Enclosure 1 (Read First) - RFP.docx

RFP No. 4-B148-P-00032-00

ENCLOSURE NO. 1

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NO. 4-B148-P-00032-00

RFP INSTRUCTION COVER LETTER, INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS,

AND

NOTICES TO OFFERORS

Part I: RFP INSTRUCTION COVER LETTER

Financial Management and Procurement Services Procurement Department Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue, Bldg. 201 Lemont, IL 60439

Phone: 630-252-7049 E-Mail: cjohnston@anl.gov 05-16-2024

To All Prospective Offerors:

Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 4-B148-P-00032-00 based on Argonne National Laboratory Statement of Work for “Temporary Personnel Support,” dated 03/19/2024

UChicago Argonne, LLC, operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne” or “Laboratory”) under a prime contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has the responsibility of obtaining the service(s) which are the subject of this Request for Proposal (RFP). You are invited to submit a proposal for meeting this requirement. Your attention is directed to the enclosed documents which constitute requirements for this RFP and should be fully complied with or completed as indicated. Note that this is a request for proposal, not a contract/agreement. The Laboratory intends to issue an award resulting from this solicitation based on the Best Value/Trade-Off methodology.

For informational purposes only the amount spent for this requirement in the first two years of the incumbent contract was approximately $8M from July 2021 – June 2022 and $10M from July 2022 – June 2023. It should be understood that there is no guarantee and this RFP neither commits nor obligates the Laboratory to purchase any services under this RFP or its resulting agreement.

NOTICE OF TOTAL SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDE

A. Definition. “Small Business Concern,” as used in this clause, means a concern, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the size standards defined in this solicitation.

B. General. (1) Offers are solicited only from small business concerns. Offers received from concerns that are not small business concerns shall be considered non-responsive and will be rejected. (2) Any award resulting from this solicitation will be made to a small business concern.

SMALL BUSINESS SIZE STANDARDS

The applicable annual receipt criterion for a small business concern in this area is a concern with average annual receipts for the preceding three (3) years not exceeding $34 Million (NAICS CODE 561320).

Enclosure No. 1: RFP Instruction Cover Letter, Instructions for Preparation of Proposals, and Notices to Offerors.

Enclosure No. 2: Agreement Articles and General Provisions applicable to any resultant agreement, including:

2. Sample Labor-Hour Staff Augmentation Blanket Purchase Agreement (For Review Only-Do Not Complete).

2A. Appendix “A”, Argonne Terms and Conditions for Labor-Hour and Time and Materials Contracts, dated 02/01/2022.

2A.1. Appendix “A” Addendum 1 - List B, dated 03/19/2024.

2B. Appendix "B", Argonne Statement of Work entitled, “Temporary Personnel Support”, dated 03/19/2024.

2C. Appendix "C", Rate Schedule, dated TBD.

2D. Appendix "D-12”, Intellectual Property Provisions, Job Shop (Employee-Like Waiver), dated 12/12/2023.

2E. Appendix “E”, Low Risk Work by Contractors on the Argonne Site, Supplemental Conditions, (ANL-366L), dated 09/01/2023.

2F. Exhibit A, Specific Assignment (Sample).

2G. Privacy Act (APR 1984)/Training (2017), Argonne National Laboratory PD-132, dated 11/18/2021.

2H. PRIVACY ACT NOTIFICATION (APR 1984), Argonne National Laboratory PD-163, dated 09/25/2020.

2I. Facility Clearance (Aug 2016) Notices, PD-111, dated 10/29/2020.

2J.1. Control of Government Property – Contractor Requirements, PD-150, dated 10/17/2008.

2J.2. Argonne National Laboratory Contract Property Management Government Property Acquisition Record, ANL661, dated 7/26/2007.

2J.3. Property Management Self – Evaluation Questionnaire, ANL-642 (Complete and Return).

2K. Display of Hotline Poster(s) (NOV 2021), PD-14, dated 05/02/2022.

Enclosure No. 3: Pricing Schedule (Complete and Return).

Enclosure No. 4: Evaluation Criteria.

Enclosure No. 5: Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications (Complete, Sign, Date, and Return).

Enclosure No. 6: Organizational Conflict of Interest Disclosure/Representation, ANL-548 dated 5/97 (Complete, Sign, Date, and Return).

GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

A. Enclosure No. 1 provides instructions for preparation of your proposal.

B. Enclosure No. 2 represents the anticipated agreement format, including standard terms, provisions, and scope of work. This enclosure was provided for your information and review. Unless notified during any subsequent negotiations, these documents will be included in any resultant agreement. Any request for deviation or waiver from terms or conditions provided herein must be addressed in writing with your proposal. Your request must specify the particular term or condition that you desire altered, changed, or deleted. Identify the basis of your request. Such exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the Laboratory may result in rejection of your proposal(s) as unacceptable.

C. Enclosure No. 3 is the pricing format to be used when submitting your price proposal. Instructions are provided below.

D. Enclosure No. 4 sets forth proposal evaluation criteria and their relative importance.

E. Enclosure No. 5 is a questionnaire of Pre-Award Information and a Booklet of Representations and Certifications. This booklet must be completed in its entirety, signed, dated, and returned with your proposal. This booklet is considered essential, and no award will be issued without receipt of a properly executed booklet. Please note that your company must have an active registration on SAM.gov prior to award.

F. Enclosure No. 6 is an Organizational Conflicts of Interest Disclosure/Representation. The Laboratory has determined that the Department of Energy's (DOE's) regulations pertaining to Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) are applicable to the subject requirement. Enclosure No. 6 should be completed and returned with the proposal. The purpose of obtaining the above information is to ensure that there is an avoidance of situations: (1) which place an offeror in a position where its judgment may be biased because of any past, present, or currently planned interest, financial or otherwise, that the offeror may have which relates to the work to be performed pursuant to this solicitation, or (2) where the offeror's performance of such work may provide it with an unfair competitive advantage. (As used herein "offeror" means the proposer or any of its affiliates or proposed consultants or subcontractors of any tier.)

This RFP is not intended and shall not be construed to commit the Laboratory to pay any cost incurred in connection with any proposal or to procure or contract for any supplies/services. The Laboratory reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals if that is determined to be in the best interest of the Laboratory. Award may be made without discussion; and hence, your proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms.

Please acknowledge receipt of this RFP by return email to cjohnston@anl.gov.

Sincerely, Cully Johnston Procurement Official IV cjohnston@anl.gov

Continued on P. 4

Part II: INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

Proposal Submission Format:

The proposal shall be in three (3) parts: Part I – Business Management Proposal, Part II - Technical Proposal, and Part III – Cost/Price Proposal. Each part shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of and concurrently with evaluation of the other. In no instance shall Part I, Part II, and/or Part III be bound together or presented in such manner as to make them not severable. The Technical and Business Management Proposals shall not contain any reference to cost/pricing. The Technical Proposal must disclose your project approach in as much detail as possible including, but not limited to, the requirements of the Technical Proposal instructions.

Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the offeror's lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork, expensive visual and other presentation aids are neither necessary nor wanted. Proposals should be prepared with maximum economy, consistent with this particular procurement, to ensure that the resources of both offerors and Laboratory evaluators are efficiently utilized. EMAIL SUBMITTAL OF PROPOSAL IS REQUIRED. Proposals shall be e-mailed with each part attached as a separate file: one file for Part I - Business Management Proposal, a second file for Part II – Technical Proposal, and a third file for Part III – Cost/Price Proposal.

Offerors should indicate on the first page and on each subsequent page of their proposal only those pages, sections, paragraphs, or areas, which they consider to be proprietary (do not mark the entire proposal proprietary). Offerors should refer to the enclosure entitled “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications,” second page “Notice”. UChicago Argonne, LLC operator of Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne or Laboratory) assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked data and may use or disclose such data for any purpose.

Part I – Business/Management Proposal:

A. Financial Condition and Capability: The offeror's financial condition and adequacy of working capital will be evaluated to determine if adequate resources are available and committed to allow for successful performance. Contractor shall provide their most recently completed quarterly or yearly financial statements, inclusive of notes to the consolidated financial statements, in addition to any other supporting documentation that demonstrates the financial health or viability of offeror’s organization. Financial statements should contain prior period(s) information. Audited Financial Statements are preferred, but not required. Unaudited financial statements may result in additional inquiry and/or required supporting evidence. Preference will be given to offerors that demonstrate minimal financial risk in ability to successfully execute the agreement.

B. Acceptance Period of Proposal: Offeror shall provide a statement that the proposal will remain valid for acceptance for a minimum period of 120 days after the closing date set for receipt of proposals.

C. Authorized Representatives: Offeror shall provide the names, titles, email address, and telephone numbers of the person(s) authorized to negotiate on behalf of the offeror with the Laboratory.

D. Pre-Award Information. Include a fully completed and signed “Pre-Award Information and Booklet of Representations and Certifications” with your proposal. A copy of the Booklet is included as Enclosure No. 5 to this RFP. In addition, to be considered for award, Offeror must be registered in System for Award Management (https://www.sam.gov/) prior to submitting a proposal.

E. Organizational Conflicts of Interest. Review Enclosure No. 6, “Organizational Conflicts of Interest Disclosure/Representation” and provide a disclosure/representation, as appropriate, and a statement of any past (within the past 12 months), present, or currently planned financial, contractual, organizational, or other interests relating to the performance of work outlined in the Statement of Work.

F. Exceptions and Deviations. Offeror shall provide comments describing whether or not they accept proposed agreement, its schedule articles, statement of work and general/specific terms and conditions. The exceptions, deviations, or conditional assumptions taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation(s). Such exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions will not of themselves automatically cause a proposal to be deemed unacceptable to the Laboratory. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the Laboratory may result in rejection of your proposal(s) as unacceptable.

G. Property Management Questionnaire. Offeror shall complete and return the property management questionnaire and return it with its proposal.

Part II – Technical Proposal:

Part II of your proposal should address the manner in which your firm proposes to perform the requirements established in Appendix "B" - Statement of Work. It should address each of the technical factors described below. The Technical Proposal shall be separate from the documents required for the Cost/Price Proposal and Business Management Proposal. Do not intermingle these documents.

In order to facilitate review of proposals, the information presented shall follow the same format and arrangement sequence as outlined below.

A. Experience Performing Similar Work

1. Discuss the amount, relevance, and quality of experience of the services you propose to furnish in response to requirements as specified in Appendix “B”, Argonne National Laboratory, Statement of Work. Include in your discussion whether you have any experience with U.S. National Laboratories, other Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)-focused institutions, or other relevant organizations.

2. Provide references from three (3) clients for whom your firm has provided staffing services within the previous two (2) years, preferably clients with whom you have contracted personnel with similar experience as specified in Appendix “B”- SOW. Include the company name, address, telephone number, point of contact, and contract/agreement number for each reference.

B. Staffing Process

1. Discuss and provide details on how your firm sources, advertises for, and screens personnel.

2. Describe your firm’s strategies for employee retention (such as PTO, sick leave, training opportunities, other benefits).

3. Provide a detailed description of the process employed to verify personnel qualifications, including education, previous employment, and US Citizenship or authorization to work in the US.

4. There may be the potential for personnel employed by the successful offeror to need to gain access to classified information, which would require contractor employees to possess access authorizations; therefore, DEAR 952.204-2 – Security would be applicable. Advise if your firm has been granted a favorable Foreign Ownership, Control, Or Influence (FOCI) Determination by the Department of Energy (DOE) or Department of Defense (DOD). The Department of Energy (DOE) Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) program is designed to obtain information that indicates whether DOE offerors/bidders or contractors/subcontractors are owned, controlled, or influenced by foreign individuals, governments, or organizations, and whether that foreign involvement may pose an undue risk to the common defense and security.

2. Provide a detailed description of your process for employee timecard entry and Laboratory timecard review.

D. Transition In/Out Plan The Laboratory will expect a large number (300-350) of existing contract personnel to be transitioned or replaced with qualified replacements as part of the transition process. The Laboratory may provide the successful offeror with Task Orders and Suggested Candidates immediately upon award. Describe in detail what your transition-in and transition-out processes would be. Details should include, but not be limited to: how you coordinate with the personnel designated to transition to the agreement, how quickly you can finalize related paperwork processes, how quickly you can source qualified replacements if you choose not to transition the Laboratory’s suggested candidate, and how you would handle communication with personnel working remotely.

E. Reporting Provide samples of the following reports (excluding any personally identifiable information):

Utilization report (weekly) – Employee Name, Hours Worked, % of Not-To-Exceed Hours Worked, Total Dollars Invoiced

Employee Roster & Demographics Report (as requested): Emergency Contact Information, Phone, Email Address, Home Address, Retiree/Not Retired, Security Clearance (yes or no)

F. Travel

Describe your travel booking and, if applicable, reimbursement procedures.

G. Property Management

Describe your system for identifying, logging, and managing government-furnished property. Please include your procedure(s) for responding to annual verification requests, supplying the annual inventory report, and retrieving property from off-site and/or terminated employees. Please note that Laboratory-issued laptops will be identified with “US Government Property – Sensitive Item” and CSI number stickers.

Part III – Cost/Price Proposal:

A. Cost/Price: Each offeror is requested to submit a cost/price proposal in the format provided as Enclosure No 3 – Pricing Schedule. Propose a fully loaded pay range for each level of the Argonne Career Framework (RD 1 – RD 6, PT 1 – PT 6, and PA 1 – PA 6) for each year of the anticipated two-year contract for both Lab-sourced and Contractor-sourced workers. This will become Appendix “C” – Rate Schedule in a resulting contract. Argonne’s historical base pay rates have been provided as SOW enclosures as a reference.

B. G&A for Travel: If applicable, please provide your G&A rate for travel reimbursements.

Part III: NOTICES TO OFFERORS

I. Explanation to Prospective Offerors

Any prospective offeror desiring an explanation or interpretation of the solicitation, statement of work, etc. must request it in an email to cjohnston@anl.gov by 3:00PM CDT, Thursday, 05/23/2024, to allow a reply to be provided to all prospective offerors. Any information given to a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all prospective offerors as written addenda to the solicitation if such information is necessary for submission of an offer, or if the lack of the information would be prejudicial against any other prospective offeror. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of an agreement will not be binding.

II. Submission of Offers

A. Offers shall be submitted via e-mail to Cully Johnston at cjohnston@anl.gov by 2:00 PM CDT, Monday, June 3, 2024. Please reference the RFP number 4-B148-P-00032-00 in the subject line.

Facsimile, hand delivered, or mailed offers will not be accepted.

B. The first page of the proposal must show—

1. The solicitation number;

2. The name, address, email address, and telephone number of the offeror and

3. Name, title, and signature of person authorized to sign the proposal. Proposals signed by an agent should accompanied by evidence of that agent’s authority unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office.

C. Late Proposals and revisions.

Any proposal received at the email designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers will not be considered unless it is received before award is made and it is determined by Argonne to be in the best interest of the Laboratory.

D. Offerors may submit modifications to their proposals at any time before the solicitation closing date and time, and may submit modifications in response to an amendment, or to correct a mistake at any time before award.

E. Following the solicitation closing date, offerors may submit revised proposals only if requested or allowed by the Laboratory Procurement Official.

F. Proposals may be withdrawn by email notice received at any time before award.

III. Selection and Award

A. A proposal may be eliminated from consideration if the proposal is so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable (e.g. should the proposal not represent a reasonable initial effort to address itself to the essential requirements of the RFP or clearly demonstrate that the offeror does not understand the requirements of the RFP).

B. Offerors should be prepared to respond to requests by the Laboratory Procurement Official for oral presentations or written discussions, or both, facility surveys, and other information as may be necessary to assist in the detailed evaluation process. The Laboratory reserves the right, however, to 1) make a selection without discussion with any of the offerors; 2) reject any and all offers; and 3) waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. It is, therefore, emphasized that each initial offer should be submitted on the most favorable terms to the Laboratory that the offeror can submit.

C. The Laboratory may solicit, from available sources, experience data concerning an offeror’s past performance and will consider such information in its evaluation.

D. The Laboratory intends to award an agreement(s) resulting from this solicitation to one or more responsible offeror(s) whose proposal(s) conforms to this RFP and represents the best value after evaluation in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in Enclosure No. 4.

E. If the Laboratory Procurement Official determines that the number of proposals that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Laboratory Procurement Official may limit the number of proposals in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated proposals.

IV. Amendments To Solicitation

If this solicitation is amended, all terms and conditions that are not amended remain unchanged. Offerors shall acknowledge, in writing, receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by the date and time specified in the amendment(s).

V. Service Contract Labor Standards

All temporary personnel support requested under this agreement are expected to meet the criteria of bona fide professional/Learned Professional Exemption to the Service Contract Labor Standards.

VI. Proposal Preparation Cost

This Request for Proposal does not commit the Laboratory to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal, and such costs shall not be paid.

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