General Questions Answered 8.8.22.pdf

General Questions and Answers for Solicitation No. 73351033R0014, 73351022R0016, 73351022R0017 & 73351022R0018

1. Is there a target dollar range that you can provide, or at least a typical floor and upper bound of what you're looking for?

The Government cannot disclose its specific budget estimate. However, the Government intends to procure a firm fixed price contract using simplified acquisition procedures. Quotes from offerors should include all costs needed to perform the requirements of the statement of work and be commensurate with the work outlined in the proposal.

2. Is this a brand-new contract OR is there is an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?

The Office of Advocacy has procured research on various topics in the past. We are seeking offerors who can perform research on specific topics as outlined in the solicitation and therefore we do not have a current vendor providing those services. These are new requirements.

3. Are you planning to make a single award, multiple, or to be determined?

There are 4 solicitations (73351022R0014, 73351022R0016, 73351022R0017, 73351022R0018) and the Government intends to make a single award under each solicitation.

4. What is the range of budgets for past projects?

Historically, the Government has awarded firm fixed priced contracts, below the simplified acquisition threshold, using simplified acquisition procedures. Quotes from offerors should reflect costs needed to perform the requirements of the statement of work and be commensurate with the work outlined in the proposal.

5. Would the contract cover universities' indirect costs?

Offerors should include all applicable costs required to perform the statement of work, however, payments will be processed on a firm fixed price basis. Institutes of higher education and non-profits may partner with a small business to partake in the research but the small business must complete 51% or more of the work.

6. Are institutions of higher education and/or non-profits eligible to respond?

Institutes of higher education and non-profits may partner with a small business to partake in the research but the small business must complete 51% or more of the work.

7. Are there are any samples from other projects to give us frame of reference?

Examples of previously completed research funded by the Office of

Advocacy can be found at: https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/research/economicreports/ economic-studies/

8. As a nonprofit, would we be eligible to apply for this small business set-aside? Our 2021 budget is approximately $7 million and we are about a 20-person team.

Non-profits may partner with a small business to partake in the research but the small business must complete 51% or more of the work.

9. To be eligible, do we need to be classified as NAICS code 541720 Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. with Product Service Code AF11 Education, Training, Employment, & Social Services Research & Development Services; Basic Research?

Yes, small businesses must be registered under the NAICS code 541720.

10. What is the proposed timeline for start and end dates?

The potential start date of the contract, if awarded, is expected to be on or about 30 September 2022.

11. When will selections be made and funding become available?

The potential start date of the contract, if awarded, is expected to be on or about 30 September 2022.

Funding will be made available at the time of contract award.

12. With this contract being reserved to small businesses, could I apply for this as a sole proprietor/contractor using my SSN or should I use a registered business entity with a corresponding TIN number (for ex. an LLC)?

Offerors must be registered entities in SAM.gov and meet the small business size standard for the Research and Development in Social Sciences and Humanities industry (NAICS 541720) of not exceeding $24.5 million in annual revenue.

13. Is there a minimum or maximum number of past performances to be provided by the Offeror?

There is no minimum or maximum number of past performance references required. According to the instructions to offerors attachment, offerors should provide documentation and references for past performance on previous comparable projects in the past three years. If an offeror does not have a record of relevant past performance, the offeror will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance or disqualified from award.

14. Is there a preference for where to price the three deliverables without specific CLINs (post award conference, monthly progress reports, and discussions on report/submittals) – e.g., combined into a separate CLIN or interspersed across the seven CLINs listed on page 3 of Attachment 3?

There is no preference for where to price these discussions and reports. Offerors may propose to combine costs in existing CLIN structure or propose a new CLIN(s). Note, the contract type is Firm Fixed Price.

15. Is there a link to the actual grant application with a list of instructions and forms to fill out?

This procurement is a contract opportunity conducted under simplified acquisition procedures. To respond to this solicitation, offerors are expected to submit a research proposal which exhibits strong knowledge in the prospective research area. Preference will be given to the proposal that best shows a strong technical knowledge of the issue to be researched, demonstrates the policy relevance of the research and potential findings, and presents a clear, concise, and feasible research plan. Proposal submissions must be in adherence to the Solicitation/Instructions to Offerors found by accessing the SAM.gov link for Research Topics (73351022R0014, 73351022R0016, 73351022R0017, 73351022R0018). Offerors will not submit applications. Examples of previously completed research funded by the Office of Advocacy can be found at:

https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/research/economicreports/economic-studies/.

16. What are general guidelines on the page limit or a general length of the application?

The technical and past performance sections combined, shall not exceed 25 pages. This page limit does not include the cover page, company credentials, references and writing samples. To respond to this solicitation, offerors are expected to submit a research proposal which exhibits strong knowledge in the prospective research area.

17. Can you clarify if the SBA has a specific definition of small business for the purposes of the analyses to be done in this project?

The Office of Advocacy generally defines a small business as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees for research purposes and cross-industry analysis. Industry-level small business size standards used in government programs and contracting vary according to SBA size standards (see https://www.sba.gov/document/support--table-size-standards). Offerors should state how small business will be defined in their proposed analysis and defend its suitability.

18. Regarding eligibility for these contracting opportunities, do individuals proposing to work as sole proprietors qualify for this "small business set-aside"?

Independent researchers can be eligible to compete if they are a registered small entity in SAM.gov and do not exceed the small business size standard for the Research and Development in Social Sciences and Humanities industry (NAICS 541720) of not exceeding $24.5 million in annual revenue.

https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/research/economicreports/economic-studies https://www.sba.gov/document/support--table-size-standards

19. Can we submit a proposal for each solicitation? Or is each one limited to only one response?

Offerors are permitted to submit multiple research topics/proposals against one or more solicitations.

Each research proposal submission will be evaluated against the solicitation it is submitted under.

20. Were any previous year contracts for this solicitation awarded to company’s that utilized University partnerships?

No contracts in FY 2021 were funded using university partnerships.

21. Is retention of all drafts of final reports sufficient to comply with referenced FAR 4.703, or does retention pertain to every communication and document with relation to the contract? If so, to what degree?

The CO will retain the following contract records; official contract, modifications, SOW, proposal, copies of invoices, progress reports, performance evaluations, and any other correspondence deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer. The documents retained by the COR related to the performance of the contract include the contract, SOW, proposal, copies of invoices, progress reports, section drafts, peer review comments, peer review response memo, data and code used, and the final draft.

22. The SOW states that key personnel requirements include "This requires a minimum of advanced technical training in applied economic and econometric analysis and demonstrated experience as subject matter experts." Are there any additional degree business areas that would apply? Example being Business-related PhD?

Personnel with advanced training in economics is preferred, but other types of experience that covers statistical analysis and research methods will be considered.

23. Does the final report need to be reviewed by an Independent Review Board (IRB)?

The final draft is reviewed by the COR and pertinent Office of Advocacy staff. If the final draft meets the deliverable requirements, it is accepted by the COR.

24. Can we submit more than one proposal using different study topics?

Offerors are permitted to submit multiple research topics/proposals against one or more solicitations.

Each research proposal submission will be evaluated against the solicitation it is submitted under.

25. How will you assess and evaluate proposals that call for the use of Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning to support data wrangling to an integrated ontology of data dictionaries? To what extent must our AI/ML approach and workflows be defined?

The technical approach evaluation will assess the quality, clarity, and feasibility of the proposed research plan and the likelihood the research requirements of the SOW will be completed successfully, the likelihood the proposed research will contribute to the literature and offer policy relevant results, and the expertise and qualifications of the researchers in performing the proposed research. As stated in the SOW, research methods using modern statistical techniques to test hypotheses about causal relationships are preferred. Proposals involving instrumental variables should identify the instruments to be used and defend their suitability. Any software that will be used to conduct the analysis should be identified.

Preference will be given to the proposal that best shows a strong technical knowledge of the issue to be researched, demonstrates the policy relevance of the research and potential findings, and presents a clear, concise, and feasible research plan.

26. The standard research approach is to study a phenomenon with limited number of independent variables. Are you interested in Big Data capabilities where dozens and more data sets with hundreds of variables are wrangled into state-of-art models for analysis?

As stated in the SOW, research methods using modern statistical techniques to test hypotheses about causal relationships are preferred. Proposals involving instrumental variables should identify the instruments to be used and defend their suitability. Preference will be given to the proposal that best shows a strong technical knowledge of the issue to be researched, demonstrates the policy relevance of the research and potential findings, and presents a clear, concise, and feasible research plan.

27. Are you interested in modeling & simulation capabilities related to forecasting effects of policies on small businesses in addition to standard backward-looking analysis?

As stated in the SOW, research methods using modern statistical techniques to test hypotheses about causal relationships are preferred. Proposals involving instrumental variables should identify the instruments to be used and defend their suitability. Preference will be given to the proposal that best shows a strong technical knowledge of the issue to be researched, demonstrates the policy relevance of the research and potential findings, and presents a clear, concise, and feasible research plan.

28. Are you interested in any particular data sets being used?

The proposed analysis can use a variety of economic data that adequately covers the proposed topic.

Proposals should clearly identify the economic dataset(s) that will be analyzed and the method of analysis.

29. Can you confirm use of contract award funds to procure data to support the research project is permissible?

The Government intends to procure a firm-fixed price contract. All applicable costs, including costs to procure data needed to carry out the proposed research, should be included in the price quote.