Attachment 2 RICs SOO.docx

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

PURPOSE

This Statement of Objectives (SOO) is for Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) services for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

This SOO is provided in lieu of a Government written Statement of Work (SOW) to provide potential offerors the flexibility to develop and present cost-effective solutions and innovative alternatives for meeting the Government’s stated objectives.

To create new RICs, the Contractor shall provide a work force possessing the skills, knowledge, and training to perform the services required to support the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation (OII). RICs will assist small businesses in matching innovative technology to industry needs with the goal of reshoring critical industrial and manufacturing capabilities, creating more secure national supply chains, and increasing the number of innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs in the nation. Ultimately, RIC services will support regional economies by driving small business job creation, revenue growth, and capital obtained in industries and technologies critical to national security.

Offerors shall propose their target industry and region served through the RIC funding in their proposal. Offerors shall propose one target industry and one geographic region to be served. Each offeror may submit only one proposal. Priority industries include:

· Advanced Manufacturing

· Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Supply Chains

· Defense Industrial Base Technologies and Components

· Energy, Critical Materials, and Industrial Inputs

· Food Supply and Agricultural Systems

· Transportation, Logistics, and Industrial Infrastructure

Disclaimer: Offerors must disclose if they currently hold an active RIC contract. Duplication of services and billings are prohibited. If an Offeror submits a proposal that the Government determines is duplicative, the offer will no longer be considered for award. If you hold a current RIC contract, please provide the following information:

1. Contract Number

2. Geographical Area being serviced

3. Describe the industry focus under that contract and how what is being offered under this solicitation are different and non-duplicative.

SCOPE OR MISSION

The mission of the RIC Program is to strengthen regional capabilities in developing and growing technology-focused and high growth small businesses in industries critical to America’s industrial capacity and national security.

PERIOD AND PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

24-month Period of Performance: No option periods are currently listed but the Government is including RFO FAR 52.217-8 which shall not be quoted at this time.

Place of Performance: Services shall be performed at the Contractor’s facilities and/or onsite at small businesses, and/or at separate locations (physical or virtual) as appropriate based on the regional location of the work to be performed. All travel requests must be approved by the contracting officer representative (COR) in advance of travel.

BACKGROUND

The mission of the SBA is to help Americans start, build, and grow businesses. The SBA was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the Federal Government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation.

The RIC Program was launched in September 2010 to promote and support clusters. Clusters act as networking hubs to help small businesses navigate the funding, procurement, and supply-chain opportunities in a specific industry to enable commercialization of needed technologies.

The RIC Program is managed by the Office of Investment and Innovation (OII). OII seeks to build, connect, and support the networks and stakeholders helping high-growth, technology-focused small businesses and reshore critical industrial and manufacturing capabilities. OII recognizes the challenges that small business innovators face and actively supports small business membership in industry clusters.

Definition of Regional Clusters

A regional cluster is a geographically concentrated group of interconnected organizations including small and large businesses, capital providers, research institutions, workforce development organizations, institutions of higher education, economic development organizations, entrepreneur support organizations, and public and private organizations supporting the development and growth of a particular industry.

A cluster may cross municipal, county, or state boundaries and maintain strategic partnerships with entities outside of the cluster’s geographic region. A successful cluster will leverage the region's unique competitive strengths across geographies and identify and develop networks for business financing, business-to-business sales, business-to-government sales, and workforce development as well as opportunities to expand into markets nationally and internationally.

PERFORMANCE - BASED OBJECTIVES - REQUIRED RESULTS

The SBA is seeking proposals from entities that can lead a RIC. The four components the offeror will be responsible for are (1) Maintenance of Cluster Network in Specified Industry; (2) Small Business Support Service Delivery; (3) Cluster Management and Oversight; and (4) Report/ Metrics Development. Following are additional details on SBA’s expectations for each of the four components of the cluster.

Maintenance of Cluster Network in Specified Industry

1. Industry and Region Served Offerors should state the industry served with corresponding NAICS codes (at least four-digit NAICS code is preferred). Offerors should state their anticipated region of service down to the county level with corresponding FIPS codes.

Offerors should describe the competitive advantage of their region and how it corresponds to the selected industry. Both quantitative and qualitative data are of interest to describe competitive advantage.

2. Current State of Chosen Industry and Cluster Network in the Region Offeror should describe the current state of the identified industry in the region and current challenges facing the industry. Offeror should describe how their proposed work and cluster coordination will address the challenges and catalyze additional local, state, or private sector support or involvement in the selected industry. Both quantitative and qualitative data are of interest to describe the current state of the industry and needed support.

If needed to strengthen the industry and/or cluster network, the offeror should describe any planning or strategic development efforts to be completed in coordination with relevant industry stakeholders and cluster partners.

3. Relevant Industry Stakeholders and Cluster Partners Offerors should identify relevant industry stakeholders and cluster partners and describe the role they play in the cluster. Offeror should specify their existing partnerships. Offerors should describe how they will collaborate across the identified organizations and the specific role the offeror plays within the cluster.

Offerors should describe how coordination across relevant industry stakeholders and cluster partners improve outcomes for existing and future technology-focused and high growth small businesses. Offeror should describe how small businesses are able to access services and benefits of the cluster.

Offerors should list existing cluster partnerships – formal or informal. Formal partnerships could be recognized by formal partnership documents, like memorandums of understanding, letters of agreement etc. If formal partnerships exist, documents should be included in the Appendices A and B (see Tables 1 and 2). Informal partnerships should also be listed. Informal partnerships are those that have regular communication or collaboration but are not recognized through any partnership documents.

Cluster partners could include but are not limited to small and large businesses, capital providers, research institutions, workforce development organizations, institutions of higher education, economic development organizations, entrepreneur support organizations, and public and private organizations, including SBA Regional and District Offices. Relevant federally-funded or supported partners could include but are not limited to Empower to Grow (E2G) recipients, Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership sites, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), SCORE, State Trade Enhancement Program (STEP) recipients, Supply Chain Acceleration and Logistics Enablement (SCALE) awardees, Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs), and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), Cluster partners will reflect an industry-specific focus and collaboration. The cluster network will assist businesses in matching innovative technology to industry needs with the goal of reshoring critical industrial and manufacturing capabilities, creating more secure national supply chains, and increasing the number of innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs in the nation. Offeror should also list how they will share best practices and, as appropriate, connect their cluster participants with other RICs receiving SBA funding.

Additionally, coordination with current or future funded programs and entities is of interest. Funding could come from other federal agencies, state or local government, philanthropy, or private sources. RICs are encouraged to fully employ the resources of other federal, state, and local government, academic and private sector programs concerned with aiding small businesses to provide seamless business development assistance at every stage of business growth.

Small Business Support Service Delivery

1. Small Business Support Services Provided Small business support should predominantly be one-on-one or via small groups with the goal to get new products or services to market, expand the market reach of small businesses, increase business growth, and protect American companies and technology from foreign ownership, control, and influence. Offerors shall address how they will provide support directly to small businesses. Small business support should be specific and informed by the challenges faced by small businesses in the chosen industry and region. The goal of all small business support is to accelerate technology commercialization and business growth.

Offeror should list the number of unique small businesses they anticipate serving and number of hours of small business support services provided.

Cluster Management and Oversight

1. Project Management Offeror shall describe the organization’s structure, staffing plan, project management process, including staff and any specific project management tools utilized. Offeror shall describe processes to address project delays and unanticipated risks.

2. Membership Management Offeror shall describe how they will introduce new members – both partner organizations and small businesses – into the cluster and provide ongoing engagement.

Offeror shall describe any customer relationship management (CRM) system used. The CRM could be purchased through a third-party or a unique tool or process created within the organization. Offeror shall discuss how their CRM will aid in metrics collection and report development.

Offeror shall describe a plan for creating a website or a web page on an existing site specific to the programming and efforts undertaken by the cluster. Offeror shall describe plans for sustained communication with cluster members and how the website will be used to reach new members and maintain engagement with current members.

SBA is interested in offerors that can appropriately minimize time and effort for project management and membership management while still maintaining overall cluster quality to ensure maximum time and effort is spent on small business support and building the cluster network.

Report/Metrics Development

1. Cluster Membership The Contractor will utilize an SBA approved information collection tool/process when new small businesses or partner organizations join the cluster. The information collection for new cluster members could include but is not limited to:

· Business or Partner Organization Name

· Business or Partner Organization address – street address, city, state, and zip code

· Business or Partner Organization website/Email address of two key principles

· Business or Partner Organization NAICS

· Business or Partner Organization UEI (if available).

Cluster member information may go directly to both the Contractor and/ or the SBA.

2. Quarterly Reporting The Contractor shall provide a narrative and quantitative report at the end of every quarter detailing breakdown of time spent across contract categories, activities completed, activities delayed, problem areas determined, problems resolved, and any additional small business benefit and/ or success stories. The report shall be submitted to the SBA program manager and COR within 15 calendar days following the last day of the quarter, reported in an Excel spreadsheet or compatible electronic format unless otherwise noted. SBA recognizes each cluster has unique strengths and attributes; clusters will not be expected to have equal outputs across all the below metrics.

The Contractor will submit to SBA a full roster of cluster members – partners and small businesses – including but not limited to:

· Business or Partner Organization Name

· Business or Partner Organization address – street address, city, state, and zip code

· Business or Partner Organization website/Email address of up to two key principles

· Business or Partner Organization NAICS

· Business or Partner Organization UEI (if available).

Quarterly metrics will include but are not limited to:

· Small Business Membership, Participation, and Outcomes

· Total number of small businesses who are members in the cluster

· Growth in small business membership in the cluster over the quarter

· Number of unique small businesses receiving counseling, training, mentoring, or other technical assistance this quarter

· Type of Small Business Assistance Provided

· Number of small businesses assisted in preparing and submitting SBIR/ STTR phase I proposals

· Number of small businesses assisted in preparing and submitting SBIR/ STTR phase II proposals

· Number of small businesses assisted in preparing and filing patent applications

· Number of small businesses receiving government contracting assistance

· Number of small businesses receiving commercial contracting assistance

· Number of small businesses receiving exporting assistance

· Number of small businesses receiving access to capital assistance; capital could be acquiring a loan, private investment, or non SBIR/ STTR award.

· Events and Outreach

· Number of outreach events hosted this quarter including joint events with partners.

· Partner Organizations

· Total number of partner organizations in the cluster

· Growth in partner organizations in the cluster over the quarter.

3. Annual Reporting & Metrics No later than 30 days after the end of the base period or option period (if applicable) the Contractor shall provide a detailed report on the extent to which it provided all the services proposed including activities completed and outcomes from those activities, as well as any activities not completed with explanations. This report will highlight accomplishments and outcomes and include a summation of the quarterly reported metrics.

The Contractor will submit to SBA a full roster of cluster members – partners and small businesses – including but not limited to:

· Business or Partner Organization Name

· Business or Partner Organization address – street address, city, state, and zip code

· Business or Partner Organization website/Email address of two key principles

· Business or Partner Organization NAICS

· Business or Partner Organization UEI (if available).

SBA recognizes each cluster has unique strengths and attributes; clusters will not be expected to have equal outputs across all the metrics below. The contractor should include their goal for the average increase in annual revenue of small businesses served through the RIC. The contractor should also choose one of the metrics listed below in Small Business Outcomes and Capital Obtained (see below) and provide the average increase in the number of and dollar amount of said metric. Both the average increase in annual revenue and the other chosen metric will be used as performance benchmarks. The contractor shall describe the methodology by which they calculated the goals for both metrics and how their identified small business support services and partner organizations enable them to meet the calculated goal.

Annual metrics will include but are not limited to:

· Metrics for the most recently completed quarter

· Innovation Metrics

· Number of patents issued to small businesses you assisted

· Number of new products, services, or new markets entered or created by small businesses assisted

· Increase in annual revenue of small businesses who are members in the cluster

· Small Business Outcomes and Capital Obtained

· Number and dollar amount of SBIR/ STTR phase I proposals won by small businesses assisted

· Number and dollar amount of SBIR/ STTR phase II proposals won by small businesses assisted

· Number and dollar amount of commercial contracts awarded to small businesses assisted

· Number and dollar amount of government contracts awarded to small businesses assisted

· Number and dollar amount of private investments received by small businesses assisted

· Number and dollar amount of investments by SBIC licensed funds to small business assisted

· Number and dollar amount of loans received by small businesses assisted

· Regional Economic Development

· Number of jobs created by small businesses who are cluster members

· Number of jobs retained by small businesses who are cluster members.

4. Program Evaluation and Independent Assessment Studies The Contractor shall comply with SBA requests for independent assessment studies conducted by agency representatives and/or contractors. Any program evaluation or independent assessment will be done by a third party. Individual RICs do not need to budget for conducting their own independent assessment but may be required to assist with providing cluster member information, survey outreach, data analysis, and other activities relevant to the assessment or evaluation.