Recompete CoP Support SOW - SS Draft.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Economic Development Administration

Community of Practice for the EDA Recompete Grant Program

Statement of Work

December 3, 2024 v1.1 i

EDA’S RECOMPETE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE STATEMENT OF WORK

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. Scope

4. Deliverables

5. Place of Performance

6. Period of Performance

7. Hours of Operation

8. Government Furnished Resources

9. Qualifications

10. Guidelines for Contractor Employees

11. Travel and Expenses

12. Conflicts of Interest

13. Data Rights

14. Invoicing

15. Confidential Information

16. Security ii

Version Control Table Version Author Date Summary of Changes

.01 Lisa Lawler Colvin 09/09/2024 Baseline Draft

1.0 Lisa Lawler Colvin 10/21/2024 Final

1.1 Asia King 12/03/2024 Final Revision

1. Introduction

The Economic Development Administration (EDA), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), now operates a suite of nationally implemented, innovation-centric and technology-centric programs via which EDA makes investments that seek to increase the global competitiveness of regions throughout the United States. EDA implements these programs as national competitions, which require cyclically variable resourcing throughout the year.

Additionally, these programs require that EDA engage specific subject matter experts to make good investment decisions, conduct effective evaluations, provide technical assistance, and continuously manage the programs. This Statement of Work (SOW) sets forth the requirements of EDA’s strategic community of practice requirements including advisory support, subject matter expertise, and grant implementation support related to the Recompete grant program.

2. Background

Recompete, authorized under CHIPS and Science Act, aims to invest in economically distressed communities to create and connect people to good jobs. This program aims to create renewed economic opportunity in communities that have for too long been forgotten. The program targets areas where prime-age (25-54 years) employment significantly trails the national average, with the goal to close this gap through large, flexible investments. For details, refer to https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program.

Program Background

The Recompete Pilot Program invests in economically distressed communities to create and connect people to good jobs. This program aims to create renewed economic opportunity in communities that have for too long been forgotten. The program targets areas where prime-age (25-54 years) employment significantly trails the national average, with the goal to close this gap through large, flexible investments. Program funding will support activities including but not limited to workforce training, wraparound services, critical infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and small business supports and governance.

On August 5, 2024, the Department of Commerce announced awards for six communities that were Finalists in Recompete (Phase 1). The awards – totaling $184 million – will support implementing innovative strategies to create good-paying jobs and economic growth in some of the most economically distressed places in the country. Awardees will each receive between $20 and $40 million to fund 5-8 projects tailored to their unique community needs.

The Community of Practice MAY include all Phase Two 22 applicants. However, the Community of Practice must include the 6 EDA Recompete grant awardees are as follows:

• City of Allentown Recompete Plan (Pennsylvania) The City of Allentown Recompete Plan, led by the City of Allentown, will receive approximately $20 million to connect residents from the city’s most distressed and diverse https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/City-of-Allentown-Recompete-Plan neighborhoods to good-paying jobs in high-opportunity industries.

• North Olympic Peninsula Recompete Plan (Washington) The North Olympic Peninsula Recompete Plan, led by Clallam County, will receive approximately $35 million to revitalize areas in the remote region of Washington State’s North Olympic Peninsula including five Tribal nations.

• Oasis Expansion Recompete Plan (Puerto Rico) The Oasis Expansion Recompete Plan, led by the Platform for Social Impact, will receive approximately $30 million to invest in comprehensive economic development initiatives in the Villa Prades public housing community of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

• Reinvest Birmingham (Alabama) The Reinvest Birmingham Recompete Plan, led by the City of Birmingham, will receive approximately $20 million to support the persistently distressed neighborhoods of North Birmingham, Northside, Pratt, and Smithfield.

• The Eastern Kentucky Runway Recompete Plan (Kentucky) The Eastern Kentucky Runway Recompete Plan, led by Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), will receive approximately $40 million to connect prime-age residents to resources and training for good jobs in a region of eastern Kentucky heavily impacted by the decline of coal mining.

• Wind River Indigenous-based Economic Recompete Plan (Wyoming) The Wind River Indigenous-based Economy Recompete Plan, led by the Wind River Development Fund, will receive approximately $36 million to catalyze an indigenous-led eco-tourism economy on the Wind River Reservation and in Fremont County, Wyoming.

In addition to the six Implementation Grant communities above, the Recompete Program has also been partnering with 16 other designees that received approval for their Recompete Plans in Phase 1 of the competition (11 of the 16 Finalists were also awarded ~$0.5M grants to conduct strategy development efforts). While EDA was unable to provide the 16 Phase 1 designees implementation funding through Recompete, it is our hope that they can continue to build on the momentum and planning efforts that the competition encouraged.

EDA, authorized under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (PWEDA) (42 U.S.C. § 3149), is the only federal government agency focused exclusively on economic development. Building on two years of progress toward restoring and strengthening the U.S.

economy, EDA will continue to make significant, strategic, place-based investments in America’s regions, industries, and workers to boost innovation, entrepreneurship, regional coordination, and access to good-paying jobs through coordinated implementation of a variety of grant programs including the Recompete programs. These programs will provide unprecedented opportunities for https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/North-Olympic-Peninsula-Recompete-Plan https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/Oasis-Expansion-Recompete-Plan https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/Reinvest-Birmingham-Recompete-Plan https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/The-Eastern-Kentucky-Runway-Recompete-Plan https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/recompete-pilot-program/2023/Wind-River-Indigenous-based-Economy-Recompete-Plan the nation’s economic development. Consequently, EDA requires unbiased, strategic advisory support in the design, development, and implementation of these programs in a coordinated manner that will enable the benefits of these programs to be optimized throughout the nation, without undue influence by industry or other private sector entities.

3. Scope

EDA requires a national CoP to include all Recompete grantees. EDA’s goal is to build an inclusive and accessible network that results in tangible value to communities served by EDA’s Recompete awardees, built capacity among Recompete representatives, long-term, inter-regional relationships, and an ongoing exchange of learning as local and state leaders continue their work beyond EDA funding. There are three driving components for the CoP:

Build, Operate, Sustain. Build:

• The awardee will move quickly to understand the needs of the CoP to best design services for grantees and operations.

• The awardee will develop an interactive platform to serve as a hub for all CoP-related information and operations, including information on grantees and projects, data, outreach and engagement, and public sharing (e.g., storytelling and digital communication).

• The awardee will collaborate with EDA and CoP members to inform a Community Building and Learning Roadmap.

Operate:

• Using the findings of the needs assessment, the awardee will propose tailored technical services for grantees.

• With EDA input, the awardee will design a best practice development and dissemination plan that first identifies established best practice primarily outside the Recompete community and then documents emerging best practices within the Recompete CoP.

• The awardee will engage Recompete finalists through quarterly forums and regular touchpoints. The awardee will also offer a variety of activities for the CoP that build deep inter-regional ties and foster a wide range of professional relationships.

Sustain:

• The sustainability plan for the CoP will be ingrained in the process of building the CoP at project outset. The awardee will approach building and operating the CoP with the end goal of transitioning to a convening organization and knowledge broker.

Recompete Program Implementation grant activities will begin fall of 2024 and are expected to continue through the end of 2029. Since Recompete is a pilot program awarding low-capacity communities, many who are new to federal grants, the first 12-18 months of the program are a critical time for the success of these coalitions. A community of practice will be essential during this period to help troubleshoot early challenges and maintain focus and momentum towards success for awardees.

Scope of Work

EDA has a requirement to provide the following services to the six Recompete Program’s Implementation Grant recipients and 16 Phase 1 Finalists with approved Recompete Plans. The contractor shall include proposed activities targeting either:

• The six Implementation Grant communities alone OR

• BOTH the six Implementation Grant communities AND the larger group of Recompete Plan designees

1. Facilitate a network of the six Implementation Grant communities that enables coalitions to learn across geographies, programs, and stakeholders. Provide opportunities for relationship building, expert engagement, and supportive learning. CoP should result in awareness of best practices and shared ideas and resources.

Potential Activities and deliverables:

• Connect and coordinate key regional stakeholders within each awardee/Finalist, including state and local governmental entities, workforce development boards, employers, employer-facing organizations, education and training providers, community-based organizations (CBOs), worker-serving organizations (WSOs), labor unions, etc.;

• Establish and strengthen collaboration among grantees to increase information and practice sharing, strengthen networks, and accelerate economic prosperity for high PAEG communities;

• Develop, organize, and disseminate best practices to accelerate the work and impacts of members across a cohort;

• Provide technical assistance for project implementation in cross-cutting issues such as environmental justice, equity and inclusion, increasing access by underserved communities, and other areas of emphasis from EDA’s Investment Priorities;

• Serve as an industry liaison and convener for Federal stakeholders, for instance to distribute grant notifications, research and data, and critical industry requirements; and

• Offer grantees a variety of activities for the CoP that build deep, inter-regional ties and foster a wide range of professional relationships.

2. Develop and execute curated technical assistance that supports the success of all Recompete Plan designees, assessing coalitions’ needs and providing customized coaching and consulting to help them implement Recomplete Plan strategies and achieve economic and workforce development objectives. Activities include but are not limited to:

• Scheduling a regular cadence of touchpoints to engage grantees, specifically targeting

Recompete Plan Coordinators across the six grantees.

o Relevant virtual or in person events or meeting spaces for engagement across and between coalitions o One on one advisory sessions, strategic planning, and subject matter expertise.

• Develop a resource library of relevant materials for grantee use, which may include training materials, applicable research, and best practice dissemination.

• Conduct continuous evaluation of TA activities with grantees and EDA to ensure the CoP is responsive and adaptive to grantees’ needs.

• Design of a best practice development and dissemination plan that identifies established best practice relevant to the awardees work and then documents emerging best practices within the CoP.

4. Deliverables

EDA seeks a contractor to assist with the implementation of the Recompete Program’s Community of Practice, including but not limited to program design, grantee needs assessments, and technical assistance delivery. Deliverables will be rated by the EDA project team on a scale from 1 to 3. EDA may require corrections for deliverables rated less than 3. The Deliverables List includes but is not limited to:

• Regular meetings among EDA, the vendor, and the vendor’s partners to identify, develop, and scope experiments with resulting meeting minutes and related meeting artifacts updated and documented;

• Fully designed and scoped experiments with defined hypotheses to be tested by the experiments;

• Experimental results and evidence that validate or invalidate relevant hypotheses and that suggest subsequent experiments;

• Ad hoc and regular access to vendor expertise in policy and program experimentation, including but not limited to one-on-one meetings and working groups.

• CoP best practices dissemination plan.

• Resource library.

5. Place of Performance

Remote.

6. Period of Performance

The total period of performance for this procurement is one year after the date of award plus two one (1) year option periods.

Contract Duration FY’25 Base 1 year FY’26 Option 1 1 year FY’27 Option 2 1 year

7. Hours of Operation

Under this award, the Contractor is responsible for conducting business, Monday thru Friday during normal business hours except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings.

8. Government Furnished Resources

The Contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for Contractor use. The Contractor shall not use GFP/E/I for any purposes other than official Government business as performed under this award. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

Contractors working on Government sites may be provided with standard business equipment including all or some of the following: desk, chair, phone, computer, and access to office equipment such as printers, copiers, fax, etc.

9. Qualifications

The Contractor is responsible for and shall ensure staff are able to complete the Declaration of Federal Employment form, are properly trained and hold the appropriate credentials and level of proficiency of knowledge, skills and abilities required to ensure the services required are successfully performed.

10. Evaluation Criteria

The award will be based on best value, a combination of cost, experience and value to EDA.

• Best Value and Creativity in the Proposed Solution

• The experience of the awardee will be part of the best value evaluations as well as the creative ability to propose a tailored approach that meets the individual needs of Recompete awardees and/or applicants within the timeline and budget.

• Cost

11. Guidelines for Contractor Employees

When attending in person, all Contractor personnel shall adhere to EDA’s physical security policies including recent policies regarding COVID documentation or recent COVID test results. All Contractor personnel who attend project meetings and Government meetings in person or virtually, and work in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as Contractors to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by Contractors are suitably marked as Contractor products or that Contractor participation is appropriately disclosed.

12. Travel and Expenses

Travel is not required.

13. Conflicts of Interest

Contractor and subcontract personnel performing work under this requirement may receive, have access to, or participate in the development of proprietary or source selection information (e.g., cost or pricing information, budget information or analyses, specifications or work statements, etc.), or perform evaluation services which may create a current or subsequent Organizational Conflict of Interests (OCI) as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. The Contractor shall notify the CO immediately whenever he/she becomes aware that such access or participation may result in any actual or potential OCI and may merit the submittal of a plan to the CO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. This mitigation plan would be determined to be acceptable solely at the discretion of the CO. In the event the CO unilaterally determines that any such OCI cannot be satisfactorily avoided or mitigated, the Contracting Officer may employ other remedies as he or she deems necessary, including prohibiting the Contractor from participation in subsequent contracted requirements which may be affected by the OCI.

14. Data Rights

The Government has unlimited rights to all published end products, documents and material produced under this award. All end products include all documents and materials includes the source code of any software produced under this contract, and all published artifacts associated with each of the tasks, shall be Government owned and the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the Contractor without written permission from the CO. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

15. Invoicing

Procedures for Invoicing

Invoicing shall be sent to the following:

The COR:

TBD

The Invoice Processing Platform (IPP)

FAR Subpart 32.905 requires that payment be made based on the receipt of a proper invoice and satisfactory award performance. FAR 32.905(b) specifically states the minimum information an invoice must include to be considered a “proper” invoice for payment. In accordance with FAR 32.903(a)(3), the Economic Development Administration has supplemented these requirements.

Contractors may use Standard Form 1034 – Public Voucher for Purchases and Services Other than Personal (FAR 53-301-1034) or a company-generated invoice. The invoice shall be submitted to the designated COR and ACOR and must contain the following information:

PROPER INVOICE INFORMATION

• Government Contract Number

• Government Contract Name/Title

• Name and Address of Contractor

• Contact Name, Title and Telephone Number of Contractor

• Date of the Invoice

• Unique Invoice Number, Account Number, and/or any other identifying payment request number. (The final invoice shall be identified as “FINAL.”) Final Invoices shall be sent to Contracting Officer, COR, and ACOR.

• Actual date services were performed and completed.

• Current Contract Period of Performance on all invoices.

• Description of goods or services for which payment is requested – (for example, contract line/sub line number, price, and quantity of goods and services rendered.)

• Care should be taken by the Contractor to assure invoices are submitted for items/services and related prices, Contract Line-Item Numbers (CLINS), as detailed in Section 1 of the contract.

• Other supporting or substantiating documentation or information required by the contract (i.e. travel or direct material reimbursement, when authorized in the contract terms).

• Invoice total for the current month

• Total amount invoiced to date under the contract

• Total funds remaining for respective period of performance.

• Percent of Allocated Funds Invoiced to Date

• Percent of Funds Remaining for the respective period of performance.

• Payment discount terms.

• Other Substantiating Documentation or Information as required by the contract.

Method of Payment Payments under this award will be made in accordance with FAR 52.232-33 – Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management.

16. Confidential Information

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Any designs, equipment, and concepts that evolve from performance hereunder shall be considered as "Confidential Information." The Contractor shall not disclose any confidential information obtained during performance. Any presentation of any designs, equipment, or concepts based on information obtained will be subject to review and approval by the Government before publication or dissemination for accuracy of factual data and interpretation.

During the course of the resultant contract, the Contractor shall have access to Government data relevant to this project as required. Any information, not previously published, received from the Government in connection with this requirement or furnished to the Contractor from other sources in response to the Government's requirements, will be restricted to this project, and may not be disclosed or used for any other purpose without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. Title to Government-owned data shall remain with the Government. The Contractor shall use the Government-owned data only in connection with the award. These restrictions do not apply to information which:

A. Currently or subsequently enters the public domain B. Has been released to any third party, without restrictions C. Is obtained by the Contractor independent of the Government

17. Security

CAR 1352.209-72 – RESTRICTIONS AGAINST DISCLOSURE (APR 2010)

a. The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this award to keep the information furnished by the Government or acquired/developed by the Contractor in performance of the award and designated by the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer’s Representative, in the strictest confidence. The Contractor also agrees not to publish or otherwise divulge such information, in whole or in part, in any manner or form, nor to authorize or permit others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict access to such information while in the Contractor’s possession, to those employees needing such information to perform the work described herein, i.e., on a “need to know” basis. The Contractor agrees to immediately notify the Contracting Officer in writing in the event that the Contractor determines or has reason to suspect a breach of this requirement has occurred.

b. The Contractor agrees that it will not disclose any information described in subsection (a) to any person unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer. The Contractor agrees to insert the substance of this clause in any consultant agreement or subcontract hereunder.

(End of clause)