Sole Source Notice for the Refurbishment of 57 Vectronic Vertex Plus-2 GPS location collars

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)/ National Wildlife Center in Fort Collins, CO intends to award a sole source, Purchase Order to Vectronic Aerospace GmbH of Berlin, Germany for the refurbishment of 57 Vectronic Vertex Plus-2 GPS location collars. Total cost is anticipated at $38,670.00. This total represents a 60-75% savings vs. the purchase price of new collars, and therefore, the PO pricing is considered fair and reasonable.

This procurement is being conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106(b)(1)(i). The property or services needed by the executive agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the executive agency.

The USDA/APHIS/WS-National Wildlife Center currently own multiple collars and base stations of this same make and model and have access to feral swine already wearing same-model collars in several areas across the US. The ability to collect information on interactions among collared animals and visitation to sensitive sites such as nest of Endangered Species or entrances to domestic swine production facilities is invaluable and supports the refurbishment of devices capable and compatible of interaction with existing equipment.

The Feral Swine Project of the USDA APHIS WS National Wildlife Research Center is responsible for many facets of research on ecology and damage of feral swine in the US. Due to the secretive nature of feral swine, devices such as GPS collars are a necessity for collecting important information on the target species. Furthermore, the acceptance of catching and then releasing a target and persecuted animal such as feral swine is often low to non-existent. To enable us to catch and release target individuals becomes acceptable when we are able to locate and target the animals real time via Iridium equipped GPS collars such as these ones being refurbished. Lastly, this collar make and model has the capability of interacting with like collars, as well as stationary base stations, enabling us to collect information on interactions among collared animals as well as visitation to precise locations on the landscape. This interaction capability is available from one other company; however, their devices cannot communicate with the collars and bait stations we have invested in to this point.

This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive proposals. No solicitation documents are available and telephone requests will not be honored. However, if a firm believes it can meet the refurbishing requirements, it must email information about its products and services to the Contracting Officer by 3:00pm central time (CT) on the closing date of this notice. Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficient detail to demonstrate the ability to comply with the above requirement.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811213 - Communications Equipment Repair and Maintenance. The small business size standard is $11 million in annual sales.

Responses received after the response date or without the required information will be deemed nonresponsive to the synopsis and will not be considered. Capability statements may be sent to: Michael Chiodi, Contracting Officer, USDA-APHIS-MRPBS, AAMD Procurement Branch, via email at michael.j.chiodi@aphis.usda.gov.