FY23 JA SDVOSB Sole Source HTM (fully signed)_REDACTED.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL) Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) 5202 Presidents Court, Suite 103

Frederick, MD 21703

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition 6.302-5 – Authorized or required by statute

1. Contracting Activity:

This Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center - Frederick (SAC-F), on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy (VAAA).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This activity proposes to negotiate a non-competitive award (sole-source) with Kilda Group LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, for the procurement of work which includes direct support for the HTM Professional Development Program via program office support, competency development, and training support for the HTM Community. Contractor support will include the purchasing and/or development of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), Government-off-the-shelf (GOTS), and/or tailored COTS/GOTS training and competency development products. Contractor support will include training development and delivery. Training may include Contractor-led, government-led, and/or hybrid solutions. The period of performance is a 12-month base period with one 12-month option period.

September 15, 2023, to September 14, 2024 (Base period) September 15, 2024, to September 14, 2025 (Option period 1)

Estimated dollar value is $3,570,488.00 for two years.

3. Description of Services:

Office of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM Program Office) serves an HTM community comprised of VA Clinical Engineers/Biomedical Engineers (BMEs) and Biomedical Technicians/Biomedical Equipment Support Specialists (BESSs). Part of the support that the HTM Program Office provides to the HTM community is through the HTM Professional Development Program which provides competency development support to enable VA’s—and specifically VHA’s—mission. The Contractor provides direct support to the HTM Professional Development Program at the direction of the HTM Program Office Project Manager (PM).

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

4. Statutory Authority:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

§ 3304(a0(5) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-5 entitled, “Authorized or required by statute”. The applicable statute is Public Law 109- 461: “Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006” specifically, the “Veterans First Contracting Program” outlined in 38 USC § 8127(c).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

VAAR 819.7007 states explicitly, “A determination that only one SDVOSB can meet the requirement is not required,” and that using this authority, the following must be verified:

(1) The anticipated award price of the contract (including options) will not exceed $5 million; the estimated value is $5 million.

(2) The requirement will be synopsized in accordance with FAR part 5.

(3) The SDVOSB concern has been determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance; Kilda Group LLC is a registered and verified Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) with recent proven capabilities to perform the required services. Kilda Group has demonstrated proven past experience with the HTM community, most recently providing the same support for the past four years.

(4) In the estimation of the contracting officer, contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the Government. This determination will be based on a comparison of the proposed price to the Independent Government Cost Estimate, or other methods describe in FAR 15.404-1(b).

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applied.

IAW VAAR § 819.7007 Sole source awards to service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns (b), “The contracting officer’s determination whether to make a sole source award is a business decision wholly within the discretion of the contracting

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) officer. A determination that only one SDVOSB concern is available to meet the requirement is not required.” Market research was conducted as detailed in section 7 below; based on the market research information and consideration of the most appropriate acquisition strategy, the Contracting Officer determined a SDVOSB sole source was in the best interest of the Government.

A notice will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2.

7. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted, using Government sources. The Kilda Group has been determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance. They are registered and certified in the Small Business Administration (SBA) VetCert database (https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/) as a SDVOSB with the NAICS code for this requirement (611430 Professional and Management Development Training) which in accordance with Public Law 109-461 Section 502(c) meets the requirements of this statute to sole source to a SDVOSB. In addition, a review of their Representations and Certifications was conducted in the System for Award Management (SAM) and the Kilda Group represented that it is a small business and SDVOSB.

In addition, the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) was reviewed and FAPIIS shows no reports for Kilda that would indicate defective pricing, instances of contractor fault or recipient not-qualified, terminations for cause, default or material failure to comply, or non-responsibility of the contractor.

8. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

In accordance with Public Law 109-461, codified at 38 USC § 8127, in order to increase contracting opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans with service-connected disabilities, contracting officers of the VA are given specific statutory authority to award a contract to a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans using procedures other than competitive procedures (i.e. a “sole source” contract). The contracting officer may do so in accordance with VAAR 819.7007.

9. Listing of the sources, that expressed an interest in the acquisition.

Kilda Group, LLC 479 Jumpers Hole Road Ste 4 Severna Park, MD 21146

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) 5202 Presidents Court, Suite 103

Frederick, MD 21703

10. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

All future requirements will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Toward the expiration of this contract, consideration will be given as to whether the future acquisition should be competitive.

11. Certifications / Signatures.

Technical Representative Certification:

I certify that the foregoing justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Lindi Sylvester Contracting Officer Strategic Acquisition Center - Frederick (SAC-F)

Stacy Greber Contracting Officer Representative Pre Award PMS Program Manager

Contracting Officer Certification:

Pursuant to FAR 6.303-2(b)(12), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.