Portable Assistance PA-OSBDDC-2018-06.pdf

U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Small Business Development Centers

Portable Assistance Program Funding Opportunity No. OSBDC-2018-06

PORTABLE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

FY 2018

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NO.

OSBDC-2018-06

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity is to invite proposals for funding from entities currently funded by SBA as a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Lead Center. Each proposal must describe recent, serious economic conditions resulting from diminished business or government operations within a discrete area served by an SBDC network. Proposals must include detailed plans to deliver technical assistance to the affected area with corresponding objectives and milestones to be accomplished. Only applications from SBDC Lead Centers will be considered for funding.

Opening Date: April 24, 2018

Closing Date: June 8, 2018

Proposals responding to this program must be posted to www.grants.gov by 4:00 PM Eastern Time, June 8, 2018. No other methods of submission will be permitted. Proposals submitted after the stipulated deadline will be rejected without being evaluated.

http://www.grants.gov/

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS

Table of Contents

1.0 Section I – Funding Opportunity Description

1.1. Program Overview

1.2 Introduction

1.3 Background

1.4 Purpose

1.5 Leveraging of Resources

1.6 SBA Involvement and Oversight

1.7 Changes or Cancellation

2.0 Section II – Award Information

2.1 Estimated Funding

2.2 Expected Number of Awards

2.3 Period of Performance/Budget Periods

2.4 Funding Information

2.5 Funding Instrument

2.6 Matching Requirement

3.0 Section III – Eligibility Information

3.1 General

3.3 Ineligible Applicants

4.0 Section IV – Application and Submission Information

4.1 Application Instructions

4.2 Submission Instructions

4.3 Required Proposal Submission Dates

4.4 Option Year Exercise Request Instructions

5.0 Section V - Application Review Information

5.1 General

5.2 Evaluation Criteria

5.3 Review and Selection Process

6.0. Section VI - Award Administration Information

6.1. Award Notification

6.2 Administrative and National Policy Requirements

6.3 Reporting

7.0 Section VII - Agency Contacts

7.1 Portable Assistance Program Point of Contact

7.2 Financial/Grants Management Point of Contact

7.3 Grants.gov Technical Support

8.0 Section VIII - Other Information

8.1 Definitions

8.2 Instructions

8.3 Advance Understandings

8.4 Shared Information

1.0 Section I – Funding Opportunity Description

1.1. Program Overview

1.1.1. Federal Agency Name U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

1.1.2. Funding Opportunity Title Portable Assistance Program

1.1.3. Announcement Type Initial

1.1.4. Funding Opportunity Number: Funding Opportunity No. OSBDC-2018-06

1.1.5. CDFA Number 59.037

1.1.6. Closing Date for Submissions: June 8, 2018, 4:00 PM Eastern Time

1.1.7. Authority: Section 21(a)(4)(C)(viii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. § 648(a)(4)(viii))

1.1.8. Duration of Authority: One Year

1.1.9. Funding Instrument: Cooperative Agreement

1.1.10. Period of Funding: Funding is for a twelve month period

1.1.11. Award Amount/Funding Range: A total amount of approximately$1,000,000 in funding is available for this program. SBA expects to make 10 awards of not more than $100,000 per award. There is no matching fund requirement.

Multiple awards to one SBDC in the same funding year are allowable provided the purpose of each project is separate and distinct.

1.1.12. Project Duration: Awards will be made for a project period of twelve months.

1.1.13. Project Starting Date: Within 30 calendar days of the date of award.

1.1.14. Proposal Evaluation: Proposals will be reviewed for sufficiency as detailed in Section 5.0. SBA may ask Applicants for clarification of the technical and cost aspects of their proposals. This must not be construed as a commitment to fund the proposed effort.

1.1.15. Agency Programmatic Point of

Contact:

Small Business Administration, Office of Small Business Development Centers, Tel: (202) 205-

6766. Email: HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov

1.2 Introduction

SBA seeks to make grants under the SBDC Portable Assistance Project to SBDC Lead Centers serving economically distressed areas. Projects under this award must provide technical assistance and/or training services to small businesses in communities that are economically impacted as a result of a recent business or government facility down-sizing or closing, known as a “Qualifying Event.” The Qualifying Event(s) must demonstrate negative impacts of job losses or small business instability in the SBDC Service Area. The goals and objectives of a successful application must demonstrate an increase in small business success and viability through such measures as job creation and retention, increases in sales, business starts, and capital infusion.

SBA is particularly interested in collaborative efforts (community, regional, statewide, industry sector, etc.) that may serve as best practices and models of such small business assistance. Applicants are encouraged to design and develop innovative programs and services to address the purpose of this Project. Portable Assistance projects must be aimed generally at helping current and prospective small businesses in an area affected by a Qualifying Event, with a scope of work comprising a general project to boost entrepreneurship in the affected area. Efforts funded under this announcement may also produce products and methodologies that can be replicated by SBDCs in other locations nationwide.

1.3 Background

Since its inception in 1953, SBA has served to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small businesses. While SBA is best known for its financial support of small businesses through its lending programs, the Agency also plays a critical role in providing funding to organizations that deliver technical assistance in the form of counseling and training to small business concerns and nascent entrepreneurs in order to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity and management improvement. The mission of SBA’s Office of Small Business Development Centers (OSBDC), which bears responsibility for administering the Portable Assistance Program, is to provide assistance to the small business community by linking the resources of federal, state and local governments with the resources of the educational community and the private sector. In partnership with SBA’s OSBDC and district offices, the SBDCs develop programs and provide business management and other services that enhance the economic development goals and objectives of their respective states, their local funding partners and SBA.

mailto:HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov

1.4 Purpose

SBA intends to solicit, evaluate and fund eligible applications from SBDC Lead Centers for Portable Assistance awards. The funded projects will enable awardees to implement projects which are best suited to provide technical assistance to their respective small business communities. The purpose of each project must be to mitigate the effects of job losses and other negative effects of business and/or government closings and downsizings within each respective SBDC Service Area.

Each application for a Portable Assistance award must stipulate in their cover letter that they are proposing services for either a “Single Year Project” or a “Multi-Year Project “.

The Single Year Project follows the process detailed herein with the exception that SBA may, at its discretion, decide that only Multi-Year Projects may be awarded. Multi-Year Projects will follow the evaluation process described within this funding funding opportunity with the following enhancements:

Project plans must include a scope of work to include 2 option years. The package should include detailed implementation and impact timelines commensurate with a year by year execution and performance of the award.

The evaluation will include a weighted scoring of the anticipated impact.

The determination of whether or not the OSBDC will exercise contract option years will include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of the following:

o Progress on planned performance and outcomes;

o Program implementation, execution, and deployment of resources; and o Timeliness and completeness of reporting.

1.5 Leveraging of Resources

Applicants selected for awards under this Announcement are required to maximize their efforts to leverage SBA funding by working in conjunction with:

SBA’s District Offices;

Small business development programs and activities of other federal, state, local and tribal governments;

SBA resource partners such as SCORE, other Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, 7(j) Technical Assistance providers, Small Business Investment Companies, Certified Development Companies, and SBA lenders;

Universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education; and

Private organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade and industry groups and associations.

1.6 SBA Involvement and Oversight

The Portable Assistance Program is managed by the designated Grants Officer Representative (GOR) within the Office of Small Business Development Centers at SBA Headquarters. The Program Manager will be responsible for overall monitoring and oversight of a Portable Assistance Program award Recipient, including compliance with the terms of the Cooperative Agreement. A designated Grants Officer within the Office of Grants Management (OGM) will be responsible for issuing the Notice of Award, making modifications to the award, and processing payments.

1.7 Changes or Cancellation

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

2.0 Section II – Award Information

2.1 Estimated Funding

SBA expects to issue up to $1,000,000 in awards under this Announcement. The amount of funding provided under each award will be not more than $100,000 per award.

2.2 Expected Number of Awards

SBA anticipates making at least 10 awards under this Announcement.

2.3 Period of Performance/Budget Periods

Single Year Project awards will be made for a one year period of performance. Multi- Year Project awards will be made for a one year period with two exercisable option years.

2.4 Funding Information

Funds provided under the Portable Assistance Program must be used solely for the purposes stipulated in this Announcement and the Notice of Award and may not be commingled with any other monies. All costs proposed in an Applicant’s budget must meet the tests of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness set forth in 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

SBA will not reimburse Applicants for their proposal preparation costs, but Applicants may request pre-award costs. Pre-award costs must directly relate to the conduct of the project and meet the tests of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness.

2.5 Funding Instrument

The funding instrument is a Cooperative Agreement.

2.6 Matching Requirement

There is no matching requirement for this award.

3.0 Section III – Eligibility Information

3.1 General

An organization may submit more than one proposal in response to this Announcement, provided that the purpose of each project is separate and distinct.

3.2 Eligible Applicants

To be eligible for this funding opportunity an applicant must be an existing SBDC Lead Center currently funded by SBA.

The SBDC Lead Center must:

o be an accredited SBDC under § 21(k)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

§ 648(k)(2)).

o provide documentation of specific, eligible Qualifying Event(s) relevant to the proposed area of service. See Section 8.1, Definitions.

3.3 Ineligible Applicants

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

Any organization NOT a currently funded and not an accredited SBDC Lead Center;

Any organization currently having an outstanding, unresolved financial obligation to any Federal agency;

Any organization that is currently suspended, debarred or otherwise prohibited from receiving awards of contracts or grants from the Federal Government;

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

Any organization having any unresolved non-compliant condition within SBA program guidelines occurring while administering or implementing any SBA program;

Any organization that has had an SBDC cooperative agreement involuntarily terminated or non-renewed by SBA for cause within the past year;

Any organization that has filed for bankruptcy within the past five years; and/or

Any organization that proposes to serve as a pass-through and permit another organization to manage the day-to-day operations of the project.

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.

4.0 Section IV – Application and Submission Information

4.1 Application Instructions

Applications must consist of the following elements: (i) a cover letter; (ii) Table of Contents (iii) a technical proposal in MS Word format; (iv) budget information; (v) certifications, forms and assurances; and (vi) attachments and exhibits. To retrieve these forms, use the hyperlink provided (SBDC Forms and Worksheets) which will direct you to the appropriate location on the OSBDC webpage or insert the following URL into your web browser and click on the “SBDC Grantee Forms and Worksheets” heading: https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/osbdc/resources.

4.1.1 Cover Letter

The first page of each application must be a cover letter which includes the following information:

Statement that the application is in response to the Portable Assistance Funding Opportunity, stipulating the announcement number;

Indicate either “Single Year” or “Multi-Year Project,” as applicable;

Applicant’s name and address;

Applicant’s website address (if applicable);

Name, telephone number, fax number, and email address for the Applicant’s designated point of contact; and

Dollar amount of assistance being requested.

4.1.2 Technical Proposal (not to exceed 15 pages)

The technical proposal serves as the narrative blueprint for the Applicant’s planned project and must include the following information:

Detailed description of the Qualifying Event including the following: entity name(s), location, date(s) of event (MM/YYYY), nature of event (e.g. layoff, closure), quantitative description of event (e.g. number of jobs impacted), and references to support documents which are included as attachments.

Detailed description of the Applicant’s past experience and present capacity to provide assistance to small business (see Section 5.2.1 for further guidance).

https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/osbdc/resources

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 5.2.2 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 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 non-competitively). NOTE: Copies of contracts and consulting agreements (either signed or samples as applicable) must be included as attachments in accordance with Section 4.1.5 and do not count toward the page limit (see Section 5.2.3 for further guidance).

An organizational chart showing the project and its key personnel in relation to the recipient organization.

A timeline describing performance milestones for each twelve-month Budget Period using a template entitled “OSBDC Planned Milestones Worksheet” available at the SBDC forms website. The Lead Center must identify the cumulative network goals and individual service center goals for this proposed project. Core metrics must include long-term clients, new business starts, and capital infusion, while additional metrics such as jobs created and retained, contracts awarded, and others may be included for evaluation. For “Multi-Year Projects,” include a separate milestones worksheet for each respective year as well as one cumulative worksheet for the entire 3 year span.

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 Worksheets (These include: Key Personnel List, Direct Cost Budget Worksheet and Indirect Cost Worksheet. 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. The Key Personnel List should indicate the percent of time for each position allocated to the project. The total time allocated, including other projects, should not exceed 100%.)

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

Copy of the Applicant’s Cost Policy Statement

Copy of the Applicant’s current, government-wide indirect cost rate agreement (if the Applicant’s budget includes indirect costs). If the Applicant does not have such an agreement, it must propose an indirect cost rate in accordance with the procedures set forth in2 C.F.R. Part 200 Appendices III-V or accept the 10 percent de minimis rate established under 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f).

For “Multi-Year Programs,” this Budget Information package must be provided for evaluation concurrently with each option year request. See Option Year Exercise Request Instructions, Section 4.4.

4.1.4 Certifications, Forms and Assurances

Each Applicant must complete and submit the following forms. The applicant can note the documents provided in the CORE award.

SBA Form 1623, Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters

SBA Form 1711, Certification Regarding Lobbying

SF-LLL , Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace Requirements

SF-424B, Assurances for Non-Construction Programs

SF 3881, ACH Vendor/ Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form

Tax Identification Documentation issued by the Internal Revenue Service

Letter from the Applicant’s Auditor, CPA, Treasurer, Comptroller, CFO or similarly qualified individual certifying that the organization’s financial management system currently meets the requirements of 2 C.F.R. § 200.302

4.1.5 Attachments and Exhibits

Each Applicant must attach copies of the following to its proposal (as applicable):

Résumés, position descriptions, contracts, consulting agreements, letters of support, leases, conflict of interest policy, and Cost Policy Statement

Most recent A-133 audit report. If the Applicant is not subject to the requirements of the Single Audit Act, it must instead submit a copy of its most recent audited financial statement; 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/learn-grants.html.

In order to submit an application via grants.gov, an organization is first required to have a DUNS number, be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM), and http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants.html have a grants.gov username and password. The process for meeting these three pre-submission requirements may take several weeks to complete. Additionally, Applicants may have to download or upgrade their software in order to utilize grants.gov.

Applicants should not wait until the closing date to begin the submission process in order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application.

Information about the grants.gov registration process can be found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html. 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 24 to 48 hours to complete. Applicants are advised to 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 either 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 http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html 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 DUNS number 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 may use the following link to obtain assistance in navigating grants.gov and access a list of useful resources: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.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 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 8, 2018. 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 BEGIN 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 Announcement will be rejected without being evaluated, unless the Applicant can clearly demonstrate through documentation obtained from grants.gov that it attempted to submit its proposal in a timely manner but was unable to do so solely because of grants.gov systems issues. Additionally, SBA will not accept any unsolicited changes, additions, revisions, or deletions to applications made after the closing date.

Applicants should save and print written proof of an electronic submission made at grants.gov. If problems occur while using grants.gov, the applicant is advised to print any error message received and contact grants.gov for immediate assistance.

Applicants may obtain advice and assistance with the grants.gov submission process by visiting http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html or by calling 1-800-518-4726.

4.4 Option Year Exercise Request Instructions

Only those applicants receiving a Notice of Award for a “Multi-Year Program” award will be eligible to request an option year. The option year awards are not automatic and all http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html mailto:support@grants.gov http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html requests are subject to evaluation as noted in Section 1.4. Option year funding will not exceed the funding level of the original Notice of Award. Recipients making option year requests (new money) but which appear to be unable to fully expend their previous funding allotment (old money) in the time period allowed may have their option request denied for cause. Each request must include the following:

Cover letter including o Request to exercise option o Funding level being requested o Justification discussing

Implementation timeline achievements

Performance and goal attainment, differentiating between Program Year to date and Program Total to date

Budget Information (Section 4.1.3)

Option requests must be submitted not more than 60 days from the close of the budget period, nor less than 30 days prior to the end of the budget period. Requests are to be submitted to the designated GOR via E-mail, with subject heading “OSBDC Portable Assistance Renewal Request” along with the Funding Opportunity number.

5.0 Section V - Application Review Information

5.1 General

Applications will be rejected without being evaluated if they are submitted by ineligible organizations or they are illegible or materially incomplete due to an Applicant’s failure to include all required forms and/or provide the required level of detail.

5.2 Evaluation Criteria

Documentation of need includes:

Evidence to support the Applicant’s selection of the targeted region or business community.

o It is recommended that such evidence include authoritative statistics, demographics, research, case studies, and other supporting documentation.

o It is required that supporting evidence include current and specific economic data to demonstrate the job losses and/or small business instability that is attributable to the identified closure or downsizing.

This documentation must be for current or recent events (see Section 3.2), not for anticipated events or expected events in the future.

All timely, materially complete applications received from eligible organizations will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria listed below.

5.2.1 Organizational Experience and Capacity (25 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on their demonstrated ability to provide assistance to small business concerns negatively impacted by a major business or government facility closure or downsizing. Applicants must provide adequate evidence and documentation, including specific examples, of their:

Demonstrated knowledge, experience and capability in providing assistance to small businesses to overcome economic instability or distress. Provide concrete examples of past activities and accomplishments, such as meeting or exceeding negotiated goals and achieving planned milestones for successful implementation of business retention, turnaround support, or other assistance to help clients to reverse negative economic trends.

Demonstrated economic impact such as businesses or jobs retained, increases in sales, new business starts, jobs created, and capital infusion attributable to that assistance.

Demonstrated knowledge, experience and capability in providing technical assistance for small business entities that is portable in nature, such as delivery through programmatic devices and/or client ready tools that may be easily deployed either by design or by inherent qualities. Also, SBDCs are encouraged to make these devices portable to other Agency offices or resource partners and made available to a client based geographically or demographically removed from the initial SBDC. Examples of portable assistance include, but are not limited to:

o Web-based client delivery services, such as counseling and training delivered via video or internet conferencing, online training, downloadable tools to assist businesses with risk and break-even analyses, etc.

o Mobile training and counseling units o Use of “swat teams” to provide focused business counseling that targets relief to acutely affected businesses and entrepreneurs o Establishment of small business cooperatives to secure cost savings through economies of scale for such necessities as equipment, supplies, insurance, payroll and other business services o Peer roundtables for information exchange and problem solving

Demonstrated knowledge of the community targeted for assistance and justification for the selected area of service based on evidence of need for the proposed technical assistance, such as needs assessment data, SWOT analysis, and/or other basis for determination.

5.2.2 Project Design (35 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on their understanding of the purpose of the Portable Assistance Program, their proposed approach for performing their projects, their outcomes and objectives, and their methodology for evaluating and assessing the effectiveness and impact of their projects. Innovation and creativity in providing assistance to small business is strongly encouraged. Applicants must describe in detail the proposed technical assistance delivery methods and products and their plans for implementation and evaluation. Specific topics an Applicant must address include the following:

Scope of the geographic area and demographic the project will serve

Methods of outreach to small business

Number of small businesses it will assist

Specific assistance that will be made available to businesses facing economic, geographic, communication or other infrastructure challenges

Whether the proposed design is part of a larger strategy, such as being part of the network strategic plan or providing an interface with regional or state economic development efforts or partners

Data elements it will collect, the means of their collection, and the uses to which they will be applied

Projected milestones and timeline of program accomplishments and activities

Clarity, accuracy and relevance of its evaluation methodology

Timeline reflecting project tasks for the grant period, and a template to track the program’s progress

How the design will lend itself to identification and implementation of best practices, serve as a model for implementation, and be adaptable and available for replication in other areas facing similar economic conditions and hardship

5.2.3 Project Management (15 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on the strength of their staffing and management plans for accomplishing the goals and objectives of the proposed project. Applicants must demonstrate they will devote adequate numbers of personnel having sufficient experience to the project, establish clear and direct lines of responsibility and authority for managing and overseeing the project, and show they will have sufficient facilities and other physical resources at their disposal to accomplish the proposed project. In particular, an Applicant must:

Identify the key management, staff, and contractors/consultants, listing all full-time and part-time SBDC network employees devoting their time to this project. 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.

Provide copies of all contracts and consulting agreements 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.

5.2.4 Collaboration and Leveraging of Resources (10 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on the breadth of their plans for coordinating their proposed activities and working to expand the scope and reach of their project in collaboration with entities such as SBA’s District Offices, other federal, state, local and tribal government agencies, other SBA grant Recipients/resource partners (SCORE, WBCs), trade associations, business/industry groups, institutions of higher education, and/or private organizations. Specifically, an Applicant must provide copies of agreements with, or letters or emails of support from, the above-listed types of organizations pledging to work with the Applicant in order to advance specific Program objectives.

5.2.5 Operational Controls: (15 Points)

Applicants will be evaluated on their:

Design and methodology for measuring the outcomes of the project’s objectives and compliance with required financial and performance reporting.

Process for on-going monitoring, midcourse correction if needed and continuous improvement.

Responses/corrective actions to any qualified audit opinions, going concern paragraphs, or A-133 audit findings.

5.3 Review and Selection Process

Applications that are not rejected by grants.gov or SBA’s initial eligibility screening process (see Section 3.3) will be evaluated by reviewers and scored on the basis of how well they meet the criteria outlined above. The proposal reviews will be conducted on a fair and impartial basis. These reviewers may be SBA employees or employees of other Federal agencies. The maximum score any application can receive is 100 points.

Prior to evaluating applications received in response to this Announcement, SBA will establish a minimum acceptable score. Only those applications that meet or exceed that threshold will be eligible for funding. Applicants are therefore encouraged to design proposals that address each of the scoring criteria listed above as completely and thoroughly as possible. From the applications which (1) meet the minimum score requirement, and (2) represent the best scoring applications, the SBA will conduct a risk evaluation of the applicants. The risk evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the requirements imposed by 2 C.F.R. § 200.205. At its discretion, SBA may decline to issue an award to any potential recipient if the Agency determines the applicant poses too great a risk. In the interest of providing Portable Assistance Program services to as broad a segment of the small business community as possible, SBA will take the geographical dispersion of Applicants’ project service areas into account when making award decisions.

6.0. Section VI - Award Administration Information

6.1. Award Notification

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 Section 21(a)(4)(C)(viii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. § 648(a)(4)(viii)); 13 C.F.R. Part 130.; 2 C.F.R. Part 200, OMB Circular A-133 (as applicable); 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 Announcement 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, or otherwise in accordance with these instructions, 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 websites.

6.3.1 Financial Reports

Recipients must submit quarterly financial reports to SBA using the SF-425, “Federal Financial Report” (FFR), and the SF-270, “Request for Advance or Reimbursement”, within 30 days of the completion of each of the first three quarters and within 90 days of the completion of the fourth quarter of each Budget Period. Each submission must include a Quarterly Detailed Expenditures Worksheet or comparable detail of budget and actual costs. The sample worksheet for this attachment is available on the OSBDC website (select Resources/SBDC Grantee Forms and Worksheets).

6.3.2 Performance Reports

Performance Progress Reports (PPR) are due from Recipients within 30 days of the completion of each quarter. The Recipient may use either the PPR template (SF-PPR), available on the OSBDC website, or a form of their own design that includes the same categories of information covered by the PPR. Each PPR component must be in PDF format, unless noted below, and include:

SF-PPR cover sheet (see 6.3.3) a narrative of project accomplishments to date including a discussion of any problems encountered and steps taken or proposed to correct those problems (in MS WORD format).

an updated Planned Milestone Accomplishments Chart or alternative performance measurement tool that shows a comparison of project goals to actual accomplishments. This chart should identify goal targets compared to quarterly and project-to-date values. If milestones are missed, then provide an explanation for the shortfall and describe a strategy to achieve the goals.

copies of résumés and subcontracts relating to the current budget period, if not previously submitted.

Counseling and training data consistent with the requirements of SBA Form 641 and SBA Form 888 must be collected and submitted to SBA through EDMIS within 30 days of the end of each quarter with coding appropriate to this Portable Assistance Project [“PA1801”] for awards under this Funding Opportunity. For information on coding contact your software service provider or view the requirements documents at https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/oed/resources/33381.

6.3.3 Report Submission

Reports must be submitted electronically to the GOR. Any required hard copy submissions must be sent by overnight courier to the GOR concurrent with an email containing a cover letter reporting the submission and the package tracking detail.

For each reporting cycle, Recipients must use the SF-PPR, Performance Progress Report or its equivalent. The SF-PPR must be submitted in one transaction along with the financial and performance report materials. Incomplete submissions will not be accepted. A pattern of incomplete or delinquent submissions may result in delayed reimbursement, the disqualification for future solicitations, or the denial of requests to exercise option years.

Reporting should be:

transacted by one responsible individual and not fragmented between individuals or offices;

https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/oed/resources/33381 submitted within 30 days of the completion of each of the first three quarters and within 90 days of the completion of the final quarter of the Budget Period;

The responsibility of the Lead Center to complete the transmittal to SBA.

7.0 Section VII - Agency Contacts

7.1 Portable Assistance Program Point of Contact

Questions concerning general information contained in this Announcement should be directed to the Office of Small Business Development Centers at HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov.

Indicate “Portable Assistance Program” and the Funding Opportunity number in the subject line.

7.2 Financial/Grants Management Point of Contact

Questions regarding budgetary matters related to this Announcement should be directed to HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov.

7.3 Grants.gov Technical Support

For technical support with filing an electronic application in response to this Announcement, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

8.0 Section VIII - Other Information

8.1 Definitions

The following definitions apply to awards made under this Announcement (see 13 CFR part 130 et seq. for additional definitions relating to the Small Business Development Center Program).

Item Term Definition

8.1.1 Applicant An eligible organization that applies for funding under this Funding Opportunity.

8.1.2 Budget Period The 12-month period during which expenditure obligations will be incurred by the Recipient of an award under this Announcement. For the purposes of this Announcement, the budget period will be from September 30 to September 29 of the subsequent year.

8.1.3 Cooperative A legal instrument signed by both SBA and a Recipient that memorializes the award of funding under a Cooperative Agreement mailto:HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov mailto:HQ.OSBDC@sba.gov mailto:support@grants.gov

Agreement and contains the specific terms and conditions that apply to the award.

8.1.4 Cost Policy Statement A document describing all accounting policies of an Applicant organization and narrating in detail its proposed cost allocation plan.

This plan must stipulate the procedures used to identify, measure, and allocate all costs to each benefitting activity. Cost Accounting Standards Board Disclosure Statement [CASB DS-2] may be submitted for this purpose.

8.1.5 Counseling Services provided one-on-one to an individual and/or business that are delivered in person (face-to-face), on the telephone, or electronically and which:

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.

8.1.6 Notice of Award The official document, signed (or the electronic equivalent of signature) by a Grants Management Officer that:

a) notifies the Recipient of the award of a grant;

b) contains or references all the terms and conditions of the grant and Federal funding limits and obligations; and

c) provides the documentary basis for recording the obligation of

Federal funds in the SBA accounting system.

8.1.7 Portable Assistance Technical assistance designed to promote small business sustainability and growth, delivered in an area under severe economic distress caused by diminishing business or government operations. Service delivery may include individual one-on-one counseling, training, or services delivered by other means such as with programmatic devices and/or client ready tools.

8.1.8 Project Period The total period of performance for an award made under this Funding Opportunity, including the base and all option-year Budget Periods.

Qualifying Event A recent business or government downsizing or closure that has had a negative economic impact, measurable by the loss of jobs and/or increased small business instability, in the proposed area of service.

The specific Qualifying Event must have occurred not more than 5 years prior to the issue date of this Funding Opportunity.

8.1.9 Recipient An organization that has had its application accepted and has been awarded funding under this Funding Opportunity.

8.1.10 SBDC Lead Center The SBDC recipient organization that has a current Cooperative Agreement with SBA.

8.1.11 Small Business A business entity:

a. that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of operation, is organized for profit with a place of business located in the United States, and operates primarily within the United States; and

b. that does not exceed the applicable size standard for its industry as established under 13 C.F.R. § 121. In general, the most common size standards are:

500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries

100 employees for all wholesale trade industries

$33.5 million in average annual receipts for most general & heavy construction industries

$14 million in average annual receipts for all specialty trade contractors

$7 million in average annual receipts for most retail and service industries

$750,000 in average annual receipts for most agricultural industries.

8.1.12 Technical Assistance Counseling or training services provided to an individual and/or business in accordance with the terms of this Funding Opportunity and a Recipient’s Notice of Award.

8.1.13 Training a workshop, seminar or similar activity or event which delivers a structured program of knowledge, information or experience on a business-related subject. The training must last for a minimum of one hour and include two or more individuals and/or businesses in attendance.

8.2 Instructions

8.2.1 Instructions for Completing the SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)

Item 1 Enter: "Application" Item 2 Enter: "New" Item 3 Completed by Grants.gov upon submission Item 4 Leave Blank Item 5a Leave Blank Item 5b Leave Blank Item 6-7 Refer to instructions at end of form Item 8-9 Refer to instructions at end of form Item 10 Enter: “U.S. Small Business Administration” Item 11 Enter “59.037” and “Portable Assistance Program” Item 12 Enter: “Funding Opportunity No. OSBDC-2018-06” Item 13 Leave Blank Item 14 Applicants must specifically identify each city, county, and state that will be affected by the project.

Item 15 Self Explanatory Item 16 Refer to instruction at end of form Item 17 Leave Blank Item 18 Self explanatory Item 19 Check Box C. The Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.

Item 20 Refer to instructions at end of form Item 21 Self explanatory

8.2.2 Instructions for Completing the SF-424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs)

The budget is the Applicant’s estimate of the total cost of performing the project for which funding is being requested under this Announcement during the applicable Budget Period. 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 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 final application package must be completed accurately and in full.

Enter the following information in the appropriate sections:

Section A - Budget Summary Column A: Enter “Portable Assistance Program” Column B: Enter “59.037”

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 sources only since matching funds are not a requirement of this award. (Leave columns 2-4 blank.) Non-federal sources budgeted to the project, if any, should be identified and amounts itemized in the project narrative.

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

Section D – Forecasted Cash Needs

Section E – Budget Estimates

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

Indirect Charges: Transfer the total indirect 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…