SFSIAQ17Q6001_A001_QA.pdf

SFSIAQ17Q6001 A001 Q&A

Questions are listed in black below. The Government’s answers appear beneath each question in red

1. Clarification, please. Is my understanding correct that my completed copy of this is due back to you by 5:00 pm, June 5?

The RFQ close date has been extended to June 9 2017 5:00PM (17:00) EST. This date is found on page 1 of the SF1449 and page

2. Is there a method to obtain the actual documents in the link under Dr. McCormick's signature?

They do not seem to work when I open them.

No. The links were for the FSI/TC/CTC intranet site and are not visible on a public network.

The intended audience for those links is FSI staff and students. All required information is included within the RFQ.

3. Is State Department is also seeking the use of a career transition program or is the program already designed?

No. The curriculum is established. We are not seeking a new design. Contractors are involved in discussion and evaluation of the JSP throughout the session in which they work as a JSP Counselor.

4. Does the contract permit a combination of individual career counseling outside of the actual course?

No. The only work performed under BPA is the delivery of JSP counselor services on-site at

FSI as part of the Job Search Program. The JSP has career counseling components, but contract services under this BPA are not required after the completion of each JSP offering.

5. Are we able to use [TC staff] as a reference for this RFQ?

Yes.

6. Should I send [PPQ attachments] to Catherine McCormick as the representative of the contract I am currently under?

See question 5.

7. Do these documents replace or duplicate reports in the CPAR system?

No. The Government may reference multiple sources of past performance information. See

Section L-3.3 (i).

8. I have a hard copy of an evaluation of a contract I worked under for USAID but do not know where the COR is currently working. I will include it in my proposal but I don’t know where to send the questionnaire. Will it substitute for one of the required previous contracts?

Past Performance Questionnaires should be submitted directly from the references to

ModrakER@state.gov. However, the evaluation may be attached to the corresponding Past mailto:ModrakER@state.gov

Performance Information Form for Government evaluation.

9. Question: How can I document my past performance appropriately on Solicitation

SFSIAQ17Q6001, Attachments 1a – PPRIF and 1b – PPIQ, which refer throughout to prior contract performance?

Context: This is my first submission to become a Department of State contractor. I am applying because I gained the relevant qualifications and experience over the past 60 months by working directly with federal employees in the international affairs community and those who have lived and worked oversea. I worked full time [as a direct hire] not under a contract.

If the offeror does not have relevant contract past performance information, they will not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably.

Relevant experience for proposed Key Personnel may be included on the resume provided per L-3.2

Past performance information is proprietary source selection information. The Government will only discuss past performance information directly with the prospective offerors, and information will not be used outside of this particular acquisition.

10. Do I have to email the bid to you in 3 separate attachments? An attachment for each volume?

Yes. See Section L.1:

“Files submitted in response to the solicitation shall be identified as follows:

Volume I - SFSIAQ176001 offer

Volume II - SFSIAQ17Q6001 technical

Volume III - SFSIAQ17Q6001 pricing”

“(e) Quotes volumes and page limitations.

(1) The overall quote shall consist of separate volumes, organized and individually entitled as stated below, with the following page limitations:”

11. Can I get a copy of the past performance questionnaire in Word document?

Yes. A word doc version of the questionnaire has been attached.

12. Who is the current incumbent?

20 BPAs were awarded for this requirement in 2014. The Government continues to place orders from 14 of the original 20 BPA awards. The names of the active BPA awardees are listed below:

1. Alyce P. Hill

2. April Peck Herbert

3. Cheryl K. Thomas Consultant

4. ClearSkye Consulting & Coaching

5. Coaching2Connect

6. Dana Pauli Career Counselor

7. Etta C. Smith

8. Joan Rooney Training and Coaching

9. Lee Hitchcock Lacy

10. MBoss International

11. The Middleburg Group LLC

12. PJF Associates

13. Positive Passages

14. Vivian Kilner

13. Who is the current incumbent?

See Question 12:

14. What is the size of the current contract?

During the past 3 years, the government has required 25-28 contract total JSP counselors per year.

Also, see section C “The number of required contract counselors per JSP will vary based on the number of program participants and available Government staff. The Government estimates approximately 28 contract Counselors may be required per calendar year, with the

August JSP program requiring the most contract counselors (estimated 12-14).”

15. How many references do you require? Shall I send three forms to each: the cover letter, the

RFQ – SFSIAQ17Q6001 form, and also the questionnaire RFQ – SFSIAQ17Q6001?

See Section L-3.3—“the offeror will provide at least three but not more than five examples of successful past performance.”

16. For the last attachment, there are 59 pages. Do I just submit the first page to you?

See Section L.2—“The offeror shall submit only those pages that require input of information or a signature.”

17. Some questions:

a. 12 - Can I leave "discount terms" blank? I don't know what it means.

Yes

b. 17 - I can put my contact number and my DUNS number. Is that sufficient? I don't know what the Offeror code or the facility code are.

Yes, contact number and DUNS are sufficient.

c. 23 and 24 - Is the "unit price" my hourly rate? Is the "amount" my hourly rate times the maximum number of hours for this project, according to page 8 of the last attachment?

(110 hours). Should I base it on the average number of hours (101) noted on page 8?

What would happen if I put a lower number of hours (the minimum is 95), and they ended up needing me for more than that number?

Contractors will not be paid on an hourly basis. Awarded contractors will be paid on a firm fixed price basis and will receive the fully loaded firm-fixed price session rate that is included in BPA award upon successful completion of services for one JSP. Please see

Section B.4 and C.1 “Firm Fixed Price Session Rate Pricing.” This is not a solicitation for labor hour services and contractors will not bill on an hourly basis.

18. Will you please confirm that all materials are due - to you - by 5:00 pm on June 5, 2017?

See Question 1.

19. Pg. 1, Item 10. Small business. I am a sole proprietor with no employees but I am not registered with the Small Business Administration as a small business. Do I still qualify as a small business?

In order to be eligible for BPA award, offerors must have:

An Active entity registration in SAM the “System for Award Management,” with a Purpose of Registration: “All Awards” at the time of award, with completed representations and certifications that indicate that the offeror is a small business under the applicable size standard for NAICS code 611430.

That size standard is $11,000,000 in annual receipts.

20. Pg. 8: Fair Opportunity Procedures. I understand the "rotation order" will be to try to distribute JSP opportunities fairly equally among all BPA awardees, and a "randomized order" will be used to start the rotation. Is this correct?

Yes. In order to maintain a broad pool of active BPAs to provide JSP counselor services, the

COR will utilize the rotation order explained in this section to give first opportunity to BPA holders who have delivered less JSP counselor services. Fair opportunity will be considered on the BPA award level, so if a BPA holder has more than one JSP counselor available they shall still only receive one opportunity in the rotation.

21. Pg. 21. H5 (2). Key personnel: I have no key personnel and will not hire anyone in my stead to deliver the JSP. Am I considered key personnel since I will be delivering the services?

Yes.

22. Pg. 32. J1. Attachment A: this will be made available to us if we win the award, correct? I didn't see this attachment on the solicitation

Yes. The COR delegation memo will be provided to awardees at the time of BPA award.

23. Pg. 44, 5(h) 1, 2, 3, 4: Certification regarding responsibility matters: I need to respond to these questions, correct?

Please see Section K page 33:

The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award

Management (SAM) website located at https://www.sam.gov/portal. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (u) of this provision.

Also, see Section L.2 page 56:

(d) Representations and certifications.

(1) If the offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management website in accordance with the provision at FAR

52.204-8, Annual Representations and Certifications and those representations and certifications are current, accurate, complete, and applicable to this solicitation, the offeror does not need to resubmit such representations and certifications in response to this solicitation. However, if any of these annual representations and certifications requires a change, the offeror shall submit those changes in accordance with FAR 52.204-8. The offeror shall also complete any additional representations, certifications or other statements required in this solicitation's Section K, Representations, certifications, and other statements of the offeror.

(2) If the offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management, the offeror shall complete and provide all of the representations, certifications, and other statements of the offeror as required in this solicitation's Section K.

24. Pg. 47-48: 5n2 i and ii: what is an "inverted domestic corporation"?

See page 35: "Inverted domestic corporation", means a foreign incorporated entity that meets the definition of an inverted domestic corporation under 6 U.S.C. 395(b), applied in accordance with the rules and definitions of 6 U.S.C. 395(c).

25. Attachment 1a: Item 1. "customer" - I assume the customer is the person from whom I am requesting the reference. Is this correct?

Yes

26. 9a and 9b: "program or project manager, quality assurance representative, or other customer technical representative" - this refers to the person whom I have selected to fill out this form for my evaluation, correct?

Yes

27. Attachment 1b: I have identified a person to be my evaluator. Many of these functions to be evaluated fall outside the parameters of the job of the JSP counselor, so the correct response might be NA. Some of the functions, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 relate to pricing issues that this former participant would not know about, so the correct response might be DK. Is this a correct understanding of how the questions should be answered?

Yes, however the evaluators should complete the forms independently and return them directly to the Government.

28. If we have proof that we have already taken and learned Myers Briggs under an accredited program is that enough. The certification is $1800.00. Can this be obtained after the award?

No. A copy of the certification must be provided within the quote. Additional information regarding MBTI certification has been provided. Please see the updates in Sections C.1 and

L-3.2.