Notice of Funding Opportunity.docx

U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Business Development 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance Program

Funding Opportunity No. ONAA-7j-2019-01

U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Native American Affairs

7(j) Management and Technical Assistance Services

FY 2019

Funding Opportunity No.

ONAA-7j-2019-01

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is to invite proposals for funding from capable Applicants to eligible small business concerns under the U.S. Small Business Administration's Program to promote the development, success and long-term strength of small businesses providing specialized management and technical assistance, entrepreneurial education and training in delivering of vital business development services to Native American business communities across the country.

Opening Date: July 10, 2019 Closing Date: August 5, 2019

Proposals responding to this Funding Opportunity Announcement must be posted to www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, August 5, 2019. No other methods of submission will be permitted. Proposals submitted after the stipulated deadline will be rejected without being evaluated.

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS

Table of Contents

1.0 Section I – Funding Opportunity Description

Office of Native American Affairs Email: Shawn.Pensoneau@sba.gov

0. Introduction The Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) mission is to ensure that American Indian, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians (referred to collectively as Native American) seeking to create, develop and expand small businesses have full access to the business development and expansion tools available through the Agency’s entrepreneurial development, lending and procurement programs. ONAA’s overarching goal is to promote and support American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs. In recent years, ONAA has successfully sponsored and managed nation-wide contractor-led workshops and roundtables, co-sponsored agreements, interagency agreements, and tribal consultations; developed and distributed promotional materials; and attended and participated in national and regional economic development conferences as subject matter experts for these groups. Our vision for this program initiative is not to encourage duplication of what ONAA has traditionally done in the past, but to solicit new innovative approaches to meet the needs of these targeted groups at the microenterprise level of business ownership. The focus of this program initiative is to target specific Native American business operations in underserved markets throughout the country including underserved microenterprise Native American firms to further expand their business development offerings. Additionally, ONAA’s vision is to support microenterprises that serve their communities and the surrounding communities. Such empowerment will serve to maximize economic impact and improve quality of life for the targeted underserved communities.

Section 7(j) of the Small Business Act authorizes the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide management and technical assistance to eligible individuals and businesses. To be eligible for 7(j) services, a client must be: a socially and economically disadvantaged individual whose firm is a participant in the 8(a) Business Development Program; a business that is eligible to receive 8(a) contracts; or a business which qualifies as small under 13 CFR subpart 121 – Small Business size Regulations, and which is located in an urban or rural area with a high proportion of unemployed or low-income individuals, or which is owned by low-income individuals. The term “high proportion of unemployed” means the urban or rural county’s unemployment rate is not less than 140 percent of average unemployment rate for the United States or for the State in which such county is located, whichever is less, based on the most recent data available in the annual Local Area Unemployment Statistics report from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The term “low-income individual” means an individual whose family’s taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount established by the Bureau of Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, for determining poverty status.

0. Background The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Native American Affairs serves as the Agency’s small business resource to connect American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs to all Agency resources for business development and business expansion. This includes programs implemented by our Office of Capital Access, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, and Office of Disaster Assistance. The primary service delivery methods used by the Office of Native American Affairs in American Indians, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian business communities including contractor-led workshops, roundtables, so-sponsorship agreements, interagency agreements, tribal consultations, development and distribution of promotional materials, and attendance and participation in national and regional economic development conferences.

ONAA has consistently taken steps to bring business training and information sessions to local American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities through contractor-led empowerment and enterprise workshops. Such national contractor-led and ONAA’s Assistant Administrator roundtables, American Supplier Initiative, co-sponsoring agreements, interagency agreements, and tribal consultations include such as business empowerment workshops, (8a) Business Development Program assistance, emerging business assistance, Moneysmart workshops, incubator workshops, business matchmaking sessions and updates that pertain to these groups.

This funding opportunity seeks proposal of efforts that are unique and innovative in the substance of the assistance to be provided beneficiaries, and/or the methodology by which assistance is to be provided. Applicants may not propose efforts which merely duplicate any or all of SBA’s ongoing array of management and technical assistance service, in substance and/or method of delivery. Accordingly, SBA is seeking proposal of efforts that center around unique and innovative approaches to addressing the many challenges facing Native American firms and other 7(j) eligible firms today, including, but not limited to teaming with other businesses, mastering the processing of procuring a Federal government contract, reversing declines and re-energizing small businesses.

1.7 Changes or Cancellation

SBA reserves the right to amend or cancel this funding opportunity, in whole or in part, at the Agency’s discretion. Should SBA make material changes to this funding opportunity, the Agency will extend the Closing Date as necessary to afford Applicants sufficient opportunity to address such changes.

SBA expects to issue up to $700,000 in total under this announcement. SBA anticipates the amount of funding provided under each award will be in the range of $100,000. However, in the interest of promoting specialized services to areas with a population of Native Americans.

· Be a for-profit or not-for-profit entity (including, but not limited to small businesses, other-than small businesses, trade and professional associations, educational institutions, and Native Community Development Financial Institutions);

· Must have been in existence continually for at least the past three years;

· Must demonstrate substantive experience dealing with issues related to the Native American population and small businesses located in areas with population of Native Americans and,

· Must demonstrate that it has a track record and the capacity in providing assistance to Native American Micro Enterprise and small businesses.

3.3 Ineligible Applicants

The following organizations will automatically be considered ineligible and their applications will be rejected without being evaluated:

· Any entity that carries federal debt subject to offset;

· Any entity that is currently suspended, debarred or otherwise prohibited from receiving awards of contracts or grants from the federal government;

· Any entity that has an outstanding and unresolved material deficiency reported under that requirements of the Single Audit Act or OMB Circular A-133 within the past three years;

· Any entity that has had a 7j grant or cooperative agreement involuntarily terminated or non-renewed by SBA for cause within the past year;

· Any entity that has filed bankruptcy within the past five years;

· Any entity that proposes to serve as a pass-through and permit another organization to manage the day-to-day operations of the project; and/or

· Any organization that was convicted, or had an officer or agent acting on its behalf convicted, of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the past two years.

· Statement that the application is in response to Funding Opportunity No. ONAA-7j-2019-01;

· Applicant’s name and address;

· Applicant’s website addresses (if applicable);

· Name, telephone number, fax number, and email address for the Applicants designated point of contact; and

· Dollar amount of assistance being requested.

· Detailed description of the Applicant’s prior experience and present capacity to provide technical assistance and services to the Native American population, micro enterprise businesses, and other 7(j) eligible firms (see Section 5.2.1 for further guidance);

· Detailed description of the proposed technical assistance delivery methods, their means of implementation, and the anticipated project outcomes and the manner in which they will be evaluated (see Section 5.2.3 for further guidance);

· Identification of the project director and key management personnel and staff, including résumés (or position descriptions for unfilled positions). Résumés must include experience relevant to this project and may not be more than two pages in length. Copies of résumés must be included as attachments in accordance with Section 4.1.5 and do not count toward the 15-page limit (see Section 5.2.3 for further guidance);

· Identification of contractors and consultants and the manner in which they were selected (i.e., competitively or not-competitively). NOTE: No more than 50 percent of award funds may be expended on contractor and/or consultant costs. Consistent with the provisions of Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum, OMB M-18-18, dated June 20, 2018, and entitled, "Implementing Statutory Changes to the Micro-Purchase and the Simplified Acquisition Thresholds for Financial Assistance," SBA will allow recipients (and any subrecipients) of awards made under this funding opportunity to use a simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000 and a micro-purchase threshold of $10,000 for Federal grants administrative purposes. Sole source procurements that do not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $250,000) must maintain written justification for the noncompetitive procurement action. Otherwise, the non-Federal entity or applicant would be required to receive approval from SBA to enter into a procurement contract in excess of $250,000 in the absence of a competitive process;

· An organizational chart;

· A timeline of performance milestones for the 12-month Budget Period;

· Identification of any additional funds or in-kind resources that will be expended in furtherance of the project (if applicable), and

· Demographic and target market information on the Native American population to be served.

4.1.3 Budget Information

Budget information must be provided through the completion or submission of the following:

· Standard Form (SF) 424, Application for Federal Assistance;

· SF-424A, Budget Information (Non-Construction Programs);

· Budget Detail Worksheet (Attachments A-9 through A-12 to the SF-424A). An Applicant may substitute its own forms or spreadsheets in place of the Budget Detail Worksheet, provided it includes all the same cost elements/line items covered by Attachments A-9 through A-12;

· Budget narrative providing a brief, detailed explanation of the components of each cost element listed in the SF-424A;

4.1.4 Certifications, Forms and Assurances

Each Applicant must complete and submit the following form:

· SF-424(b), Assurances - this form is for certification that the organization will comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal laws, executive orders, regulations and policies governing the grant program. (As of February 2, 2019, all entities registering for All Awards or Federal Assistance only, will be required to review the Financial Assistance Representations and Certifications. These are a common set of certifications and representations required by Federal statutes or regulations in accordance with grants guidance under Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations. If you intend to apply for or are a recipient of a Federal grant or agreement, you must agree to the grants certifications and representations in the Representations and Certification section of your entry registration). Background for the Change: To streamline the data collection and burden associated with the submission of the SF-424B, OMB, in conjunction with the Federal assistance community, developed standard government-wide Certifications and Representations to be certified by the non-Federal entity when registering in SAM. The certification process consists of reviewing the Financial Assistance general Certifications and Representations during the registration process and attesting to their accuracy. Since registration in SAM is an eligibility requirement for Federal awards and the entity registration must be updated annually, Federal agencies will use the SAM entity registration information to verify recipient compliance with these award requirements. This will reduce the unnecessary, duplicative practice of agencies requesting certifications and representations with the submission of each financial assistance application.

4.1.5 Attachments and Exhibits

Along with the items discussed in the Technical Proposal and Budget Information sections, Applicants must attach copies of the following to its proposal (as applicable):

· Résumés of key personnel, position descriptions of key personnel, contracts and consulting agreements (include 3 quotes for all subcontracts between $10,000-$250k), letters of support, leases, conflict of interest policy;

· Copy of the Applicant’s Cost Policy Statement and;

· Copy of the Applicant’s current, government-wide indirect cost rate agreement (if the Applicant’s budget includes indirect costs). If the Applicant has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, it may instead elect to use the de minimis 10 percent indirect cost rate established under 2 CFR § 200.414(f).

· SF-3881, ACH Vendor/Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form. NOTE: Applicants must complete the “Payee Information” and “Financial Institution” sections only. The “Agency Information” section will be completed by SBA. This form requires a signature.

· Most recent A-133 audit report, referenced in 2 CFR § 200. The Applicant can submit Single Audit Act reports -. Otherwise, if the Applicant is not required by law to comply with the Single Audit Act, audited financial statements will suffice. Audited financial statements must be submitted with (90) days of receipt of the Notice of Award under this Funding Opportunity. UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE;

· Any other documentation the Applicant believes supports its proposal.

4.2 Submission Instructions

All proposals (narratives and forms) must be submitted electronically via the government-wide financial assistance portal www.grants.gov. NO OTHER FORMS OF SUBMISSION WILL BE ACCEPTED. All required forms are provided in the grants.gov application package for this funding opportunity. Specific instructions for obtaining, completing, and submitting an application via grants.gov, including animated tutorials, may be found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants.html.

In order to submit an application via grants.gov, an organization is first required to have a Unique Entity Identifier (formerly known as DUNS) number, be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM), and have a grants.gov username and password. The process for meeting these three pre-submission requirements may take several days or weeks to complete. Additionally, Applicants may have to download or upgrade their software in order to utilize grants.gov. In order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application, Applicants should not wait until the closing date to begin the application submission process. - Information about the grants.gov registration process can be found at http://www.grants.gov/help/help.jsp Applicants must register as organizations, not as individuals. Please note that organizations already registered with grants.gov do not need to re-register. However, all registered organizations must keep their SAM registration up-to-date. As part of the grants.gov registration process, an Applicant must designate one or more Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs). AORs are the only individuals who may submit applications to grants.gov on behalf of an organization. If an application is submitted by anyone other than a designated AOR, it will be rejected by grants.gov and cannot be considered for funding.

Once an application is submitted, it undergoes a validation process through which it will be accepted or rejected by the grants.gov system. The validation process may take between 24 to 48 hours to complete. Applicants should save and print written proof of an electronic submission made at grants.gov. Applicants can expect to receive multiple emails regarding the status of their submission. The first email will confirm receipt of the application. The second email will indicate that the application has been successfully validated by the system and assigned an SBA tracking number, or it has been rejected due to errors. An Applicant will receive a third email once SBA has downloaded its application from grants.gov for review in accordance with Section 5.3 below.

If grants.gov notifies an Applicant via email that its application contains an error, the Applicant must correct the noted error(s) before the system will accept and validate the application. Applicants that choose to submit on or close to the closing date are advised they may not receive email notification of an error with their applications until after the submission deadline, and thus will not have an opportunity to correct and resubmit their applications. APPLICATIONS THAT ARE REJECTED BY GRANTS.GOV WILL NOT BE FORWARDED TO SBA AND CANNOT BE CONSIDERED FOR FUNDING. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to verify that its submission was received and validated successfully at grants.gov. To check on the status of your application and see the date and time it was received, log on to grants.gov and click on the “Track My Application” link from the left-hand menu.

If you experience a technical difficulty with grants.gov (i.e., system problems or glitches with the operation of the grants.gov website itself) that you believe threatens your ability to submit your application, please (i) print any error message received; and (ii) call the grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726 for immediate assistance. Ensure that you obtain a case number regarding your communications with grants.gov. NOTE: Problems with an Applicant’s own computer system or equipment are not considered technical difficulties with grants.gov. Similarly, an Applicant’s failure to: (i) obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (formerly known as DUNS) or complete the SAM or grants.gov registration process; (ii) ensure that an AOR submits the application; or (iii) take note of and act upon an email from grants.gov rejecting its application due to errors, are not considered technical difficulties. A grants.gov technical difficulty is an issue occurring in connection with the operations of grants.gov itself, such as the temporary loss of service by grants.gov due to an unexpected volume of traffic or failure of information technology systems, both of which are rare occurrences.

Applicants should use the following link to obtain assistance in navigating grants.gov and access a list of useful resources: http://www.grants.gov//web/applicants.html.

If you have a question that is not addressed under the “Applicant FAQs,” try consulting the “Applicant User Guide” or contacting grants.gov via email at support@grants.gov or telephone at 1-800-518-4726. The grants.gov Contact Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

4.3 Required Proposal Submission Dates

Each Applicant is required to submit its proposal electronically via www.grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on XXXX XX, 2019. Because of the pre-conditions for submitting applications via grants.gov and the potential for encountering technical difficulties in using that site, Applicants are strongly encouraged to log on to grants.gov and review the submission instructions early. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE CLOSING DATE TO BEING THE SUBMISSION PROCESS. Applicants bear sole responsibility for ensuring their proposals are submitted and received before the closing date.

SBA will consider the date and time stamp on the validation generated by grants.gov as the official submission time. A PROPOSAL THAT IS NOT RECEIVED BY GRANTS.GOV BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY WILL BE REJECTED WITHOUT BEING EVALUATED, UNLESS THE APPLICANT CAN CLEARLY DEMOSTRATE THROUGH DOCUMENTAION OBTAINED FROM GRANTS.GOV THAT IT ATTEMPTED TO SUBMIT ITS PROPOSAL IN A TIMELY MANNER BUT WAS UNABLE TO DO SO SOLEY BECAUSE OF GRANTS.GOV SYSTEM ISSUES. Additionally, SBA will not accept any changes, additions, revisions or deletions to applications made after the closing date.

Applicants will be evaluated on their demonstrated ability to provide one-on-one management training and technical assistance to 8(a) and other 7(j) eligible firms. Applicants must provide adequate evidence and documentation, including specific examples, of their:

· Experience with, and capacity for, conducting management and technical assistance projects, including discussion of the number of years they have conducted such projects;

· Familiarity and expertise with assisting 8(a) and 7(j) eligible firms, including the number of firms assisted over the prior 3 years and the demonstrable effects of such assistance (e.g., increase in sales/revenues/contracts/number of employees experienced by assisted firms, etc.);

· Knowledge of, and capability for providing, management and technical assistance;

· Record of receiving other grants or contracts for the conduct of technical assistance projects, including the names of the awarding agencies, the grant or contract numbers, and the performance outcomes/results achieved; and

· Sources of capital, including a brief description of their strategies for raising such capital; and

· Responses/corrective actions to any qualified audit opinions, going concern paragraphs, or A-133 audit findings, per 2 CFR § 200.

· Identify all key management, staff and contractors/consultants, describe their expertise and their roles in conducting and overseeing the project, stipulate the amount of time they will devote to the project, and provide copies of résumés/position descriptions and an organizational chart;

· Identify all facilities and other physical resources that will utilized in furtherance of the proposed project, the hours of their operation (including any night and weekend availability), and provide copies of relevant deeds, leases, free space agreements, rental contracts, memoranda of understanding, etc.;

· Résumés of key personnel, position descriptions of key personnel, contracts and consulting agreements (include 3 quotes for all subcontracts between $10,000-$250k)and identify the employees or officials of the Applicant organization who will be responsible for overseeing and administering those agreements;

· Describe its financial management structure and internal controls and identify all staff members who will be responsible for financial recordkeeping, reporting, the receipt and expenditure of award funds, and addressing audit findings; and

· Provide a copy of its conflict of interest policy addressing, at a minimum, procedures for ensuring its employees, consultants and contractors do not assist 8(a) and 7(j) eligible firms in which they, their principals, or their immediate family members have a financial interest or fiduciary duty and for ensuring its employees, consultants and contractors do not use their role in the project as a means of marketing their outside services to project clients.

· Scope of the Native-American communities and geographic areas it intends to serve;

· Methods of outreach to 8(a) and 7(j) eligible firms;

· Number of 8(a) and 7(j) eligible firms it expects to assist;

· Number of meetings, etc, reports/updates. it expects to conduct, along with a list of the topics it intends to cover;

· Identification of the data elements it will collect from 8(a) and 7(j) eligible firms, the means of their collection, measurable outcomes, and the uses to which they will be applied;

· Clarity, accuracy, relevance, and ease of reportability of its evaluation methodology;

· Projected milestones or timeline of program accomplishments and activities; and

· Copies of agreements with, or letters or emails from, the above-listed types of organizations pledging to work with the Applicant in order to advance specific Office of Native American Affairs objectives.

Applicants will be evaluated on their ability and positioning to efficiently extend project services to Native American firms eligible to receive assistance under the 7(j) Program (see Section 8.1.1that discusses these firms in an economic manner). Applicants must demonstrate their:

· Experience in working with Native American firms and relationships with organizations representing the interests of the Native American population; and

· Proximity to or ability to reach Native American eligible 7(j) firms within their project service area.

· Experience in working with7(j) eligible firms and relationships with organizations representing the interests of such individuals; and

· Proximity to or ability to reach 7(j) eligible firms within their project service area.

All Applicants selected for awards will receive written notification. Applicants not selected for awards will not be notified. There will be no debriefing process for unsuccessful Applicants.

6.2 Administrative and National Policy Requirements

All successful Applicants will be required to comply with the requirements set forth in 15 U.S.C.A. § 636(j); 2 C.F.R. Part 200; 13 C.F.R. Part 124; the Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B); and the terms and conditions set forth in their Notices of Award. In addition, SBA may, from time to time, advise Recipients of awards made under this funding opportunity of new legal requirements and/or policy initiatives with which they must agree to comply.

6.3 Reporting

All Recipients are required to submit the reports identified below. SBA may withhold payment if reports are not received or are deemed inadequate. Failure to report in a timely manner will also be weighed against future applications for grant funding from the same organization and the exercise of any option periods. The reports provided by Recipients may be made public. In addition, SBA reserves the right to require Recipients to post these reports on their web sites.

Reports may be submitted electronically via e-mail or in hard copy form via mail or courier service to the Grant Officer’s Technical Representative.

7.0. Section VII - Agency Contacts

8.0. Section VIII - Other Information

8.1. Definitions

The following definitions apply to awards made under this funding opportunity (see 13 C.F.R. § 124.3 and 13 C.F.R. § 124.701-704 for additional definitions relating to the Management and Technical Assistance Program):

a) are substantive in nature and concern the formation, management, financing, and/or operation of a small business enterprise; AND

b) are specific to the needs of the business or individual; AND

c) require a signed SBA Form 641 or equivalent form that supports SBA’s management information database.

affected by its project.

The budget is the Applicant’s estimate of the total cost of performing the project for which funding is being requested under this funding opportunity during the applicable Budget Period. The budget is to be based upon the total amount of funds that will be devoted to the project, including Federal funds. All proposed costs reflected in the budget must be relevant to the conduct of the project and must be reasonable, allowable, and allocable under the applicable OMB Cost Principles, per 2 CFR § 200, and Agency policies.

All costs must be justified and itemized by unit cost in the Budget Narrative/Budget Detail Worksheet. All forms contained in the financial application package must be completed accurately and in full.

Enter the following information in the appropriate sections:

Section A - Budget Summary Column A: Enter Program Title Column B: Enter CFDA Code Section B – Budget Categories Complete lines 6a – 6k, entering amounts by budget category, labeling columns 1- 5 as follows:

1 – Federal 2 – Non-Federal Cash 3 – Non-Federal In-Kind 4 – Program Income 5 – Totals All amounts entered in this section must be expressed in terms of whole dollars. The itemization must reflect the total requirements for project funding from Federal resources.

Section C – Non-Federal Resources Refer to instructions on form.

Section D – Forecasted Cash Needs Refer to instructions on form.

Section E – Budget Estimates Refer to instructions on form.

Section F – Other Budget Information Direct Charges: Transfer the total direct charges from Section B, line 6i.

Indirect Charges: Transfer the total direct charges from Section B, line 6j.

Section G - Personnel List the name, title, salary for each employee who will be paid with project funds and the estimated amount of time each will devote to this project. NOTE: Fees, expenses, and the estimated amount of time to be devoted to the project for outside consultants/contractors belongs in the contractual line item, not here.

Section H - Fringe Benefits Leave blank if fringe benefits applicable to direct salaries and wages are treated as part of indirect costs in the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (ICRA). If your organization’s fringe benefit package is not included in your ICRA, list each component included as a fringe benefit.

Section I - Indirect Charges Enter the indirect cost rate, date, and Federal agency that issued your ICRA. If your organization does not have an approved ICRA, you must negotiate an ICRA with SBA in accordance with the applicable OMB Cost Principles or utilize the 10 percent de minimis rate (if eligible).

Section J - Justification of Costs All proposed costs require justification and narrative explanation.

Section K - Miscellaneous or Contingency Costs Leave blank. No miscellaneous or contingency costs are allowed.

Section L - Proposal Costs Leave blank. SBA will not pay any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal.

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