Sole Source JA_Stay Connected2.doc

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION CONTRACT ACTION FOR HQ USAF/A1SA IN SUPPORT OF ANG/AFR FAMILIES

1. IDENTIFICATION:

a. Requiring Agency: A1SA, 201 12th Street South, Suite 413, Arlington, VA 22202

b. Contracting Activity: AFDW/A7KS, 3 Brookley Ave, Box 94, Bolling AFB, DC 20032

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED: This action is a new requirement and will result in a Firm Fixed Price contract.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES: A1SA requests the following supplies and services in sustainment of the Air Force Airman and Family Services Stay Connected Kits initiative. Air Force Airman and Family Services Division/A1SA provides resources and support to family members of deployed active duty Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reservists to ensure mission readiness and the execution of their broad and diverse assignments of facilitating inter-governmental operational requirements.

Under the contemplated contract, Glory Be Collectibles will provide the following:

(1). Develop and ship 8,000 pre-assembled Stay Connected Kits to select Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard locations. Stay Connected Kits include books authored by Steve Bolt, President Glory Be Collectibles, accompanying hand puppets and resources. Additional items include: Stay Connected note cards/envelopes, journals, pens, cameras, mouse pads, and a sling bag. Deliveries of these items will occur between August 2009 and November 2009.

4. AUTHORITY:

FAR 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

5. CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION:

In order to support Airmen and their families during the increased deployment rotations HQ AF/A1SA Airman and Family Services Stay Connected Kits provide resources and tools to active duty Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve family members to keep in touch during the Airman’s time away form home. The Stay Connected Kit initiative provides young people and parents an avenue to keep connected during the separation. Items in the Stay Connected Kits help parents and children with deployment issues, keep in touch and remind each other to stay connected throughout the deployment.

In conjunction with HQ AF/A1SA, Glory Be Collectibles created a mnemonic for CONNECT that corresponds with the seven days of the week and Seven Ways to Stay CONNECTed while a parent is deployed: Converse; Open up; Notice; Nurture; Encourage; Create memories; Try new things. Stay Connected Kits provide resources to help families keep in touch during deployments and build relationships between family members throughout the separation.

The items in the Kits were developed with HQ AF/A1SA to tailor the Stay Connected message to Air Force families. Steve Bolt, President of Glory Be Collectibles authored the book Adventures of Brisky Bear and Trooper Dog and customized materials for the Air Force and activities to keep in touch while away. There is a toddler and school age version of the book; accompanying hand puppets, playing cards and additional resources provide ways for families to stay connected while apart. Glory Be Collectibles holds the exclusive rights to Brisky Bear and Trooper Dog and accompanying items.

In addition to the books and puppets, Glory Be produced Stay Connected Journals, Pens, Note Cards, Mouse Pads, and Cameras to include in the kits for children of deployed Airmen. Since these items were already produced for a prior Air Force order, no additional set up fee or development costs are incurred and the production time is significantly reduced that will ensure the acquisition of materials to meet the Stay Connected Kit initiative timeline.

Glory Be Collectibles has also produced similar items for the U.S. Army Child and Youth Services and understands the unique military culture and is able to meet the diverse needs and provide quality customer service.

6. EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: Four (4) sources were researched by utilizing the World Wide Web at the following URL’s: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com; http://www.kaplanco.com; www.militarychild.org; and www.glorybe.com. Meetings with Glory Be Collectibles and Lakeshore were established to review products, customization and pricing. Military Childhood Education Coalition and Kaplan were not able to provide specific items and were priced higher than the other two companies.

7. FAIR AND REASONABLE PRICE: The contracting officer will ensure all prices pertaining to this contract are determined fair and reasonable by reviewing historical pricing, published or using other acceptable means for pricing determination.

8. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH: Using the World Wide Web and price quotes from vendors it was determined that Glory Be Collectibles provides significant cost savings to the U.S. Government to produce, customize and deliver Stay Connected Kits to Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve locations around the world. A1SA will not incur additional set up or customization costs since Stay Connected Kit items were ordered in previous years. Customization by other vendors increased costs, production and delivery time.

9. LIST OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION: Lakeshore expressed interest in this acquisition

10. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION

The contracting officer’s signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12)).

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