ATTACHMENT 2_Statement of Objectives.docx

Tab 1

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 economic security.

Offerors shall propose their target industry and region served through the RIC funding in their proposal. Each offeror will be limited to submitting a proposal for only one target industry. Multiple industries may not be submitted. Industries of interest are:

· Advanced Manufacturing

· Critical Minerals

· Nuclear Energy (Microreactors)

· Disruptive Technology

· Quantum Information and Enabling Technologies

· Artificial Intelligence

· Information Technology (cybersecurity, cyber operations, data storage, etc)

· Semiconductors

Disclaimer: Offerors must disclose if they currently hold an active RIC services contract of any type. Duplication of services and billings are prohibited. 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 SBA Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) is seeking the services of contractors to create new Regional Innovation Clusters (RICs). RICs will involve public-private partnerships that align federal, state, and local resources with regional industrial strengths to catalyze technology innovation and economic growth to drive regional advancement and national economic security.

Federal resources include funding and support directly to small businesses and those that encourage the development of innovation and entrepreneur ecosystems. The contractor will be responsible for:

1. Small Business Support Service Delivery in Specified Industry

2. Creation and Expansion of Cluster Network in Specified Industry

3. Cluster Management and Oversight

4. Report Development

PERIOD AND PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Period of Performance: The period of performance consists of a 12-month Base Period. No option periods are currently listed but the Government is including 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. Any travel requests must be approved by the 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 Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) Program of the SBA was launched in September 2010 to promote and support clusters-geographically concentrated groups of interconnected businesses, suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular industry or field across the United States. Clusters act as a networking hub to convene several resources to help navigate the funding, procurement, and supply-chain opportunities in a specific industry. Through technical and legal assistance, cluster networks also help innovators commercialize promising technologies needed by government and industry buyers.

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 businesses, suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular industry or field across the United States. Organizations typically involved in a RIC are small and large businesses, universities and community colleges, capital providers, entrepreneur support organizations, and local, state, and federal agencies that work to develop and grow a particular industry or related set of industries in a geographic region and deliver support directly to technology and high-growth small businesses.

A cluster’s region may cross municipal, county, and other jurisdictional boundaries. Participants in the cluster may have 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. These networks work in concert with local governments, venture capitalists, private banks, private investors, economic development organizations, workforce investment boards, non-profit organizations, industry associations, and institutions of higher education (including community colleges), as well as other public and private agencies and institutions that may extend beyond the geographic region.

PERFORMANCE - BASED OBJECTIVES, I.E., REQUIRED RESULTS

The SBA is seeking proposals from entities that can lead regional cluster projects. The four components of the offeror will be responsible for are (1)Small Business Support Service Delivery; (2) Building Cluster Network (adding cluster participants, formalizing linkages with TA providers, etc); (3) Cluster Management and Oversight; and (4) Report Development (quarterly and annual reports). Following are additional details on SBA’s expectations for each of the four components of the cluster.

Creation and Expansion 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. Offeror should describe the current gap or needed coordination within their region and how RIC funding will address the gap and catalyze additional local, state, or private sector support or involvement in the selected industry.

2. Cluster Partners and Coordination to Support Delivery of Needed Small Business Support Services Offerors should address how they will collaborate with their regional network of entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) and regional stakeholders to support delivery of services to small businesses and coordinate their efforts to expand services and support the delivery of new and needed services within the region. Offerors should describe the current small business support services in the identified region and how the RIC funding will support the delivery of new and needed services and avoid duplication of services.

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 appendix A&B (see Table 1 & 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 businesses, large businesses, industry groups local universities, community colleges, government or independent research centers, capital providers – banks, private investors, angel investors, Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) – entrepreneur support organizations, SBA Regional and District Offices, other SBA resource partners or funded organizations - Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), SCORE, Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs), Federal and State Technology (FAST) partners, State Trade Enhancement Program (STEP) recipients, and Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) awardees - and local, state, and federal entities. 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 in Specified Industry

1. Small Business Support Services Provided The majority of offerors’ time and resources shall be focused on small business support services. Offerors shall address how they will provide education, training, and business advising to small businesses in at least three of the following services to small businesses involved in the cluster:

a. Business training

b. Mentoring

c. Technology transfer and commercialization counseling/consulting

d. Export readiness counseling/consulting

e. Customer discovery/ customer matching

f. Federal grant writing assistance, including but not limited to SBIR/STTR

g. Other services relevant to small businesses not already provided by other SBA resources.

Offeror shall clearly identify the three types of services that will predominately be provided by the cluster. While the cluster can provide more than these three types of services, the predominant three should be clearly described.

Offeror should also 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 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 current partnerships and work with small businesses, SBA resource partners, and economic development partners not funded by SBA.

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 cluster members and maintain engagement with cluster 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 the SBA.

When surveys or new information collections are necessary, contractors must meet the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) where applicable. In order to do so, the contractor will need to anticipate within the performance term the required public notice and OMB review for information collections under the PRA. The creation of a new information collection will require the contractor to develop survey procedures; identify appropriate respondents; provide clarification of the collection process; provide realistic estimates of the response rates; and work to develop an appropriate survey instrument. It is the contractor’s responsibility to prepare any materials necessary to obtain PRA clearances associated with the work to be performed.

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, 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.

· Ecosystem and Partner Organizations

· Total number of partner organizations in the cluster

· Growth in partner organizations in the cluster over the quarter

3. Annual Reporting & Metrics 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 of SBIR/ STTR phase I proposals won by small businesses assisted

· Dollar amount of SBIR/ STTR phase I funding awarded to small businesses

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

· Dollar amount of SBIR/ STTR phase II funding awarded to small businesses

· Number of commercial contracts awarded to small businesses assisted

· Dollar amount of commercial contracts awarded to small businesses

· Number of government contracts awarded to small businesses assisted

· Dollar amount of government contracts awarded to small businesses

· Number of private investments received by small businesses assisted

· Dollar amount of private investment received by small businesses assisted

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

· Dollar amount of SBIC investment received by small businesses assisted

· Number of loans received by small businesses assisted

· 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.