Request for Quote 20149565 Cotton Analysis.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUOTE

January 28, 2025

To: Qualified Offerors

From: U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION Subject: Request for Quote (RFQ) 20149565 –Cotton Analysis

The enclosed RFP is to provide support services for THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) U.S.

CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP). The Government is issuing a competitive solicitation to qualified small business contract holders for the purpose of awarding a Contract. The Government will conduct this acquisition in accordance with FAR 12 and FAR 13.5. Interested parties should submit their proposals in accordance with the instructions in attachment 1.

Offerors are required to submit both a written Technical Proposal and Pricing/Business Proposal to Government officials for the purposes of acquiring supplies and/or services from the Contractor that is fully cognizant of the scope of this requirement and has the capability to complete all requirements described in the solicitation. Proposals which merely offer to conduct a program in accordance with the requirements of the Government’s scope of work will not be eligible for award. Oral presentations will be used in this acquisition.

Written and Oral Submissions must be clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluations of the offeror’s proposal against the evaluation criteria. Also, proposals shall cover all aspects of this solicitation and include the offeror’s approach for providing the full scope of CBP required laboratory Science Services, Cotton Analysis services.

Offerors must clearly demonstrate how the contractor intends to accomplish the tasks required and must include convincing rationale and substantiation of all claims. A proposal with significant informational deficiencies may be found technically unacceptable, and an offeror’s extensive restating of the requirements may be considered as evidence of their failure to demonstrate a clear understanding of those requirements. In its evaluation and confidence assessment, the Government will consider the degree of substantiation of the proposed approaches in the written and oral proposal and in response to any discussions, if applicable.

All correspondence in conjunction with this solicitation should be directed to the Government’s Procurement Point of Contract (POC) identified below via email only.

Name: Richard Kirby Email: richard.m.kirby@cbp.dhs.gov

The Government will not pay any pre-award or travel costs incurred by an offeror in preparing a response to this solicitation.

Attachments:

1. Instruction to Offerors/ Evaluation Criteria/ Provisions

2. Prior Experience Questionnaire (PEQ)

3. Pricing - Schedule

4. Statement of Work (SOW)

5. Additional Terms and Conditions/Clauses mailto:richard.m.kirby@cbp.dhs.gov

ATTACHMENT 1

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS/ EVALUATION CRITERIA / PROVISIONS

1.1 INTRODUCTION

CBP will conduct a streamlined two-phased evaluation of proposals. CBP reserves the right to establish a task order without further communication and exchange; therefore, each response to this request should contain the vendor's best pricing, terms, and conditions. Proposals must be prepared in accordance with these instructions and provide all required information in the format specified. The required format is designed to ensure submission of information essential to the understanding and comprehensive evaluation of the vendor’s proposal. Failure of a proposal to comply with these instructions may be grounds for exclusion from further consideration. Any exceptions taken with respect to the clauses in the solicitation shall be noted and may result in the offer becoming ineligible for award. To facilitate exchanges, for every instance where the vendor does not propose to comply with or agree to a requirement, the vendor shall propose an alternative and describe its reasoning.

1.2 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF QUOTATION

CBP intends to conduct the procurement process, as follows:

The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award a contract without discussions with offerors.

The Government anticipates selecting the best-suited offeror from initial responses, without engaging in discussions with offerors. Offerors are strongly encouraged to submit their best technical solutions and price in response to this RFQ.

Once the Government determines the offeror that is the best-suited (i.e., the apparent successful offeror), the Government reserves the right to communicate with only that offeror to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize a task order with that offeror. These issues may include technical and price. If the parties cannot successfully address any remaining issues, as determined pertinent at the sole discretion of the Government, the Government reserves the right to communicate with the next best-suited offeror based on the original analysis and address any remaining issues. Once the Government has begun communications with the next best-suited offeror, no further communications with the previous best suited offeror will be entertained until after the task order has been awarded. This process shall continue until an agreement is successfully reached and a task order is awarded.

The place of performance: Contractor’s may propose work to be performed at the Contractors facilities.

1.3 FAR 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

The Government contemplates award of a Fixed Price TYPE contract resulting from this solicitation.

1.4 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance of this contract contains a twelve (12)-month base period plus one (1) 6-month option period, as follows:

Base Period: February 17, 2025 through February 16, 2026

Option Period 1: February 17, 2026 through July 16, 2027

The above dates are subject to change at time of award

1.5 SOLICITATION TECHNICAL INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS

All questions regarding the solicitation, of a contractual nature or technical nature, must be submitted in writing via email to richard.m.kirby@cbp.dhs.gov no later than January 30, 2025, 12:00 PM ET. Questions with the Government’s responses will be posted on SAM.gov Please be advised that the Government reserves the right to transmit those questions and answers of a common interest to all prospective offerors.

1.6 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Written proposals must be submitted electronically via email on or before the RFP closing date of February 10, 2025

10:00 AM ET.

1.7 FORMATTING

Page Limitations: Page limitations shall be treated as maximums. If the offeror includes more pages than are allowed, all pages that exceed the page limit will be removed prior to the proposal evaluation. Each page shall be counted except for the following:

Transmittal and Cover Letter Divider Sheets

Page Size and Format: Paper size shall be 8 1/2 by 11-inch white paper, using 12-point font. No reduction is permitted except for organization charts or other graphic illustrations, or in headers/footers. In those instances where reduction is allowable, offerors shall ensure that the print is easily readable; no less than 8-point font on graphs and 10 point font on tables. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one (1) inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be evaluated) may be included in the 1" margin space. Pages that exceed the maximum page limitation will not be evaluated.

Legibility, clarity and completeness are important. The submission of brochures or flyers alone without an accompanying explanation specific to this proposal is not acceptable.

Failure of a proposal to comply with these instructions may be grounds for exclusion of the proposal from further consideration.

Period for acceptance of offers: the offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 90 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers.

1.8 TRANSMITTAL AND COVER LETTER

The offeror shall provide a transmittal and cover letter for the proposal and must contain the name, phone number, and e-mail address of the person to be contacted concerning any matter related to the solicitation. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION may, for example, contact that individual to schedule Oral Presentations and make arrangements for discussion meetings, if necessary.

Include the following information in your proposal

1) SAM UEI number and TIN;

2) Company Name mailing address, and website address;

3) Date submitted and proposal expiration date;

4) All of the above-cited information for each entity on the proposed team, if a team is proposed;

5) Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the System for

Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register in SAM located at http://www.sam.gov/;

6) Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address.

1.10 TECHNICAL and BUSINESS PROPOSALS

(a) The Government intends to conduct the evaluation process in one phase:

1. This step requires the following written submissions:

2. Oral Presentations, Price Submission. This requires participation in an oral presentation and the following written submissions:

Power Point Slides that support the oral presentation http://www.sam.gov/

• Volume 1, Factor 1 - Prior Experience Questionnaire

• Volume 2, Factor 2 – Technical Approach

• Volume 3, Factor 3 – Price Submission

The Offeror shall present information in response to the requested oral presentation instructions in the Solicitation. In addition, in the Offeror’s Oral Presentation, the Offeror shall address the technical problems below to facilitate the Government’s evaluation of “Oral Presentations” of Factor 2, “Technical Approach”. The Offeror shall provide information describing how it shall achieve quality results in managing and performing under the intended Contract. Any information presented in response to the technical problems shall be presented in the order listed below:

(c) Written Submissions must be clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluations of the Offeror’s proposal against the evaluation criteria.

1. Volume 1- Factor 1- Prior Experience Questionnaire See PEQ, Attachment 2

Regarding Prior Experience Questionnaire submission, the offeror shall submit a minimum of two and a maximum of three projects that address the questions listed in Attachment 2 and address the following elements:

• Given the breadth and depth of the services required, CBP will limit submissions of Prior Experience to the prime contractor only

• Offerors should demonstrate experience with work of the same scope and complexity as the work described in the Statement of Work

• Ongoing projects or that have projects that have been completed in the last three years

Prior experience with government entities is preferred.

In selecting projects for the Questionnaire, the Offeror shall consider its prior experience in contracts with similar size, scope and complexity providing the services of the SOW.

As part of the questionnaire, the Offeror shall summarize each project and the prime contractor’s prior experience specific to providing the services identified in the SOW. See PEQ, Attachment 2. The total number of pages for the PEQ shall not exceed 6 pages.

The information provided shall demonstrate the Offeror’s current capacity to meet the requirements identified in the solicitation. In circumstances where the Offeror does not have a record of relevant prior experience or if prior experience information is not available, a low confidence rating may result. Confidence rating definitions are below in the “EVALUATION METHODOLOGY” section.

Note: The government may decide to reach out to government POCs, referenced in the offeror’s Prior Experience Questionnaire, for additional information on prior experience.

2. Volume 2 – Factor 2- Technical/ Approach

Factor 2 - Element 1 – Technical Approach – Instructions are below.

The library referred to herein shall consist only of those materials used to define the statistical models being offered as part of this solicitation. Materials not used for model generation shall not be considered as reference materials for the purposes of this solicitation. If significant numbers of collected materials have been excluded from modeling for valid statistical reasons other than outlier status, this process may be described.

Technical information to be evaluated:

• Describe the approach used to construct library of known references. Is the library composed entirely of cotton materials or are proxy isotope values (e.g., water) used? If proxies are used, all information provided below should reflect each material separately (e.g., 100 cotton + 100 water).

• Are all members of cotton library analyzed by Contractor or are some values obtained from elsewhere (e.g., published literature or public libraries)?

• Are all members of Contractor’s cotton library currently vouchered by Contractor? If not, describe the number or proportion of the total that is vouchered. Describe classes of metadata known for all members of reference library (e.g., date of collection, geospatial coordinates of growth, etc.). Information not known for all members of the reference library should not be included. Geospatial coordinates should be accurate to a minimum of four (4) decimal places for inclusion.

• Describe the chain of custody process during cotton reference material collection.

• Are the world’s top-twenty cotton producing countries (below, as per ICAC, 2022/23 season) represented in Contractor’s library/library? For each, is the geographic distribution of reference materials sufficient to capture all isotopically homogeneous cotton growing regions within each country? Briefly describe how this was determined.

o People’s Republic of China o India o USA o Brazil o Australia o Turkey o Pakistan o Uzbekistan o Greece o Benin o Argentina o Mexico o Turkmenistan o Burkina Faso o Mali o Myanmar o Cameroon o Tanzania o Sudan o Tajikistan

• For the countries listed above, how many reference materials from each are currently included in your library (rounded to no more than the hundreds place). The People’s Republic of China should list both XUAR materials and those from the country as a whole. Any other country determined by the Contractor to contain multiple growing regions should be defined separately (e.g., USA East and USA West).

o List the individual countries in the library.

• What percent of total worldwide cotton production (by weight) are represented? Describe the rate of increase of cotton library. Include both new regions being collected and the rate of recollection to measure isotopic shift over time.

• All reference materials shall be verified and validated prior to inclusion in the production library and all reference materials in the production library shall be accompanied by sufficient metadata to prove provenance (i.e., chain of custody). The Contractor shall affirm that all reference materials included in the library have attached metadata detailing their collection, including: a chain of custody documenting each person involved in the collection, transport, and analysis of the material; location of collection (to within approximately 11 m); and documentation detailing the means of collection, description of the collection site, and date and time of collection.

Sample Preparation and analysis

• Describe process of accounting for exchangeable protons in reference and sample data.

• Describe referencing of isotopic values to appropriate international standards (e.g., VSMOW).

• Describe how blended fabrics (e.g., cotton/polyester blends) are dealt with during analysis.

o Specify what blended fabrics can or cannot be analyzed

Statistical Models.

• Describe the statistical basis and modeling approach (e.g., PCA, SVM, neural network etc.)

for each of the Contractor’s models.

o Describe the model classification pipeline identifying the main components of the algorithm.

o Give an overview of the technology stack used to build the model.

o What is the size of the training dataset used? How is it distributed over countries/regions?

o What statistical question(s) is answered by the model? Be specific about the use of null hypotheses, statistical certainty, likelihood, probability, etc.

o State the evaluation metric used and provide a justification as to why that metric was chosen.

o What are the most important predictors for the model?

o How did you correct for any biases in the dataset used to build the model?

o How did you form the training and test splits for the model? Were there substantial differences between the test and train data distributions?

o What is the accuracy, precision, and recall of the model? Is the performance stratified in some way or is it generally uniform across most subsets of the feature space?

o For strictly binary determination models, describe any parameter tuning to optimize the true/false-positive/negative error rates.

o For modeling approaches that yield a probability, likelihood, match confidence, or similar measure, provide the inclusion/exclusion cutoff criteria.

• Describe the inputs and outputs for modeling in detail.

o What isotopic data is required to determine geographic source of cotton? In what format?

o Provide example model output and interpretation.

o Does model output include a likelihood (or similar) of origin determination for each country in the library?

• Describe current and near-future (within 2-yr) plans for how Contractor’s statistical approach can assess mixed-origin (two or more cotton origin regions) samples.

• Include any other significant statistical modeling information that contribute to the value of

Contractor’s approach.

Quality Control.

• List all reference materials used during a standard cotton analysis (i.e., USGS, IAEA, in-house). For in-house standards, describe how and how frequently in-house standards are referenced to primary or secondary standards.

• Describe quality procedures in place for isotope ratio analysis. Description should include data acceptance criteria, ongoing quality monitoring, etc.

• How many isotope ratio mass spectrometer instruments are currently used by Contractor (directly or by contract) for cotton source attribution analysis?

• How many individual Contractor laboratories currently perform cotton source attribution analysis?

• Provide a copy of the most recent accreditation certificate and scope of accreditation for Contractor’s laboratory(ies).

The Offeror shall provide specific examples and information related to each of the technical problems provided. The Government is most interested in substantive and meaningful discussion of how the Offeror shall approach the work requirements. The Government is also interested in the Offeror’s assessment of the difficulties and risks it may encounter, and its approach to dealing with them while still successfully performing the work.

1122. Volume 3 – Factor 3- PRICE.

The price quote shall include the following:

Offerors shall submit a price quote, which shall include the following:

1. Completed Pricing Schedule

2. Assumptions, conditions, and exceptions related to price

Pricing Schedule shall be provided in Microsoft Excel. Refer to the Pricing template (Attachment 3).

Price Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions

Submit all (if any) assumptions, conditions, or exceptions with any of the terms and conditions of this Statement of Work If not noted in this section of your quote, it will be assumed that the offeror proposes no assumptions for award and agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein. It is not the responsibility of the Government to seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the offeror’s quote. The Government reserves the right to reject any proposal that includes any price assumptions, conditions, or exceptions that impact or affect the Government’s objectives or requirements.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORAL PRESENTATION

1) Requirements. This phase requires participation in an oral presentation and additional further written submissions, which include the Volume II - and Volume III – Price Proposal.

2) Oral Presentation. Oral Presentations will start February 12,2025 9:00 am ET, the order of presentations will be determined by random selection. The Contracting Officer will email the date and time to the Offerors. Through the oral presentation, the Government intends to gather an understanding of the Offeror’s proposed solution and its capabilities as it relates to the Government’s requirements for Cotton Analysis Services. The oral presentation will be evaluated as part of Factor 2, “Technical/Management Approach”. The Government intends for the oral presentation to be an interactive dialogue between the Offeror and the Government to provide the Government a more informed confidence determination in the Offeror’s technical capability and approach. These exchanges are viewed as a component of the oral presentation itself and do not constitute discussions.

i. Preparing for the Oral Presentation - An Offeror shall notify, via email, the contracting POC’s referenced in the transmittal cover letter of the offeror’s intent to participate in an oral presentation. After receiving the Offeror’s notification of intent, the Contracting Officer intends to contact the Offeror’s POC to provide the date and time of the oral presentation. Subsequently, CBP will provide written confirmation of the date and time scheduled for the Offerors’ oral presentation in an email to the POC. The Government will hold oral presentations virtually. Should the oral presentations be held in person, the location, available equipment and building access instructions will be provided at that time. The Government will not pay for any travel or other costs associated with the oral presentation.

ii. Conducting the Oral Presentation. – Presentations must begin promptly at the time assigned by the Government. The Contracting Officer may issue guidelines for the conduct of the oral presentation beyond the below guidelines. The following initial guidelines are provided for the benefit of Offerors:

• The Offeror’s presentation team is limited to 6 personnel, which must include the Scientist and mathematician/statistician. All of the presentation team must be current employees of the prime Offeror or proposed sub-contractors (No more than 2 presenters may be subcontractors). An individual shall not participate in more than one Offeror's oral presentation. All individuals participating in oral presentations will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Technical Approach

• The Offeror shall discuss a highly detailed methodology for the

Government to evaluate its level of confidence in the offerors technical and management approach towards the requirements of the SOW.

• The Offeror shall discuss and address the approach to executing the tasks in the SOW.

• The Government intends for the oral presentation to be an interactive dialogue between the Offeror and the Government. These exchanges are viewed as a component of the oral presentation itself and do not constitute discussions. As a result, not all questions may be the same for each offeror depending on the content presented by the offeror.

• The Offeror participants shall not reach back, by telephone, e-mail or any other means, to any other personnel or persons for assistance during the oral presentation.

• The Government reserves the right to video or audio record the oral presentations, however, offerors shall not record the oral presentations.

Oral Presentations Additional Instructions

In addition to the solicitation instructions, the Offeror shall adhere to the following instructions in their Oral Presentation:

Microsoft PowerPoint Slides are not required for the Oral Presentation, however they are highly encouraged. If the Offeror elects to have PowerPoint presentation slides, the Offeror shall submit them electronically to the Procurement POC no later than February 10 2025, 10:00 AM ET. PowerPoint Slides shall not exceed more than 30 Slides. The Oral Presentation and the slides must not contain any reference to price or cost; however, resource information (such as data concerning labor hours and categories, materials, subcontracts, teaming arrangements etc.) may be contained in the slides.

The Offeror is responsible to adhering to the solicitation instructions for submitting all submissions.

Rules of Engagement for Oral Presentations:

The Government intends for the oral presentation to be an interactive exchange between the Offeror and the Government. These exchanges are viewed as a component of the oral presentation itself and do not constitute discussions. The Government will not ask questions that will invite or allow the Offeror to change its proposal.

The Offeror shall not volunteer any information that might be construed as changing its proposal. Oral presentations are distinct from the Government’s reserved right to conduct discussions.

The Offeror is in control of its presentation and may choose not to present or respond to any question provided by the Government.

The Offeror shall not utilize any computers (other than the ones required to host the web-based conference platform being utilized for the oral presentation), tablets, smart phones, or separate conference lines/phones, while conducting the oral presentation, and shall not bring or distribute any written or electronic materials during the oral presentation. The Offeror participant may need a separate phone/conference bridge to connect to the oral presentation, however that phone shall only be used for that purpose and no other.

The Offeror participants shall not reach back, by phone/conference bridge, e-mail or any other means, to any other personnel or persons for assistance during the oral presentation.

Offerors can utilize any virtual drawing features or functions during the oral presentation provided in the web-based conference platform, as applicable. Offerors may elect to utilize white boards or flip charts during the oral presentation as well and can upload such items to the web-based conference platform, as appropriate.

Location: The Government will hold oral presentations remotely, using technology, rather than in person. The Government anticipates utilizing Microsoft Teams as the platform for the oral presentations. The Government and Offeror may agree to test the connection at a convenient time prior to the oral presentation. In the event the selected technology platform or tool cannot be made functional at the time of the scheduled oral presentation, the oral presentation may proceed as a voice-only telephone call, at the Government’s sole discretion. The order in which Offerors are scheduled will be randomly selected by the Government. When scheduling the presentations, CBP will advise Offerors of the time of its presentation. Oral presentations may be scheduled anytime between 8:30am and 4:00pm Eastern Time (ET). By participating in the oral presentation, the Offeror acknowledges that it is in full compliance with all solicitation terms and conditions, in accordance with applicable laws and statutes. Video or audio recording of oral presentations by Offerors is strictly prohibited.

The Government may elect to video or audio record the oral presentation. The submission of an offer shall constitute consent to the disclosure of proprietary information to all non-Government participants during the source selection.

Participants: The Offeror’s presentation team is limited to 6 presenters. Of the 6 presenters, 2 presenters shall be proposed Key Personnel individuals. All of the presentation team must be current employees (or have signed letters of commitment) of the prime Offeror or proposed sub-contractors (no more than 2 presenters may be subcontractors). An individual shall not participate in more than one Offeror's oral presentation. Key Personnel with letters of commitment will be allowed as presenters.

Time Limit: Oral presentations are limited to 90 minutes in duration, exclusive of any needed Clarification period. Any set-up of visual aids and remarks made by the Contracting Specialist or Contracting Officer prior to the presentation will not count against the Offeror’s 90-minute time limit. The Government will not evaluate any of the information in the slide deck that is not presented during the Offeror’s 90-minute time limit. The Government urges the Offeror to exercise good judgment in the number of slides presented given the 90-minute time limit. The Government will allot approximately 30 minutes after the Offeror’s presentation for additional questions and clarifications.

1.11 EVALUATION CRITERIA

The Government may award any resulting contract to other than the lowest priced offeror, or other than the Offeror with the highest non-price rating. The Government reserves the right to award without discussions.

The evaluation factors for this award are:

Factor 1 –PRIOR EXPERIENCE QUESTIONAIRE EVALUATION.

This volume will be evaluated under Factor 1 – Prior Experience.

In Volume 1 - Prior Experience Questionnaire submission, the offeror shall submit a minimum of two and a maximum of three records that address the questions listed in Attachment 2 and address the following elements:

• Prior experience in the same or similar requirements identified in the SOW, within three years immediately prior to the date of the Offeror’s proposal.

Prior experience with government entities is preferred. Offeror shall demonstrate favorable prior experience in contracts with similar size, scope and complexity providing the services in the SOW.

Note: The government may decide to reach out to government POCs, referenced in the offeror’s Prior Experience Questionnaire, for additional information on Prior Experience. Additionally, The Government may use Prior Experience information obtained from other than the sources identified by the offeror. Information will be used for both the responsibility determination and best value determination. All references provided by the offeror may or may not be contacted by the Government

Factor 2 - TECHNICAL APPROACH EVALUATION

For the Factor 2 evaluation, the Government will evaluate the content presented in the Oral Presentation.

The Technical Approach will be fairly considered and evaluated as a whole with an overall confidence rating.

The Technical Approach Factor evaluation will holistically cover the degree to which the offeror’s solution supports the objectives of the SOW.

The Government will holistically assess its level of confidence in the offeror’s ability to successfully perform requirements through evaluation of the offeror’s oral presentation. The Government will assess whether the offeror’s technical approach exhibits a thorough understanding of the complexity and magnitude of the requirement and likelihood that the offeror shall be successful in performance under the resultant Task Order.

Factor 3 – PRICE

The Government will conduct a price analysis to evaluate the completed Price Schedule, Attachment 3, in order to determine a fair and reasonable price.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

Award will be made to the responsible Offeror whose combination of those factors offers the best overall value to the Government utilizing a tradeoff process. This will be determined by comparing differences in technical capability with differences in price to the Government. In making this comparison, the Government is more concerned with obtaining superior technical merit. However, the Government will not make an award at a significantly higher Price to the Government to achieve slightly superior technical merit. The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the lowest priced Offeror or to the Offeror with a higher technical rating if the Contracting Officer determines that to do so would result in the best value to the Government.

The Government will assess its level of confidence that the contractor will successfully perform the requirements based on three Factors for the best value determination: Factor 1 – Prior Experience, Factor 2 – Technical Approach.

Relevant Importance of Factors Factor 2 is more important than Factor 1, and Factors 1 and 2, when combined, are significantly more important than Factor 3, Price.

Factors 1 and 2 will be rated in accordance with the following confidence ratings:

CONFIDENCE RATINGS FOR NON- PRICE FACTORS

Rating Definition

High Confidence

Based on the information in the quotation, the Government has high confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, has quoted a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract with little or no intervention.

Some

Based on the information in the quotation, the Government has some confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, has quoted a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract with some intervention.

Low

Based on the information in the quotation, the Government has low confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, has quoted a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract even with intervention.

Factor 3 – Price

The Government will conduct a price analysis to evaluate the completed Price Schedule, Attachment 3, in order to determine a fair and reasonable price.

The total evaluated price will be the sum of the Base Year price, the Option Period 1 price and the price of the six-month period under the option to extend services clause, FAR clause 52.217-8. To determine the six-month period price under FAR clause 52.217-8, for evaluation purposes only, the government will take half of the price of Option Period 1 and add that to the total price of the base year and the total price of Option Year 1 to establish the Total Evaluated Price. The Government will conduct a price analysis to determine whether the Total Evaluated Price is fair and reasonable. The price for the effort associated with FAR 52.217-8 will not be included in the total awarded value at contract award. If, at the end of the order’s period of performance (the end of the base period or any option period) and within the time period established in the clause, the Government chooses to exercise this option, the pricing will be pursuant to the rates specified in the contract for the preceding performance period.

1.12 BASIS OF AWARD (TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS) (JUN 2007)

Award shall be made to the offeror whose proposal is determined to best meet the needs of the Government after consideration of all factors -- i.e., provides the “best value.” “Best value” is defined here as the procurement process that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the Government and is performed through an integrated assessment and trade-off analysis among price and non-price factors.

The basis for the award of a contract as a result of this Request for Quote (RFQ) will be a detailed, integrated evaluation by the Government on the basis of how well the proposals satisfy the evaluation criteria contained in the provision entitled “Evaluation Criteria” in this solicitation. Accordingly, the Government may award any resulting contract to other than the lowest priced offeror or other than the offeror with the highest technical merit rating.

The Contracting Officer or Source Selection Authority has the right to determine whether two or more technical proposals are "substantially equal" or whether any differences in technical ratings are "significant" for the purposes of evaluating the overall merit of proposals. Between proposals of substantially equal technical merit, price will become a more significant factor. Between competing proposals, the Government is not willing to pay significantly more for a minor technical difference, nor is the Government willing to forego a significant technical difference in exchange for a small price differential.

See the provision entitled “Relative Importance of Evaluation Factors” contained in this solicitation.

[End of Provision]

1.13 RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATION FACTORS (JUN 2007)

Award will be made to that responsible offeror whose proposal provides the combination of criteria offering the best overall value to the Government.

Factor 2, "Technical Approach" is most important. The non-price factors, Factors 1 (Prior experience") and Factor 2 ("Technical Approach)," when combined, are significantly more important than Factor 3, "Price."

All evaluation factors contained under the major categories identified above as “Non-Price” (see provision entitled “Evaluation Criteria” contained in this solicitation), when combined, are significantly more important than Price. The Government is more concerned with obtaining superior technical/performance capability (represented by the non-Price evaluation categories) than with making an award at the lowest overall evaluated Price. However, if the technical /performance aspects of competing proposals are determined to be essentially equivalent, the evaluated Price may become the determining factor for award. The determination that technical/performance aspects are essentially equal is within the discretion of the source selection official.

[End of Provision]

ATTACHMENT 2

Prior Experience Questionnaire

Please complete the Prior Experience Questionnaire by providing the demographic and prior experience information for your firm below. Offerors may provide up to three (3) reference projects for ongoing projects or projects completed within the last three (3) years of the date of this RFP demonstrating relevant experience performing projects similar in size, scope, and complexity to this requirement. A project is considered a single contract or task/delivery order, or a collection of orders under a BPA or IDIQ contract. The offeror’s response must provide a clear, specific, and concise description of its relevant prior experience. Any state, local, or private sector experience can be considered. Extraneous narrative, elaborate brochures, public relations (PR) material, etc. shall not be submitted. Offerors may choose only to submit as a prime. The Government will assess the collective experience in each vendor’s submittal. A lack of any relevant prior experience may result in a low confidence rating.

1. Firm Information

Firm’s Name and Address:

Name and Title of Representative:

Phone:

Fax:

E-mail Address:

Labor Categories provided under projects:

If teaming with another firm(s), list their name(s) and address(es):

Firm 1 - Name:

Address:

Firm 2 - Name:

Address:

(NOTE: If more than two partners are proposed, add the remaining information on a separate sheet of paper.)

Has this team worked together previously: □ Yes □ No

GWAC Contract # GSA Contract #:

FSS Schedule #:

Contract Period:________________________________________________________

2. List up to three [3] projects which demonstrate the Prime Contractor’s prior experience performing work similar to that required by the SOW using the format below:

Project Name and Location

Nature of the work performed

Customer Name and Address

The Firm’s Project Manager's Name and Phone Number

Period of Performance and Percentage Complete

Estimated or Final Value

Summary:

Submitted by:

Signature Date

ATTACHMENT 3

PRICING SCHEDULE

See Attached Excel Price Template

ATTACHMENT 4

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

See Attached SOW

SECTION I CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es): www.acquisition.gov . [Insert one or more Internet addresses]

(End of clause)

I.2 52.204-13 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT MAINTENANCE (OCT 2018)

I.3 52.204-18 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE MAINTENANCE (AUG 2020)

I.4 52.204-19 INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

(DEC 2014)

I.5 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS -- COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES (NOV 2023)

I.6 52.232-39 UNENFORCEABILITY OF UNAUTHORIZED OBLIGATIONS (JUN 2013)

I.7 52.232-40 PROVIDING ACCELERATED PAYMENTS TO SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTORS

(MAR 2023)

I.8 52.212-5 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR

EXECUTIVE ORDERS--COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES (MAY 2024)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial products and commercial services:

(1) 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements (JAN 2017) (section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113–235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions))

(2) 52.204-23, Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services Developed or Provided by Kaspersky Lab Covered Entities (DEC 2023) (Section 1634 of Pub. L. 115–91).

(3) 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. (NOV 2021) (Section 889(a)(1)(A) of Pub. L. 115-232).

(4) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (NOV 2015)

(5) 52.232-40, Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors (MAR 2023) (31 U.S.C. 3903 and 10 U.S.C. 3801).

(6) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (Aug 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(7) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (OCT 2004) (Public Laws 108–77 and 108–78 (19 U.S.C. 3805 note)).

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial products and commercial services:

[Contracting Officer check as appropriate.]

[ ] (1) 52.203–6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (JUN 2020), with Alternate I (NOV 2021) (41 U.S.C. 4704 and 10 U.S.C. 4655).

[ ] (2) 52.203–13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct (NOV 2021) (41 U.S.C. 3509).

[ ] (3) 52.203–15, Whistleblower Protections under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (JUN 2010) (Section 1553 of Pub. L. 111–5). (Applies to contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.)

[X] (4) 52.203–17, Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights (NOV 2023) (41 U.S.C. 4712); this clause does not apply to contracts of DoD, NASA, the Coast Guard, or applicable elements of the intelligence community— see FAR 3.900(a).

[ ] (5) 52.204–10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (JUN 2020) (Pub.

L. 109–282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).

[ ] (6) [Reserved]

[] (7) 52.204–14, Service Contract Reporting Requirements (OCT 2016) (Pub. L. 111–117, section 743 of Div.

C).

[] (8) 52.204–15, Service Contract Reporting Requirements for Indefinite-Delivery Contracts (OCT 2016) (Pub.

L. 111–117, section 743 of Div. C).

[X] (9) 52.204–27, Prohibition on a ByteDance Covered Application (JUN 2023) (Section 102 of Division R of Pub. L. 117–328).

[] (10) 52.204–28, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders—Federal Supply Schedules, Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts, and Multi-Agency Contracts. (DEC 2023) (Pub. L. 115–390, title II).

[] (11)(i) 52.204–30, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders—Prohibition. (DEC 2023) (Pub. L.

115–390, title II).

[] (ii) Alternate I (DEC 2023) of 52.204–30.

[] (12) 52.209–6, Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment. (NOV 2021) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).

[] (13) 52.209–9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (OCT 2018) (41 U.S.C. 2313).

[_] (14) [Reserved]

[] (15) 52.219–3, Notice of HUBZone Set-Aside or Sole-Source Award (OCT 2022) (15 U.S.C. 657a).

[] (16) 52.219–4, Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns (OCT 2022) (if the offeror elects to waive the preference, it shall so indicate in its offer) (15 U.S.C. 657a).

[_] (17) [Reserved]

[X] (18)(i) 52.219–6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (NOV 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644).

[] (ii) Alternate I (MAR 2020) of 52.219–6.

[] (19)(i) 52.219–7, Notice of Partial Small Business Set-Aside (NOV 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644).

[] (ii) Alternate I (MAR 2020) of 52.219–7.

[X] (20) 52.219–8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (FEB 2024) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)).

[] (21)(i) 52.219–9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan (SEP 2023) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(4)).

[] (ii) Alternate I (NOV 2016) of 52.219–9.

[] (iii) Alternate II (NOV 2016) of 52.219–9.

[] (iv) Alternate III (JUN 2020) of 52.219–9.

[] (v) Alternate IV (SEP 2023) of 52.219–9.

[] (22)(i) 52.219–13, Notice of Set-Aside of Orders (MAR 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644(r)).

[] (ii) Alternate I (MAR 2020) of 52.219–13.

[X] (23) 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (DEVIATION OCT 2021).

[] (24) 52.219–16, Liquidated Damages—Subcontracting Plan (SEP 2021) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(4)(F)(i)).

[] (25) 52.219–27, Notice of Set-Aside for, or Sole-Source Award to, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Concerns Eligible Under the SDVOSB Program (FEB 2024) (15 U.S.C. 657f).

[] (26)(i) 52.219–28, Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation (FEB 2024) (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)).

[] (ii) Alternate I (MAR 2020) of 52.219–28.

[] (27) 52.219–29, Notice of Set-Aside for, or Sole-Source Award to, Economically Disadvantaged Women- Owned Small Business Concerns (OCT 2022) (15 U.S.C. 637(m)).

[] (28) 52.219–30, Notice of Set-Aside for, or Sole-Source Award to, Women-Owned Small Business Concerns Eligible Under the Women-Owned Small Business Program (OCT 2022) (15 U.S.C. 637(m)).

[] (29) 52.219–32, Orders Issued Directly Under Small Business Reserves (MAR 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644(r)).

[] (30) 52.219–33, Nonmanufacturer Rule (SEP 2021) (15 U.S.C. 657s).

[X] (31) 52.222–3, Convict Labor (JUN 2003) (E.O. 11755).

[X] (32) 52.222–19, Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (FEB 2024) (E.O. 13126).

[X] (33) 52.222–21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (APR 2015).

[X] (34)(i) 52.222–26, Equal Opportunity (SEPT 2016) (E.O. 11246).

[X] (ii) Alternate I (FEB 1999) of 52.222–26.

[X] (35)(i) 52.222–35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans (JUN 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212).

[X] (ii) Alternate I (JULY 2014) of 52.222–35.

[X] (36)(i) 52.222–36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (JUN 2020) (29 U.S.C. 793).

[X] (ii) Alternate I (JULY 2014) of 52.222–36.

[X] (37) 52.222–37, Employment Reports on Veterans (JUN 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212).

[X] (38) 52.222–40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (DEC 2010) (E.O. 13496).

[X ] (39)(i) 52.222–50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (NOV 2021) (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O.

13627).

[X] (ii) Alternate I (MAR 2015) of 52.222–50 (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O. 13627).

[] (40) 52.222–54, Employment Eligibility Verification (MAY 2022). (E. O. 12989). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items or certain other types of commercial products or commercial services as prescribed in FAR 22.1803.)

[] (41)(i) 52.223–9, Estimate of Percentage of Recovered Material Content for EPA-Designated Items (MAY 2008) (42 U.S.C. 6962(c)(3)(A)(ii)). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items.)

[] (ii) Alternate I (MAY 2008) of 52.223–9 (42 U.S.C. 6962(i)(2)(C)). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items.)

[] (42) 52.223–11, Ozone-Depleting Substances and High Global Warming Potential Hydrofluorocarbons (MAY 2024) (42 U.S.C. 7671, et seq.).

[] (43) 52.223–12, Maintenance, Service, Repair, or Disposal of Refrigeration Equipment and Air Conditioners (MAY 2024) (42 U.S.C. 7671, et seq.).

[] (44) 52.223–20, Aerosols (MAY 2024) (42 U.S.C. 7671, et seq.).

[] (45) 52.223–21, Foams (MAY 2024) (42 U.S.C. 7671, et seq.).

[ ] (46) 52.223–23, Sustainable Products and Services (MAY 2024) (E.O. 14057, 7 U.S.C. 8102, 42 U.S.C.

6962, 42 U.S.C. 8259b, and 42 U.S.C. 7671l).

[] (47)(i) 52.224–3, Privacy Training (JAN 2017) (5 U.S.C. 552a).

[] (ii) Alternate I (JAN 2017) of 52.224–3.

[] (48)(i) 52.225–1, Buy American—Supplies (OCT 2022)) (41 U.S.C. chapter 83).

[] (ii) Alternate I (OCT 2022) of 52.225–1.

[] (49)(i) 52.225–3, Buy American—Free Trade Agreements—Israeli Trade Act (NOV 2023) (19 U.S.C. 3301 note, 19 U.S.C. 2112 note, 19 U.S.C. 3805 note, 19 U.S.C. 4001 note, 19 U.S.C. chapter 29 (sections 4501– 4732), Public Law 103–182, 108–77, 108–78, 108–286, 108–302, 109–53, 109–169, 109–283, 110–138, 112– 41, 112–42, and 112–43.

[] (ii) Alternate I [Reserved].

[] (iii) Alternate II (DEC 2022) of 52.225–3.

[] (iv) Alternate III (FEB 2024) of 52.225–3.

[] (v) Alternate IV (OCT 2022) of 52.225–3.

[] (50) 52.225–5, Trade Agreements (NOV 2023) (19 U.S.C. 2501, et seq., 19 U.S.C. 3301 note).

[] (51) 52.225–13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (FEB 2021) (E.O.’s, proclamations, and statutes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury).

[] (52) 52.225–26, Contractors Performing Private Security Functions Outside the United States (OCT 2016) (Section 862, as amended, of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008; 10 U.S.C. Subtitle A, Part V, Subpart G Note).

[] (53) 52.226–4, Notice of Disaster or Emergency Area Set-Aside (NOV 2007) (42 U.S.C. 5150).

[] (54) 52.226–5, Restrictions on Subcontracting Outside Disaster or Emergency Area (NOV 2007) (42 U.S.C.

5150).

[X] (55) 52.226–8, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (MAY 2024) (E.O.

13513).

[] (56) 52.229–12, Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements (FEB 2021).

[] (57) 52.232–29, Terms for Financing of Purchases of Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2021) (41 U.S.C.4505, 10 U.S.C. 3805).

[] (58) 52.232–30, Installment Payments for Commercial Products and Commercial Services (NOV 2021) (41 U.S.C. 4505, 10 U.S.C. 3805).

[X] (59)…