JOFOC for FSS Extension - Redacted.pdf

Rev.:10/2020

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Ames Research Center (ARC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Contract Number NNA14AC46C, Financial Support Services

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is the Procurement Office located at Ames Research Center (ARC). This JOFOC is recorded in the ARC JOFOC log as JA-FY21-J01.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award a sole-source bi-lateral contract modification to extend Contract Number NNA14AC46C, for Financial Support Services (FSS), with The Logical-R Joint Venture, LLC (“Logical-R”), located at 16902 El Camino Real, Suite 3C, Houston, TX 77058-2621, for up to 18 months.

Contract Number NNA14AC46C was awarded on September 10, 2014 after a competitive procurement. It contained a 45-day phase-in period, a contract base period of two years, and three successive option periods of one-year each. Full contract performance began after phase-in on January 14, 2015 with an original contract expiration of January 13, 2020.

A Request for Deviation from FAR 17.204(e) and NFS 1817.204(e)(1) to extend the FSS contract was sought from and approved by the Assistant Administrator for Procurement on January 10, 2020, extending the original five-year period of performance (POP) of the FSS contract for an additional 12-month period (through January 13, 2021). The corresponding JOFOC was approved by the ARC Competition Advocate/Deputy Director on December 23, 2019.

This JOFOC documents the basis and authorities to increase the contract value and enter into an extension period for a maximum of 18 months. This extension will allow time for the competitive procurement, currently on-going, for the NASA Regional-wide contract vehicle for these services.

ARC has prepared a second Request for Deviation from FAR 17.204(e) and NFS 1817.204(e)(1), which corresponds with this JOFOC, to request approval to extend the FSS contract an additional 18 months, if all options are exercised. It is being routed to NASA Headquarters for approval by the Associate Administrator for Procurement.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

Under the current FSS contract, Logical-R provides resources management, financial management, program analysis and business integration, end user services support, special financial analysis, and contractor travel and training services to ARC and Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC).

The current FSS Contract is a hybrid contract consisting of a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) Core and an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) component under which FFP and Time and Materials (T&M) task orders are executed. The current total potential contract value is $63,352,270, including Phase-in ($113,469.00), Core services ($12,238,801), and the Maximum IDIQ value ($51,000,000).

The purpose of this JOFOC is to authorize increasing the contract value and the period of performance of the current FSS contract by up to 18 months to permit the uninterrupted performance of critical financial services at ARC while the NASA Regional-wide competitive procurement for financial services is completed. This competitive procurement is currently on-going.

The current ARC FSS Contract ends January 13, 2021; the proposed 18-month extension consists of a 12-month base period with a period of performance (POP) of January 14, 2021 to January 13, 2022, and two successive three-month option periods (January 14 to April 13, 2022, and April 14 to July 13, 2022, respectively).

The estimated value of the FFP Core services, base and option periods, required during the proposed 18-month contract extension is approximately $. This increase in the contract value to accommodate the additional Core services would result in a total of $ for Core requirements under the contract. The $ was derived by using historical actuals for similar services and applying a % percent escalation rate.

An increase to the maximum IDIQ value (i.e., ordering quantity) will also be required. The projected value of task orders anticipated to be issued during the potential 18-month extension is $; therefore, the maximum IDIQ value will need to be increased by approximately $ because there is ~$ remaining available under the current maximum IDIQ value for use. This $ increase for the extension period will result in the total maximum IDIQ value of the contract increasing to $.

Based upon the projected increases outlined above, the new total potential contract value will be ~$, which is an increase of $ from the current total potential contract value.

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C.

2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The rationale supporting the use of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), is described below.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), it is determined that the incumbent contractor, Logical-R, is the only responsible source that can reasonably satisfy the Government’s requirements during the potential 18 month extension of the FSS contract and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements during this period.

The mission critical work executed by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) at ARC is largely performed by the FSS Contractor; as such, it is not in a position to use civil servant labor to perform the requirements currently performed under the FSS contract.

Logical-R provides mission-critical services which include budget formulation, budget operations, budget execution, financial reporting services, labor processing and analysis and cost accounting, reimbursable agreements management services, quality assurance services, program planning and control, cost estimating, earned value management, business systems support services, financial management business information services, and special financial analyses.

Additionally, Appendix A of the NASA FAR Supplement was updated on May 5, 2020, to add A-102.8 identifying that these services will be regionalized with two buying locations.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been identified as the office responsible for supporting ARC and AFRC requirements. The MSFC competitive acquisition is currently on-going. In light of this direction and the status of the regionalized procurement, a separate competition and award for continuation of services for ARC and AFRC, potentially to a different contractor, would not be a reasonable course of action.

Currently, the same subject matter experts are administering daily operations under the current contract while collaborating with MSFC on the regional effort. A third effort to pursue a follow-on contract to the expiring ARC contract would be burdensome and result in a substantial duplication of efforts and costs which are not expected to be recovered through competition. The costs not only include those associated with competing a separate procurement for the extension period, but also costs and time associated with phase-in activities for a separate short-term contract, should award be made to a new, possibly different, contractor.

Continuity of operations is especially critical as the NASA FY21 appropriation was significantly reduced by Congress; ARC requires both historical insights and skilled financial analysts to position itself appropriately for anticipated reductions in its budget. The services provided by Logical-R are vital to this analysis and fiscal posturing.

Failure to extend the contract would result in disruption of critical services being provided to the Government. The lack of services would have harmful consequences for ARC and AFRC because of how critical they are to the daily operations of both Centers. As reflected in Sections 8 and 10 of this JOFOC, market research was conducted and while five companies responded to the Government synopsis on the Government Point of Entry (GPE) beta.sam.gov, none of the companies appear capable of providing all of the services required under the PWS (documented in Section 8.) with a starting performance period of January 14, 2021. Therefore, based upon the above, as well as the market research and the synopsis posted to the GPE beta.sam.gov, Logical-R is the only responsible source capable of providing the full scope of services required for a potential 18-month extension period.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (beta.sam.gov) was published on September 25, 2020, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source extension of Contract Number NNA14AC46C to Logical-R. The results of this synopsis are summarized in Section 10 below.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable.

As stated in paragraph 3 above, the 18-month contract extension would result in an increase to the Core value of the contract by $ and the IDIQ maximum value by $. The Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) for the extension period was based on historical costs on the FSS contract, labor hour estimates of the requirements to be performed during the extension period, the anticipated escalation rate for the extended period, and the task orders anticipated to be issued during the extension period.

The Contracting Officer will request and evaluate a proposal with certified cost and pricing data for the contract extension in accordance with FAR 15.402(a) and FAR 15.404. The proposal analysis will include a detailed cost element analysis and overall price analysis by comparing historical actuals of the proposed price for the Core CLINs and the task orders that will be executed at the beginning of the extension. The Government will prepare a Pre-negotiation Position Memorandum prior to the initiation of negotiations which will be approved in accordance with FAR 15.406. A Price Negotiation Memorandum (PNM) will be completed to document the settlement agreement after the conclusion of negotiations.

During the extension period(s), a similar proposal analysis discussed in this section will be performed on each task order before award and in accordance with FAR 15.404.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted:

The Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs) conducted market research in support of the decision to extend FSS Contract Number NNA14AC46C, based upon the COR’s technical knowledge of the current FSS requirements and those projected for the extension period.

As indicated in Section 6 above, a notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action was synopsized on the GPE per FAR Subpart 5.2 on September 25, 2020. The purpose of the synopsis was to (1) notify industry of NASA’s intent to extend the contract on a sole source basis and (2) solicit information from interested sources capable of providing the required services during the extended POP. Interested organizations were invited to submit their capabilities and qualifications in writing to the Contracting Officer. The synopsis was posted for 19 days with a response date of October 13, 2020. The Government received five responses to the posting of the synopsis.

The technical team reviewed the capability statements provided to determine whether the respondents described their capabilities in the major functions required in the Performance Work Statement (PWS): Resources Management, Financial Management, Program Analysis and Business Integration, Business Systems Support Services, and Special Financial Analyses. Also noted were those who had past performance in those areas.

The technical team determined that none of the companies were able to perform the entire scope of requirements under the Core portion of the PWS for the current FSS contract.

- One company was specialized; however, only capable of performing a small percentage of the work under the PWS.

- Three of the capabilities statements were vague and did not elaborate on the extent to which they could meet the PWS requirements.

- The final capabilities statement submitted reflects an IT maximization contractor; no examples/understanding of providing the requisite services was demonstrated.

Additionally, the Contracting Officer and CORs also conducted market research via various Government databases, including the NASA Vendor Database (NVD) and the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS).

- NVD: The Contracting Officer conducted initial market research using the NVD with the following search parameters: Key word “financial services”, small business, and NAICS code 541611. The NVD search returned 13 companies:

• B-Line Express

• Chiricahua-Logical JV

• CORRIN & KING BUSINESS STRATEGIES, LLC

• Dmason Financial LLC

• Kingstonville, LLC

• LAUNCHTECH, LLC

• Media Fusion, LLC

• MLE Financial

• PCI Productions, LLC

• Program Planning Professionals, Inc.

• Summit Technologies & Solutions, Inc.

The CO reviewed these companies’ websites and determined that they did not appear to be capable of providing the full scope of requirements under the PWS.

- DSBS: The Contracting Officer conducted market research using the DSBS with the following parameters: Key word “financial services”, small business, NAICS code 541611.

The results included in an additional 11 companies. Similar to above, the CO performed a cursory review of the companies’ websites and determined that they did not appear capable of providing all of the requirements in the FSS PWS.

In conclusion, market research demonstrated that although over 30 firms could provide financial services, only five responded to the Government synopsis, and none of the companies appear capable of providing all of the services required under the PWS.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the Contracting Officer to determine The Logical-R is the only responsible source able to perform the full breadth and depth of the requirements included in the potential 18 month extension without adversely impacting Government operations. It was noted that none of the companies demonstrated any intent to partner or subcontract with other companies to be able to successfully perform all of the requirements of the PWS.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

A notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action was synopsized on the GPE website (beta.sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above) on September 25,2020 .

The synopsis was posted for 19 days with a response date of October 13, 2020. The following five (5) companies responded to the Government synopsis:

CK Business Strategies, LLC 142 Brooke Village Dr.

Fredericksburg, VA 22405

DUNS 081141506

Cage 84WF9

Principle Info-Tech 9301 Southwest Freeway, Suite 475 Houston, TX 77074

DUNS 020486741

CAGE Code 75JJ7

Provision Financial Education, LLC 459 Main Street, #203 Trussville, AL 35173

DUNS: 089329661

CAGE Code: 8DL06

Sehlke Consulting Washington District of Columbia Cage Code: 6LRG6

DUNS: 078311932

Sonora & Associates LLC 1738 Elton Road, Suite 316 Silver Spring, MD 20903

DUNS: 964451210

CAGE: 957P7

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of 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:

As indicated above, NASA has started the competitive acquisition of a Regional-wide contract vehicle for financial services where ARC will obtain future financial support service requirements. Therefore, no additional efforts need to be undertaken by ARC to remove barriers to enable future competition. The Agency will also continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions for the same requirements.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES, CONTRACT NUMBER NNA14AC46C

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

Michael Rowland Technical Representative

Franco Cuevas Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer

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

Rima N. Zimmermann Contracting Officer

CONCURRENCES:

Sarah Pollock Procurement Officer

APPROVAL:

Stephen A. Shinn Competition Advocate, Office of the Chief Financial Officer