DOL-ETA-16-R-00103_Clarifications.pdf

1. Can an Offeror serve as a Subject Matter Expert on one contract proposal and as the lead Offeror on another contract proposal? Yes

2. Can an Offeror change the Base Hours totals for specific positions listed in the Price/Cost Schedule on page 4? Is there a maximum number of hours (annually) that can be included in this schedule? B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of RFP DOL- ETA-16-R-00103 provides the Government’s estimate. However, offerors are welcomed to provide their own labor mix as they see fit.

3. Can the positions listed in the Price/Cost Schedule be split? In others words, can multiple individuals or organizations split the hours for the positions such as the subject matter expert? Yes

4. Can veterans be included in the “primary under-served populations” identified on page 8? Can you explain why were veterans were not included in this list in the first place? The RFP is clear that “other groups” may be proposed (See page 8).

5. Is G and A allowed in the Price/Cost Schedule in this proposal? Yes. For Other Direct Costs.

6. Are institutions of higher education eligible to apply as the primary contractor?

The RFP calls for national intermediaries or a national consortia of intermediaries. Like other organizations, institutions of higher education may indicate how they meet RFP’s goal to award contracts to organizations that have national reach.

7. Can you please clarify with regards to the DOL solicitation DOL-ETA-16-R-00103 the dollar value of contract ceiling for each contract per year? No. Refer to B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of RFP DOL-ETA-16-R-00103 and answer to question #2.

8. How many years is the RFP for? The period of performance is 12 months from the date of contract award plus four (4) one-year options at the Government’s discretion.

9. It says on page 1 Size Standard of $7.5 million. Is this for the total grant and for all the years? Does each awardee (3 to 5 total) get $7.5 million or is it split amongst the awardees? The size standard provided represents the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be, to remain classified as a small business for SBA and federal contracting programs.

10. Is today the last day we can submit questions? This was a Government error. We accepted all requests for clarifications up to Thursday, August 11, 2016.

11. Can a SME be included in more than one proposal? Yes.

12. Can an organization be both a contractor and an opportunity partner? Yes.

13. In several places in the RFP the “opportunity partnerships” are defined strictly as new or existing apprenticeship sponsors (pg 6 paragraph #1, page 10 paragraph #1 and pg 15 paragraph #1), but in other places, “opportunity partnerships” are more broadly defined as including apprenticeship sponsors, community colleges, school districts, workforce investment areas, local chapters of a national organization, local unions, and community-based organizations (pg 6 bullet #1, pg 11 top of page, pg 15 first bullet). Could this please be clarified as to what the definition of “opportunity partnerships” includes? Opportunity partnerships will be comprised of new or existing registered apprenticeship sponsors committed to working with the contractor (and consortia of partners) to increase gender, racial, ethnic and other demographic diversity and inclusion in apprenticeships, where certain populations have traditionally been underrepresented. Pg 14 and 15 provide additional information on other organizations that can play a role in the opportunity partnership.

14. On page 12, the outcome table – when do the target outcome #s and % need to be identified? In the proposal or after award? Preliminary targets can be proposed in the application with additional benchmarking to take place based on the composition of opportunity partnerships and other factors determined by the contractor.

15. In section L.5.4 of the solicitation, the instructions for Factor 1 “Technical Approach” state that this section “should include at least three (3) and no more than five (5) Relevant Project References, all completed within the last (8) years.”

However, Relevant Project References are not included in the more detailed instructions for responding to Factor 1 in section L.5.6 of the solicitation. In section L.5.6 of the solicitation, the Relevant Project References are included in Factor 2 “Relevant Experience and National Scope.” Can the Department clarify where in the proposal applicants should include their Relevant Project Descriptions? The amendment will clarify that the offeror shall provide “ at least three (3) and no more than five (5) Relevant Project References, all completed within the last (8) years.” Under Factor 2 of L.5.6.

16. What partnership structure is required to be considered an opportunity partnership? Is a national network of a single type of organization (i.e., industry association) sufficient, or are other partners required?

a. For a regional Opportunity Partnership, must it include multiple types of stakeholders and multiple industries? Opportunity partnerships will be comprised of new or existing registered apprenticeship sponsors committed to working with the contractor (and consortia of partners) to increase gender, racial, ethnic and other demographic diversity and inclusion in apprenticeships, where certain populations have traditionally been underrepresented. Page 14 and 15 provide additional information on other organizations that can play a role in the opportunity partnership.

17. On page 25, the Department lists 20 meetings per year for one contractor staff personnel; on page 28, the Department lists a number of meetings with 1-2 contractor staff personnel, and some that also include 1-3 SMEs. Can the Department provide more detail about the total number of trips required for OA meetings? Are all of the meetings listed on pgs. 28-29 OA meetings, or are some of these meetings designed by the contractor?

a. Is the travel budget intended only to cover these meetings, or is it also intended for contractor staff and SMEs to travel to our Opportunity Partnerships?

The travel budget in total should cover the cost of 20 meetings per year for one contractor staff personnel which includes meetings for DOL specific events.

18. Can member organizations of the Opportunity Partnership serve as contractors as, for example, a facilitator role? Yes.

19. Can the Department confirm that this initiative relates to proposed, emerging, and established apprenticeship programs? Yes.

20. Task 1 includes “Identification of a panel of experts to review progress and identify best practices generated from identified opportunity partnerships” (pg.

14); can the Department clarify whether this is the Subject Matter Experts engaged under Task 3 or if this is a separate group of experts? It may be the SME or other experts from the opportunity partnership.

21. In the Price/Cost Schedule (pg. 4), there are lines for both Senior SME and SME;

however Senior SME is not a personnel position described in sections H.6.1 and H.6.2 of the solicitation. Can the Department clarify the difference between a Senior SME and a SME? This amendment will remove the labor category Senior SME and combine those hours to the SME CLIN. of B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of

RFP DOL-ETA-16-R-00103.

22. Marketing Specialist is described as a Personnel position in section H.6.2 of the solicitation but is not located in the Price/Cost Schedule. Can the Department clarify whether or not they expect a Marketing Specialist to be included on the project team? This amendment will remove the position description for Marketing Specialist in H.6.2.

23. Can the Department confirm that applicants may propose to serve more than one underrepresented population in their proposals (for example, women and people of color and low income individuals, etc.)? Yes.

24. In multiple places, the solicitation refers to 6 tasks (page 58, 61, 63) but in Tasks Section C4, the solicitation only lists 5 Tasks. Can the Department clarify how many tasks there are? The correct number of tasks is 5.

25. Please clarify if a Special Items CLIN description will be included for Industry trade partners fees or subcontracts to Employers? Yes.

26. We would like to to determine/confirm the time period and funding parameters for this contract.

In an earlier DOL/ETA Request for Information regarding the Equity Partners to Increase Opportunities in Registered Apprenticeship notice, we saw that the OA proposed to reserve approximately $15 million over 3 years (approximately $5 million annually to award and support multiple contracts to national workforce intermediaries....) The period of performance is 12 months from the date of contract award plus four (4) one-year options at the Government’s discretion

27. Is this funding information still accurate? B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of RFP DOL- ETA-16-R-00103 provides the Government’s estimate. However, offerors are welcomed to provide their own labor mix as they see fit.

28. Is the work we propose limited to one year? Yes, the base response should be for what can be accomplished in the first 12 months from the date of contract award. Up to four (4) one-year options may be made available at the Government’s discretion.

29. Can NC A&T submit as lead application in the proposal? This procurement is an unrestricted “full and open” competition.

30. Can a national trade non-profit that is industry specific (in particular, the SHARE organization- share.org) be considered a "national trade organization" as per the RFP? Yes.

31. Deliverables under 5. On pg 23 specifies: “Disseminate a series (min. of 3) of case studies/fact sheets highlighting the best practices learned…”: Could you please clarify the definition of ‘case studies’: does this mean writing up the experiences of three different opportunity partners (that are new or existing apprenticeship sponsors) or can this mean highlighting three specific approaches (such as new recruitment strategies; use of data; screening for support services) across different opportunity partners? Both would be acceptable types of case http://share.org/ studies, those developed based on partnership experiences as well as new approaches.

32. I did not see where the past performance questionnaire listed on page 56 can be located? The past performance questionnaire was provided with the solicitation on FBO dated 7/27/16.

33. For the past performance recommendations – can they be from local private foundations or local governments as well as the federal government? Refer to L.5.5 Instructions for Pricing Response and Past Performance of this RFP.

34. What it the total maximum amount of the contract? The Government cannot disclose this.

35. Was there an RFI process prior to release of the RFP? If so, what organizations responded? An RFI was posted on May 26, 2016.

36. Regarding Outcomes on page 12 of the RFP: Should these outcome targets be included in the proposal that is submitted on August 26 at 4:00pm? Preliminary targets can be proposed in the application with additional benchmarking to take place based on the composition of opportunity partnerships and other factors determined by the contractor.

37. On page 30 of the RFP, it says "...If the Contractor chooses to perform the work on this project through other staff structure, evidence of how that staffing structure will provide Contractor with the capability to complete the work to be performed much be provided." If the contractor sees the need to modify the staffing structure to include other positions or to allocate a portion of these positions to consultants, what information must be included as part of the justification? B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of RFP DOL-ETA-16-R-00103 provides the Government’s estimate. However, offerors are welcomed to provide their own labor mix as they see fit.

38. What is the criteria for a "qualified vendor" ? Where is this criteria located?

National intermediaries or a national consortia of Intermediaries

39. Can the vendor submit a proposal and partner with other vendors on their proposal submissions? Yes.

40. What is the total maximum annual dollar amount and number of contracts to be awarded, as well as the maximum annual amount for each contract? The Government cannot disclose this.

41. There was an RFI process prior to the release of this RFP. Is there publicly available information on what organizations responded and what their responses were? May the list submitted after the contract is awarded? No.

42. For consortia proposals, does the $7.5 million size standard apply to the lead contractor's annual revenue or the annual revenue of all contractors' and subcontractors' combined? The size standard provided represents the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be, to remain classified as a small business for SBA and federal contracting programs.

43. Do proposals serving underserved communities that are not specifically comprised of women, people of color, and/or people with disabilities (those explicitly mentioned in the RFP) qualify? For example, would an organization serving veterans, some of whom are women and ethnic minorities, stand to be awarded a contract, either as the sole offeror or as part of a partnership? The RFP lists a number of target groups and also notes that applicants may propose other groups.

44. The solicitation states that the procurement is a “full and open competition,” but the transmittal letter sets a size standard of $7.5 million. The listing at fbo.gov states explicitly that the procurement is not a small business set-aside. Is that an error/omission? If not, could you please explain the low size standard in the transmittal letter? The size standard provided represents the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be, to remain classified as a small business for SBA and federal contracting programs.

45. Are the base hours within categories in the Price Schedule on p. 4 negotiable?

B.2 Price/Cost Schedule of RFP DOL-ETA-16-R-00103 provides the Government’s estimate. However, offerors are welcomed to provide their own labor mix as they see fit.