A02.14 SSJ IMPLAN for RECONS -SAM.gov.docx

SOLE SOURCE MEMORANDUM FOR ACTIONS UNDER THE SAT

IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i)

1. Contracting Activity: The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity (HECSA)

2. Description of Action: Approval is requested for a new, firm fixed price type of contract using Civil Works Funding in the amount of $XX,XXX.XX.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The subject requirement is for “IMPLAN Economic Data and Multipliers for USACE Regional Economic Development Analysis,” which will be used as part of the Regional Economic System (RECONS) Program at the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) in aiding the field to conduct Regional Economic Development (RED) analyses, a required component for all projects and a critical resource used by economists across the enterprise. This will support the RECONS Program to provide accurate and defensible regional economic impact estimates associated with USACE projects, programs, and infrastructure across all Civil Works (CW) business lines using the most up-to-date economic data and multipliers.

Currently, USACE RED analysis uses IMPLAN economic multipliers as the underlying analytical structure for estimating the ripple effects of economic changes across industries from Corps activities. This action would allow USACE to acquire the latest economic data and multiplier data. USACE currently possesses 2021 dataset, which is outdated. A lot has changed throughout the economy since 2021 – post COVID-era data is needed for more accurate assessments. This action would allow the Corps to acquire 2023 IMPLAN dataset, with 2024 IMPLAN dataset to be made available around December 2025. Regular updates of economic data and multipliers are necessary to maintain accurate and defensible economic impact analysis, ensuring decisions are based on most current and reliable information available.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 2304(C)(1) or 41 U.S.C. 253(C)(1) as implemented in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), Soliciting from a single source, for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT).

5. Reasons for Authority Cited: The identified contractor, IMPLAN LLC, is a small business and the sole developer and vendor of the proprietary IMPLAN input-output and regional economic impact modeling and dataset, and has the unique qualification and experience related to providing national scale economic datasets for government and academia use.

IMPLAN is an input-output modeling system that was originally developed by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service as a tool to assist the Forest Service in land and resources management planning in the early 1970s. IMPLAN was later privatized in the 1980s and has evolved into the most widely used input-output modeling tool. It has become the standard for assessing region- and industry-specific impact analysis. IMPLAN provides comprehensive data that is compiled from sources from both Government published data, such as US Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as private industries with granular geographic coverage.

The RECONS Program utilizes a methodology/framework that’s been certified via a rigorous review process by USACE, and this methodology/framework is designed to use the proprietary IMPLAN data. Alternative data sources have been explored, including REMI (Regional Economic Models, Inc., and RIMS II (Regional Input-Output Modeling System) to work with RECONS; however, these other models did not meet the rigorous USACE standards. IMPLAN is the only vendor that currently provides the level of detailed information at a reasonable cost that meets USACE Regional Economic Development certified methodology/model.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Other alternatives have been considered: (1) REMI (Regional Economic Models, Inc.) and RIMS II (Regional Input-Output Modeling System). These alternatives are considered not viable at this time for three reasons: (1) relatively inadequate granularity and lack of customization; (2) historical use of IMPLAN and thus, adopting a new model system would require extensive labor to modify back-end algorithms and calculation processes, which would trigger the need for recertification of the RECONS methodology; and (3) much higher costs on a per region and per industry basis. Based on extensive market research effort, no other vendors or contractors have the same level of professional skills, reputation, and unique need/use-case for the RECONS Program.

IMPLAN is considered the standard for estimating regional economic impacts, used by majority of government agencies when reporting the number of jobs supported by federal spending since 2009.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: As a means of increasing competition, IWR/RECONS Program team routinely performs market research for possible alternatives. Due to the highly unique qualifications of IMPLAN and for reasons mentioned above, the team determined that it would be far more expensive and inefficient to pursue another entity.

8. Market Research: Market research has not identified a comparable entity to fulfill the requirements. Based on market research (and for reasons mentioned above in Section 6 and throughout), it is recommended that a sole source contract with IMPLAN is required.

9. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources have written to express an interest. The notices required by FAR 5.201 will be published, and any bids for proposals received will be considered.

10. Other Facts: None.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable, based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vi) “Comparison to an independent Government Estimate.” Per FAR 15.403-1(b)(3), certified cost and pricing data is not required.

David A. Kaplan Procuring Contracting Officer Email: David.A.Kaplan@usace.army.mil

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Procuring Contracting Officer

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve IMPLAN Economic Data and Multipliers for USACE Regional Economic Development Analysis in the amount of $XX,XXX.XX on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Procuring Contracting Officer

Prepared by:

Bart Dziadosz Contract Specialist Email: Bartholomew.Dziadosz@usace.army.mil