2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony

Amendment 0001

The Combined Synopsis/Solicitation and RFQ are amended to provide the following responses to questions received:

1. Will the Department consider other than the "preferred dates" listed? Yes, the Department will consider dates in the last week of October and the first two weeks in December.

2. Will the Department consider room blocks less than the 750 and 800? Yes. The peak night guestroom listed in the RFQ is the maximum number of rooms required. The Department will consider room blocks lower than 750/800 but no less than 600 on peak nights.

3. Will the Department consider extending the quote due date? Yes, the quote due date is extended to 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

End of Amendment.

Original Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. The solicitation for commercial services is being conducted in conjunction with FAR Part 13. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation NBRS-EMS2019-01 is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC_2019-01. The NAICS Code is 721110, Hotels (Not Casino) and Motels, and small business size standard is $32.5M.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has a requirement to obtain meeting space and hotel guest room accommodations for the 2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools (NBRS) Award Ceremony in November 2019. The preferred dates for the ceremony are November 6-7, November 13-14, or November 18-19, 2019. In addition, the Department is soliciting quotes for an Optional Task for "The National Principals Leadership Development Summit". This optional summit would take place the day prior to the start of the NBRS Awards Ceremony and include NBRS attendees, as well as State and Local legislators and other nationally recognized members of the education community. The RFQ includes requirements for this Optional Task, to be exercised at the Department's discretion. Quotes that offer Federal Holiday dates will be rejected. Please be advised that November 11 and November 28, 2019 are Federal Holidays.

Quoters that can meet the NBRS ceremony requirement but NOT the Optional Summit requirement are encouraged to submit a quote for the NBRS requirement only. The Department is especially interested in receiving as many quotes as possible for the larger NBRS requirement and, therefore, will consider awards to quoters that cannot meet the Summit requirement. Quotes should clearly identify whether the quote is for both the NBRS AND Summit requirements, or just the NBRS requirement. The Department is open to soliciting the Summit requirement separately, if necessary, but is hoping to leverage the space and rooms for the NBRS requirement, if possible. For this solicitation, the Department is not looking for, and will not consider, quotes that can only meet the Summit requirement.

AREA OF CONSIDERATION: The Washington, DC Metropolitan area, including Maryland and Virginia hotels with ready access to public transportation options offered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Large hotels capable of blocking 500 or more sleeping rooms, plus meeting space that can accommodate 900 - 1200 attendees in rounds, will be considered. The majority of lodging and conference rooms must be at the same general location. The Department will consider hotel partnering arrangements where sleeping room accommodations within close proximity of each other are proposed. At this time, there is no flexibility with the area of consideration.

The firm selected to receive an offer from the Department is required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) and to maintain active registration during the life of the purchase order. SAM can be accessed at https://www.sam.gov. Firms shall include their DUNS number in their quote. If the firm does not have a DUNS number, it should contact Dun and Bradstreet directly to obtain one. The firm selected for an offer from the Department will need to provide Offeror Representations and Certifications prior to any award. Also, contractors should note the requirement to submit invoices electronically by means of the web-based system, Invoice Processing Platform (IPP).

All interested, responsible sources may submit a quote directly to the U.S. Department of Education. Any quote from a source other than the hotel or lodging venue itself must include written evidence that the quoter is currently authorized to submit binding quotes on behalf of the venue whose accommodations and/or facility are being offered. Evidence shall include a signed agreement between the vendor and the quoter. Quotes that fail to provide such evidence shall be deemed technically unacceptable and will not be considered for award.

CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS:

Submit all clarification questions concerning this solicitation in writing via E-Mail to Gary Weaver, Contracting Officer, at Gary.Weaver@ed.gov. ED will accept clarification questions until 12:00 pm EST on Thursday, March 7, 2019. After this date ED does not guarantee that a response will be given.

QUOTE DUE DATE:

Quotes are due by 2:00 pm EST, on Thursday, March 14, 2019 to Gary Weaver, Contracting Officer, at Gary.Weaver@ed.gov. The Department will make an award decision as soon as possible after the quote due date so that a room block, space, etc. can be locked in.

PLEASE SEE THE COMPLETE RFQ UPLOADED AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT FOR COMPLETE REQUIREMENTS, BASIS FOR AWARD, AND COMPLETE QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS.

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