A02.Sole Source Limiting-Competition_Redacted.pdf

Control No: JA-22-12-1091

Version – February 2017

Memorandum for Record – Limiting Competition at or below the Simplified

Acquisition Threshold

1. Contracting Activity: United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD)

2. Description of Action:

Nature: New Requirement Follow-on Requirement

Contract Vehicle: Purchase Order Number W81XWH-16-P-0212__________

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Number _______________ Order/BPA# _______ against FSS Contract #_____ _________ Order #___________ against Multiple Award IDIQ Contract Name or #______________

Order #_______ against a single award IDC Contract

Modification # _______ to existing PO/TO/DO/Call Order

Pricing/Contract Type: Fixed Price Time & Materials/Labor Hours Cost Reimbursable Hybrid

Funds: Operations & Maintenance, Army (OMA) Other Funds: _RDT&E__

FY: __22______

Name of Proposed Contractor(s) and Address:

_STEM International, Inc______________________ _4692 Millennium Drive Suite 400_______________ _Belcamp, MD 21017_________________________

Brand Name Buy: Yes No

3. Description of Services or Supplies: Contractor shall provide consultation (PM Support Meetings) and utilize expertise to construct, modify and/or upgrade new or existing large animal behavioral testing platforms to include repair and replacement of components. The estimated period of performance required is as such:

Base Period: May 2022 to May 2023 Value: $24,000.00 Option Period 1: May 2023 to May 2024 Value: $24,000.00 Option Period 2: May 2024 to May 2025 Value: $24,000.00 Option Period 3: May 2025 to May 2026 Value: $24,000.00 Option Period 4: May 2026 to May 2027 Value: $24,000.00

Total: $120,000.00

Erin.Maddox Sticky Note Accepted set by Erin.Maddox

4. Authority:

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1): For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), only one source reasonably available, urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization.

Or

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) and 8.405-6(b)(1)Brand Name FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A) Urgency FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) Only One Source is Capable FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) Logical Follow-on

Or

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) Only One Awardee is Capable FAR 16.505(a)(4) Brand Name FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) Urgency FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) Logical Follow-on FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D) Minimum Guarantee

5. Reasons for Authority Cited:

Contractor has advanced working knowledge of these proprietary Behavioral Testing Platforms, and is familiar with research goals and needs of scientific staff. Behavioral Testing Platforms were fabricated at STEM International, Inc through direct consultation with and input of USAMRICD personnel under contracts W81XWH-10-P-0723 and W81XWH-16-P-0212. The headquarters for STEM International, Inc is local relative to the contracting activity, permitting prompt turn-around for manufacturing and repair requests, eliminating the need for costly shipping and handling costs and minimizing potential for problems to arise due to the shipping process. STEM International, Inc employs a highly qualified team of scientists, engineers, trainers, QA/QC specialists and technical staff, with capabilities that include, but are not limited to, process engineering, design, drafting, modeling, fabrication, assembly, maintenance and calibration.

Behavioral testing platforms manufactured by STEM International, Inc currently support 4 funded research projects with a total operating budget exceeding $2.5 million. Failure to award a contract to an existing company with a proven track record and deep understanding of these behavioral testing platforms and the research of USAMRICD will jeopardize mission success, delay achievement of crucial research milestones and risk future funding.

6. Publicizing Contract Actions: For FAR Part 13 actions, the public display and synopsis requirements of FAR 5.101 and FAR 5.203 do not apply due to the $ threshold, apply and will be followed, or do not apply due to an exception at

5.202 ______________________.

Requirement to post justification in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b)(3), FAR 13.105(c), or FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)

Action is NOT a brand name restriction and is under $150K, no posting required

Action is a brand name restriction, under $25K, no posting required Action is a brand name restriction, over $25K. It will be redacted and posted with the solicitation.

Action is a brand name restriction over $25K but will not be posted due to exception:

FAR 6.305(f) FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)(iii)(A)

FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)(iii)(B) FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)(iii)(C) FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii(C)

7. Market Research: Market research was conducted during the following periods 19Apr2021 - 29Apr2021; 30Nov2021 – 02Dec2021). During this time, we reviewed past market research to obtain and identify sources of original contract (W81XWH-16-P- 0212) and any vendors to the market; talked to other Labs and Teaching entities to see if they knew of other vendors that could supply the same or equal bus service; reviewed Federal Service Schedule contracts, and other Government contracts; and used Internet tools and perform Web searches, to include the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS-NG), Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), Google.com, and GSA. Key words of search included combinations of the following terms: primate, nhp, monkey, large animal, behavior, behavioral, test platform, apparatus, construction, response latency. Search was unable to locate any new potential contractors to handle the existing needs of the USAMRICD. As outlined in the Market Research (A02-Market Research), alternative behavioral and cognitive platforms do exist, but replacement would not be a reasonable consideration. Each platform has various disqualifying characteristics and replacement of existing, functional, and easy-to-upgrade platforms would not be advantageous to the direction of research at the USAMRICD. Replacement would be cost and space prohibitive and would also necessitate additional animal training, and a robust statistical analysis of data sets (legacy vs. new). Lastly, desirable outcomes with newer platforms are never guaranteed animals often react unpredictably to change.

Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 15.201(e) a Request for Information (RFI) was posted to the SAM.gov website on 07Feb2022 with a response date of 11Feb2022. The purpose of the RFI was to ascertain if any other commercially available entities could provide the capabilities as mentioned above. Upon the closing date and time of the RFI, Erin.Maddox no other sources had written to express an interest..

8. Other Facts: Behavioral testing platforms currently in use at the USAMRICD were fabricated by STEM International, Inc. This contractor holds all the schematics to current platforms, and understands the design challenges to permit behavioral testing in a safe manner for both lab personnel and animal. STEM International, has the necessary expertise to aid us in overcoming unforeseen obstacles along the way, benefiting greatly from the use of their already-developed manufacturing processes and repair methods.

9. Technical/Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Name: Robert Stevenson Date: 13Jan2022 Title: Biologist

Signature:

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10. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval:

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based upon price analysis.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that completing this purchase as a sole source is in the best interest of the Government. Additionally, I approve this justification to limit competition subject to the availability of funds and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Typed Name:

Date:

Title:

Signature:

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Erin.Maddox

Accepted set by Erin.Maddox

Erin.Maddox Sticky Note Accepted set by Erin.Maddox

Erin.Maddox