Q A_24June14.pdf

Q&A SBAHQ-14-Q-0031 as of 24 June 2014

1. After reviewing the solicitation for SBAHQ-14-Q-0031, I am unclear about the Wage Determination requirement for this contract. Are all positions working on this contract required to be mapped to a Wage Determination labor category, or only those positions the contractor deems applicable to a Wage Determination labor category based on the descriptions in the SCA Directory of Occupations?

It is the Contractor’s discretion to propose the appropriate labor mix according to the requirements listed in the SOW. Whether or not the labor categories you propose fall under the Service Contract Labor Standards is the responsibility of the employer. If you propose a labor category to perform work on this requirement and the job description matches one similar in nature to the SCA Directory of Occupations, you are required to map it to a position listed in the Wage Determination attachment as instructed in the solicitation. It is possible you may not propose any labor categories that are applicable to the Service Contract Labor Standards. Please review FAR 52.222-41 - Service Contract Labor Standards for further information.

2. The SOW contains a list of federal large datasets to study small business that it calls “abbreviated.”

What we would consider proposing would include use of a large dataset from a single state to do the research. I am not specifying the dataset further so as not to influence any decisions you might make; I know you cannot give specific advice on a project. But in the most general terms, would you discuss what kinds of large datasets would meet the requirements of the solicitation? Would a state rather than federal dataset meet the requirements, if SBA were otherwise convinced of the value of the research? I do not wish to put time and effort into a quotation if the dataset we would propose was not going to meet the requirements.

For more information on the types of datasets used in previous studies, interested parties can reference previous Advocacy research via the link provided in the SOW. In addition, the non-inclusive list of research topics in the SOW also provides context for the type of data that would be relevant. Note that we have funded studies that focused on a few representative states, for example http://archive.sba.gov/advo/research/rs224tot.pdf. The bottom line is that any study representing a few or even one state be somewhat representative of the U.S. so the results would be transferable. We are unable to comment on the merits of the dataset or approach without seeing the quote/proposal.

However, interested parties may wish to review previous research as additional context for scope.

3. What is the primary research question that the SBA is trying to answer through this research?

This is a miscellaneous topics RFQ so the proposer has discretion to propose a project topic so long as it falls within the scope of the SOW. The proposer may wish to consult the non-inclusive list of topics in the SOW as well as prior research on Advocacy's web site (see link in SOW) for further context.

4. Under Technical Evaluation criteria, it says, "Some data sources require special access..." What are these data sources?

The interested party suggests the appropriate data sets for the proposed research. This criteria acknowledges that researchers occasionally propose to use data that may for example require special permission from the generating agency or that may otherwise be privately held or copyrighted.

Q&A SBAHQ-14-Q-0031 as of 24 June 2014

5. Also under Technical Evaluation criteria, it says, "Research quotes should include a reveiw of literature." In the response, does SBA expect a completed review of the literature or only the plan for conducting the review with mention to some examples of documents we plan to review and inclusion of the cost of the proposed activities in the price quote?

Quotes/Proposals typically include some form of literature review.

6. Does SBA have responsibility for seeking/executing the peer review process? If so, how long is this expected to take? What accommodations can be made to the overall delivery timeline if the peer review takes longer than anticipated as it is a key dependency?

Yes. The contract term is fixed at one year including peer review.