B08_SOL_-_Att_1_-_SOW.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

Museum of the Plains Indian – 2026 Admission Collector and Monitor

REQUIREMENTS:

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB)/Museum of the Plains Indian (MPI) is located in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation. The IACB employs two full time staff who are responsible for handling museum visitors, collections care, changing promotional Indian arts exhibitions, grounds upkeep, and the general repair of the facility. During the time period of June through September, the area sees an increase in tourism due to nearby Glacier National Park.

The IACB/MPI has two requirements for Seasonal Contractor(s) to serve as a Museum Monitor and an Admission Fee Technician as described below.

Museum Monitor – Monday Through Friday The contractor must be able to provide at least one qualified Monitor to monitor the museum from 8:00 AM through 5:00 PM – 5 (five) days a week beginning June 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026. The days of operation will be Monday through Friday. The museum will be closed to the public on Monday’s and closed Saturday and Sunday’s during the period of time between June 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026.

The museum will be open on the Federal holidays – June 19, 2026 and July 3, 2026 and closed September 7, 2026.

Admission Fee Technician – Tuesday through Friday The IACB/MPI has a second requirement for an Admission Fee Technician to collect admission fees, answer general questions relating to the museum,and answer telephone calls at MPI and direct the calls to the appropriate staff as needed as described below under Admission Collection Fee Position. The contractor shall provide one qualified employee to collect these fees from 8:45AM through 5:00 PM – 4 (four) days a week beginning June 1, 2026, through September 30, 2026. The days of operation will be Tuesday through Friday. The museum will be open on the Federal holidays – June 19, 2026 and July 3, 2026.

MUSEUM MONITOR POSITION

The Contractor shall provide a Monitor who reports to and works in the Museum of the Plains Indian located at 19 Museum Loop, Browning, Montana from June 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026, Monday through Friday, from 8am to 5pm. The museum will be open on the Federal Holidays June 19 and July 3, but will be closed on September 7, 2026.

Monday’s

The Monitor will assist the museum Maintenance Worker with the cleaning of the gallery exhibition cases, sweeping of the floors of the museum public areas, taking out the office trash and other light housekeeping duties, such as picking up trash on the museum ground in the morning and evening, as assigned.). The Monitor will also answer the phone at the front desk when staff is unavailable giving out general information to callers and transferring or taking messages for calls that are more involved. The Monitor is responsible for light housekeeping duties during these hours as directed by the Museum staff (taking trash out, wiping down exhibition cases, sweeping of floors, etc.)

Tuesday through Friday’s

The Monitor will assist the museum Maintenance Worker each morning from 8-10am with the cleaning of the gallery exhibition cases, sweeping of the floors of the museum public areas, taking out the office trash and other light housekeeping duties, such as picking up trash on the museum ground in the morning and evening, as assigned.

The Monitor will monitor the museum and grounds from 10am to 5pm. The Monitor will greet visitors to the museum and answer general questions relating to the operation of the museum (hours, parking, location of restrooms, and other general type of information). The Monitor will also answer the phone at the front desk when staff is unavailable giving out general information to callers and transferring or taking messages for calls that are more involved. The Monitor is responsible for light housekeeping duties during these hours as directed by the Museum staff (taking trash out, wiping down exhibition cases, sweeping of floors, etc.).

Each hour the Monitor will conduct a 30-minute walkthrough of the museum galleries and exhibition spaces to ensure there are no issues, safety concerns, and to ensure visitors are not conducting behaviors or actions that are prohibited (touching displays, taking photographs of artwork, and other behaviors or actions not deemed appropriate by the Museum staff). If a visitor is exhibiting a behavior or action that is prohibited, the Monitor shall inform visitors that behaviors or actions are not allowed and, if the behavior or action is not remedied, bring it to the attention of Museum staff. During the hour the Monitor will also conduct a 30-minute walkthrough of the museum grounds to ensure there are no issues, safety concerns, and to ensure visitors are not conducting behavior or actions that are prohibited. During the walkthrough of the grounds, the Monitor is responsible for picking up any trash found on the museum grounds and disposing of it as directed by Museum staff.

The Monitor is responsible for reporting any issues or concerns to the on-site museum staff and take any appropriate direction concerning these issues as directed by the staff.

The Monitor must wear a visible contractor provided identification badge at all times. The identification should state the person’s first name and the duty they are preforming. The Monitor shall also wear a general purpose vest provided by the contractor that reads “Museum Monitor” during the public hours of the museum 10am to 5pm.

The contractor employee who performs the Monitor job must be a different contractor employee, separate from the contractor employee who collects the admission fees at all times. One contractor employee will not perform the duties of both the admission fee and monitor at the same time. The contractor is encouraged to cross train employees, however, if a contractor employee stops working one position and starts the other, the contractor employee shall sign in/out on the timesheet to indicate the change in position.

ADMISSION FEE COLLECTOR

The IACB/MPI requirement for an individual(s) to collect admission fees, answer general questions relating to the museum, and answer telephone calls at MPI and direct the calls to the appropriate staff as needed as described below under Admission Collection Fee Position. The contractor shall provide one qualified employee to collect these fees from 10:00 AM through 5:00 PM – 4 (four) days a week beginning June 1, 2026, upon award of contract through September 30, 2026.

The days of operation for the Museum Admission Collection Fee position will be –

June 1 to September 30, 2026 8:45AM to 5:00PM

Starting June 1 through September 30, 2026 the schedule will be Tuesday through Friday, 8:45AM to 5:00PM. The museum will be closed on Saturday, Sunday during the time period of June 1, 2026 to

September 30, 2026. The museum is closed to the public on Monday’s and no admission will be collected on Monday’s during this time period.

The Technician(s) performing the job must wear a visible contractor provided identification badge at all times. The identification should state the person’s name and the duty they are performing. For example, the badge would list the employee’s first name and Admission Technician.

The contractor employee who performs the Admission Fee Technician must be a different contractor employee, separate from the contractor employee who is the Monitor at all times. One contractor employee will not perform the duties of both the admission fee and monitor at the same time. The contractor is encouraged to cross train employees, however, if a contractor employee stops working one position and starts the other, the contractor employee shall sign in/out on the timesheet to indicate the change in position.

Prior to each Admission Technician(s) first day of work, they shall be introduced to the Museum staff to make the Museum Staff is aware of each person and the duties they are assigned.

SPECIFIC TASKS

Admission Fee Technician Position

The Contractor will provide an employee(s) for the Admission Fee Technician position to include performing duties as the Cashier (admission fee collector); secretarial duties, including taking phone calls and directing calls to appropriate person or office, recording and transmitting messages, keeping records of calls; providing information to callers and visitors regarding the Museum of the Plains Indian, operating basic office equipment (e.g., photocopier, scanner, facsimile, multi-line phone/voicemail systems, and minimal computer programs); and other minor secretarial related duties as assigned. The admission fee technician must remain at the front desk of the museum at all times during their workday, with the exception of restroom breaks. Before leaving the front desk, the admission fee technician must inform museum staff.

The contractor employee performing the Monitor job must wear a visible contractor provided identification badge at all times. The identification should state the person’s first name and the duty they are preforming.

Details of Admission Fee Schedule

The Contractor will provide staffing to collect admission fees by operating a Point of Sale (POS) cash register and provide a receipt to every visitor at the Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, Montana; as follows:

Dates: June 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026 Tuesday through Friday (4 days per week) 8:45AM – 5:00PM *

The museum will be open the Federal holidays – June 19, 2026 and July 3, 2026.

Admission Fee Schedule

Adults 18-up: $7.00 Children 6-17: $3.00 Children under 6: Free Senior Citizen (over 65): $6.00 Groups of 10 or more: $6.00 per person School Groups (students and escorts from Montana State Elementary, Middle, and High Schools): Free Blackfeet Tribal members: Free upon presentation of Tribal identification card Museum Shop customers (no admission to museum) and suppliers: Free

Acceptable Methods of Payment for Entrance to the Museum

Cash (U.S. and Canadian currency) Credit Card/Debit Card (Contractor may include any credit/debit card fees they estimate they will incur in the RFQ response. Contractor shall provide all necessary equipment needed to provide for pay via credit card or debit card) Traveler’s Checks Business Checks Contractor shall not accept personal checks.

Other Applicable Information

NAICS Code: 561110 – Office Administrative Services Business Size: $7M PSC Code: R699 – Other Administrative Support Services

Contractor Invoicing Information

Contractor invoices shall be paid monthly, in arears. After each-monthly billing cycle is completed, contractor may submit an invoice for payment. Note: Start-up capital is required to fulfill this contract.

Contractor is responsible for their employee(s) salary and all payroll withholding and taxes required by law who perform on any resulting contract.

Contractor Accounting and Handling of Visitor Payments

At a minimum, cash registers should meet the basic needs of the IACB for auditing, security, accountability, durability, and ease of operation, and ready availability of maintenance/service.

The IACB will supply a government owned POS cash register for use in museum and all required supplies at no cost to the contractor.

Contractor is responsible for providing adequate change in the cash register at the beginning of and throughout each day.

Contractor is responsible for providing equipment and method to transact credit card and debit card payments.

Admission Fee collection funds shall be maintained in separate cash registers from those of any other business operation on the premises.

All transactions must be entered into the cash register regardless of payment type. This includes all daily admissions, as well as no-charge admissions.

Daily Accounting of Funds

A POS register will be used. This will allow for electronic tracking of all transactions, including cash and non-cash. Pre-set (hot) keys are used to track each type of transaction (adult; children 6-17; children under 6; groups of 10 or more; Blackfeet Tribal members; and shop customers and suppliers. Blackfeet Tribal members; children under 6; School Groups from Montana State, and shop customers and suppliers will be considered no-charge transactions but must be entered into the register. Receipts will be given for every transaction including no-charge transactions. All receipts will be tracked by IACB.

At the end of each day, the cash register is closed out (Z-tape). Daily closeout sheets (see Appendix A-for sample form) will be completed by contractor and will balance all monies against Z-tape. A deposit must be made into the afore-mentioned established contractor bank account daily. The Z-tape shall match the bank deposit amount. Any overage or shortage must be accounted for and noted on the daily closeout sheet. A copy of the daily closeout sheet, bank deposit ticket, and the Z-tape for each day of the week will be remitted to the IACB Director at the end of every week (see complete information below under Weekly Accounting of Funds).

Contractor Bank Account

The contractor is required to set up a trust bank account with the Department of the Interior as the trust holder. The contractor is required to deposit all fees into the account at the close of business each day. If the contractor is unable to make the deposit at the end of the day due to the bank being closed the contractor should notify the COR via email and the deposit should be made the next business day. The contractor is not allowed to withdraw any funds from the bank account once the funds are deposited. If the bank charges a monthly account fee and that account fee is automatically deducted from the account balance the contractor is to replace the funds that were deducted the next business day. At the end of month the contractor is required to send the IACB a check for the entire amount of fees collected for the month.

Weekly Accounting of Funds

A copy of the daily close out sheet, weekly remittance report (see Appendix B for sample form), bank deposit ticket, Z-tape for each day of the week, and all register tapes will be remitted to the IACB COR at the end of every week via email, Michele_Hill@ios.doi.gov.

In addition, a business check or bank check for the total revenue collected during each month shall be remitted to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, along with the original Z-tapes and register tapes. Checks shall be made payable to “Indian Arts and Crafts Board,” and will also be included in the monthly package to the IACB COR.

Payments to IACB for Visitor Fees Collected

The contractor shall submit payments to IACB for visitor fees collected on a monthly basis, payment to IACB shall occur no later than the 10th day of the following month. The check shall be sent to:

Name and Address for Contractor to Send Paperwork and Payments

Meridith Z. Stanton Director U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board 1849 C Street, NW

MS # 2528-MIB

Washington, DC 20240

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All monies collected by the Contractor and/or its employees are funds of the United States Government. As such, any fraudulent use, misappropriation, or theft of same will subject the Contractor and/or its employees to prosecution to the full extent of federal law.

Weekly Remittance Report

The Weekly Remittance Report contains two parts:

Part I - This information is obtained directly from the daily totals on the Z-tapes.

Part II - List all deposits made during the week, the date and the deposit ticket number.

Parts I and II must balance.

Employee Timesheets

Monthly Timesheet for Contractor Employees

Daily Timesheets of the contractor’s employee showing their working hours for each month shall be submitted via email at the end of the month to the COR. Timesheets are required to be signed by each employee and supervisor. Contractor can use their own timesheet format, but must include employee name, date and hours of work, and timesheet must be signed and dated by employee and supervisor.

Note: The IACB MPI is monitored via a security camera recording system in the public areas of the museum. IACB MPI reserves the right to review the security camera recordings to verify any discrepancies in time to verify the presence of the contractor’s employee.

Postage for Contractor Paperwork and Payments

Postage for all Contractor Paperwork and Payments shall be paid for and mailed from the contractor.

Postage shall not be paid with Museum Visitor Fees and shall not be paid by the Museum or sent through the museum.

Audits

The integrity of the admission fee collection program may be measured through unannounced audits by an independent company or the Department of the Interior, Inspector General. These audits can take the form of actual money or visitor audits, where visitors are stopped and asked to show the receipt they were issued at the front door. Access to funds in cash drawers shall be granted upon request to perform audits.

The government reserves the right and the contractor agrees to allow the Department of the Interior, Office of the Inspector General or an independent Certified Public Accountant (CPA) retained by the government conduct a formal audit of the contractor’s financial accounting records in performance of this contract at any time or at the conclusion of the contract as deemed necessary by the government. A copy of the audit will be provided to the contractor.

Criminal Misuse of Funds

Admission Fee technician should be informed by the Contractor that frequent reports of shortages in their accounts or cash drawers can be considered losses due to negligence, losses due to fraud, or losses due to wrongful conduct. The Contractor can be required to provide full recovery of these funds as well as other penalties imposed by law.

It is the policy of IACB that fraudulent or wrongful conduct will be vigorously prosecuted and full restitution of losses shall be attempted from the Contractor. This is the full responsibility of the IACB Director and their Contractor counterparts.

It is the duty of the Contractor and Contractor’s employee to report to the IACB Director matters of known, suspected, or alleged fraud, waste, or abuse. Such reports may be referred to the Departmental Inspector General by the IACB Director. If an audit, quality assurance, or internal control review indicates a financial irregularity associated with admission fee collections, such irregularity shall be reported immediately to the Department of the Interior, Inspector General and the Office of the Solicitor.

Background Checks

The Government reserves the right to require any person handling the funds to undergo a standard background check, which may include a criminal background check. Should the Government require a background check, the government will issue a contract modification to fund and pay for the cost of the background check.

Tribal Permits

Contractor shall obtain all necessary permits needed to conduct business on the Blackfeet Reservation within five (5) days upon award of contact. Contract may contact the Blackfeet Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) at (406) 338-7887, https://btero.com/, to obtain permits. The Blackfeet TERO is located at 65 Hospital Road, Browning, MT 59417.

Accounting, Record Keeping, and Audit

The contractor shall maintain such accounting records as described in this statement of work and, within 60 days of completion of the contract, the contractor shall submit to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) a public accountant’s report on its financial position, result of operations, and any other information as may be reasonably required by IACB. The cost of the public accountant’s report is the responsibility of the contractor. The selection of the auditor who performs the audit is that of the Government. The contractor shall maintain an evident and distinct separation of financial records between the activities it conducts relating to the fee operation at the museum and any other programs or records.

As such, the Contractor must establish a separate bank account into which only admission fees it collects at the Museum may be deposited. No other monies may be deposited into this account or co-mingled within the account.

Monthly Status Report

The contractor shall document the efforts performed in the completion of each task in a detailed Monthly Status Report due on or before the 10th day of the following month. Reporting requirements for the monthly status reports will be outlined at the initial kick-off meeting. The status report shall include, at a minimum:

Daily Timesheets of the person(s) working hours for the month.

Admission Fee daily/weekly close out sheets

Unless otherwise specified, the Government will have a maximum of ten working days from the day the draft deliverable is received to review the document, provide comments back to the contractor approve or disapprove the deliverable(s). The contractor will also have a maximum of ten working days from the day comments are received to incorporate all changes and submit the final deliverable to the Government.

All days identified below are intended to be workdays unless otherwise specified.

The contractor’s employees and other personnel shall be identified by a name tag with a contractors designation, when working on-site that shall distinguish such personnel from IACB employees.

Contractors employees and other personnel carrying out duties authorized hereunder shall not be considered to be Federal employees for any purposes whatsoever. However, this contract is interpreted as establishing the contractor as the fee Technician at the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana.

The IACB may conduct periodic audits of performance and financial accountability of contractor personnel, which may produce findings and recommendations to be implemented by the contractor.

Sections below entitled “Daily Accounting of Funds and Weekly Accounting of Funds” describe accounting records to be maintained and the method of collection that the contractor shall use to collect and account for the funds collected.

All cash register tapes are the property of IACB and must be sent to the IACB Director at the end of each month.

Contractor Requirements

In order to be considered for contract award, prospective contractors must demonstrate that they possess the necessary requirements and skills to perform. All interested parties must submit, in writing, a proposal to the undersigned Contracting Officer and must be received per instructions provided in the solicitation.

Proposals may be sent by e-mail (preferred), facsimile or US Mail. The US Department of the Interior takes no responsibility for proposals delivered after the deadline. Failure to have your proposal delivered by the time and date specified may result in your proposal being rejected.

Adequate Coverage

The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that a qualified individual is always available to collect the admission fees, four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, through September 30, 2026. In the event that the Contractor or its employee(s) fail to appear at the Museum for the designated times, the Contractor will not be paid for those times or occasions. An hourly rate will be established at the time of contract award based upon the total hours that the Museum will be open from date of contract award through September 30, 2026. This total number of hours will then be divided into the Contractor’s total fixed price for performing this service and the resulting “hourly” rate will be established.

There may be times when the museum may need to reduce hours or have days where the facility is closed.

The on-site staff will contact the contractor if that occurs and give as much notice as possible.

Contractor’s technical quote shall address the following:

1) Contractor’s experience in handling cash and in working with the public in a museum, visitor center, or similar facility. List where and when this experience was gained. (Technical Capabilities) List all relevant work experience that supports why your quote should be considered for award.

2) References that may be contacted to confirm Contractor’s experience (include telephone number, e-mail address or mailing address) – contractor shall provide a minimum of two (2) but no more than four (4) past performance references of contracts of a similar nature.

3) Contractor’s “business plan” for this requirement will addresses the following at a minimum:

a. how the Contractor plans to ensure that there will always be someone available to cover in the event of illness or other reason

b. how the cash drawer will be handled

c. how all daily funds and receipts will be accounted for and reconciled.

4) The Government reserves the right to require the selected Contractor be bonded. Although the Government has not yet made a determination as to whether or not bonding will be required, prospective Offerors should be aware that this might be a requirement. A bonding agency, if used, will conduct a background investigation of the selected contractor which might include a criminal background check. Contractor will be reimbursed for the cost of bonding.

5) All quotes must include the contractor’s written and signed certification that contractor and all of its employees are of legal age to work.

Place of Performance

Museum of the Plains Indian 19 Museum Loop Browning, Montana 59417

Points of Contacts

COR

Michele Hill Michele_Hill@ios.doi.gov Tel: (202) 208-3286

On site contact Renee Bear Medicine Email: Renee_BearMedicine@ios.doi.gov Tel: (406) 338-2230