and compelling urgency. An urgent and compelling need exists and following competition procedures would result in unacceptable delays.

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority (FAR 6.303-2(b)(5)):

The SBA’s Office of Performance and Systems Management (OPSM), within OCA, is responsible for all SBA loan origination Information Technology (IT) solutions. OPSM must ensure that new loan applications are compliant with program rules and correctly processed through SBA’s systems.

To accomplish these processes, the OPSM uses a dynamically scalable SaaS solution provided by Goldschmitt-CRI, LLC (Goldschmitt-CRI) via a contract awarded in FY 2020 during the response to the COVID19 pandemic. After implementation, the SaaS platform successfully removed processing demands from the CAFS and limited SBA technology staff and addressed the SBA’s immediate need to expand the bandwidth of the SBA’s existing loan origination platform.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that allocates new funds and tax credits to help struggling small businesses.

This new legislation includes targeted aid for restaurants in the form of Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants. This new $28.6 billion grant program will specifically target hard-hit restaurants and bars, with eligible businesses able to apply for grants based on lost gross revenue between 2019 and 2020. The maximum grant size will be $5 million for restaurants and $10 million for restaurant groups:

• An eligible business may receive a tax-free federal grant equal to the amount of its pandemic related revenue loss, calculated by subtracting its 2020 gross receipts from its 2019 gross receipts.

• If the business is not in operation for the entirety of 2019, the total is the difference between

12 times the average monthly gross receipts for 2019 and the average monthly gross receipts in 2020 (or a formula from SBA).

• If the business is not in operation until 2020, it can receive a grant equal to the amount of

“eligible expenses” subtracted by its gross receipts received (or a formula from SBA).

• If the business is not yet in operation as of the application date, but it has made “eligible expenses,” the grant would be made equal to those expenses (or a formula from SBA).

Leveraging the current SBA SaaS platform from Goldschmitt-CRI, LLC, (Goldschmitt-CRI) for the RRF grant applications will satisfy SBA’s urgent need for a grant application intake portal because it will save SBA the time required to develop, compete, and evaluate a platform acquisition, and the time and expense for a new contractor to develop a platform, including extensive testing of technical interfaces with the Capital Access Financial Systems (CAFS). This requirement is urgently needed because SBA must quickly and efficiently deploy the RRF funds. Using the existing scalable platform will allow SBA’s CAFS to dedicate its computing resources to funding and disbursing all American Rescue Plan Act programs including those from OCA and the Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA).

Goldschmitt-CRI, located at 11601 Quail Ridge Court, Reston, Virginia 20194, is an SBA approved all-small mentor-protégé joint venture business, is HUBZone certified, and is uniquely qualified to provide the services that OCA urgently needs. Within 14 days of contract award Goldschmitt-CRI can provide the SBA with a SaaS package that fulfills the requirements of the RRF grant origination process, including the necessary IT security and quality control measures. Additionally, Goldschmitt- CRI can provide access to trained personnel who can provide system maintenance and assistance.

Furthermore, Goldschmitt-CRI is uniquely well positioned to respond to this urgent and compelling need because due to the following:

The existing platform operates on the Federal Risk and Authorization Program (FedRAMP) certified Federal Amazon Web Services cloud allowing for immediate system resource surge while protecting government data

The PPP platform was given Authority to Operate (ATO) by the SBA Chief Information Officer. The RRF platform will use the same technology infrastructure as the PPP platform allowing rapid approval of a new ATO, mitigating a delay in deploying the RRF portal.

The PPP SaaS platform interfaces to the SBA’s CAFS system are to be reused for the RRF grant origination process saving months of software development effort.

Other SaaS vendors would need at least four more months of lead time to create a secure platform that could accept RRF grant applications which would result in unacceptable delays in performance, given that these funds are intended for immediate economic relief to the restaurant industry. Other SaaS vendors would have longer lead times because they would have to gather requirements, obtain licenses, configure the platform, establish and implement IT Security requirements, develop and test new CAFS system APIs, and obtain an ATO from the SBA CIO. “Performance delays would cause serious injury and harm to the SBA and the eligible recipients of these funds, as SBA would not be able to fulfill its mission and provide urgently needed funds immediately, as intended by the American Rescue Plan Act. A failure to act quickly and implement this system would negatively impact millions of Americans who operate eligible businesses that have been affected by the pandemic.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies (FAR 6.303-2(b)(6)).

As stated above, the Government would be seriously injured if the SBA complies with the publicizing and response times specified in FAR 5.203. As such, the synopsis exemption at FAR 5.202(a)(2) applies. Full and open competition need not be provided for.

The justification and approval for other than full and open competition will be posted to beta.sam.gov within 30 days of award and will be available for 30 days after posting.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable (FAR 6.303-2(b)(7)).

The Contracting Officer determined the total proposed price to be fair and reasonable through a comparison of the Contractor’s proposed prices to their commercial prices and to price lists on various government-wide acquisition vehicles and other sites, such as the General Services Administration (GSA) Acquisition Gateway Pricing Portal which contains pricing data. Additionally, the Contracting Officer performed an analysis of other than certified cost or pricing data, provided by the Contractor and a comparison to estimated prices within the Independent Government Estimate

(IGE).

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted (FAR 6.303-2(b)(8)).

Market research was performed prior to the initial award of the contract. It was determined that there are no existing acquisition contracts or other vendors that have the capability to provide a product and solution that fully meets the Government’s requirements within the timeframe needed. The time between the award of the contract and the time this modification is so short that it indicates that an increase to the existing contract is the most advantageous offer. It will allow continuity of operations for the SBA and rapid financial support to small businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of the other than full and open competition (FAR 6.303-

2(b)(9)).

There are no additional facts.

10. A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition (FAR 6.303-2(b)(10)).

No sources expressed a written interest in this acquisition.

11. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition, if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated (FAR 6.303-2(b)(11)).

The Government will continue to conduct thorough market research to gauge the marketplace capabilities for future requirements. The Government intends to seek competition for the future acquisition of these services, if it is found capabilities exist and time permits.

12. Certification.

Technical / Requirements Personnel: I certify the requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and the facts, representations, and data included in this justification are complete and accurate.

Steve Stine, Project Manager

Contracting Officer: I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Rachelle Colon-Serna, Contracting Officer

13. Approval

Kip Sheppard, Acting Senior Procurement Executive