Benefit Connect Licenses

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is conducting a sole source solicitation to procure Benefit Connect (BC) licenses and system support from Willis Towers Watson (WTW) to enable PBGC staff to access essential data for managing benefits for approximately 90,000 participants in the Sears Pension plans. The procurement specifically requires 10 read-only user licenses, system support, data center cloud migration assistance, monthly maintenance, SOC1 user access reviews, and three hours of monthly system administration support, along with historical pension plan data including full case master tables and PDF calculation audits. The contract will enable PBGC personnel to conduct research, execute benefit calculations, and manage participant benefits through this specialized benefit administration support system. Evaluation will be based on technical capability and price reasonableness, with no trade-offs allowed between technical and price factors. The solicitation deadline has been extended to June 20, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, with the contract period of performance running from June 20, 2025, to June 19, 2026, and an option for an additional 12-month extension through May 31, 2027.

This procurement is not designated as a small business set-aside and falls under NAICS code 525110 (Pension Funds) with a small business size standard of $40 million. Willis Towers Watson is identified as the sole source contractor due to their proprietary ownership of the Benefit Connect system and exclusive access to the critical Sears pension plan data required for PBGC's operations. The total estimated contract value is $515,060.40, covering the base year with an optional extension period, with additional direct costs not to exceed $500 per period. The contract requires delivery of 10 licenses within five business days of award, monthly status reports due on the first workday of each month, and historical data delivery within 180 days of contract award using secured file transfer methods. Performance will primarily support PBGC's Office of Benefits Administration in Washington, DC, where staff will utilize the system to complete participant data reviews, valuations, and benefit determination letters for the Sears pension plans that were formally trusteed by PBGC in February 2019.