Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 11, 2018 FBO #5924
DOCUMENT

R -- Voice of the Veteran Customer Service Satisfaction Survey for the VBA Insurance Call Center and Fiduciary Program Discovery and Survey Design Satisfaction Research Program. - Attachment

Notice Date

2/9/2018
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Strategic Acquisition Center - Frederick;Department of Veterans Affairs;321 Ballenger Center Drive, Suite 125;Frederick MD 21703
 

ZIP Code

21703
 

Solicitation Number

36C10X18Q0082
 

Archive Date

2/15/2018
 

Point of Contact

Roxana Cepeda
 

E-Mail Address

5-1635<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

36C10X18C0021
 

Award Date

1/31/2018
 

Awardee

BOWEN CONSULTING GROUP, INC., THE;10 CENTER ST STE 103;STAFFORD;VA;22556
 

Award Amount

$596,549.36
 

Description

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Office of Acquisition Operations Strategic Acquisition Center Frederick 321 Ballenger Center Drive, Suite 125 Frederick, MD 21703 Page 1 of 4 Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition 6.302-5 Authorized or required by statute 1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity. This Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center in Frederick, Maryland on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Benefits Assistance Service (BAS). 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This action is a non-competitive award (sole-source) with The Bowen Consulting Group, LLC. (Bowen), a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), for the procurement of VBA Insurance Call Center and Fiduciary Program Discovery and Survey Design Satisfaction Research Program. This sole source is necessary because VBA s customer satisfaction research programs provide valuable feedback from Service members, Veterans and their dependents, and such feedback enables the administration to know what is most important to its customers in order to continue its modernization efforts, identify key performance indicators, and achieve the Secretary s priorities (Greater Choice for Veterans, Modernize our Systems, Focus our Resources more Efficiently, Improve Timeliness of Services, and Suicide Prevention). 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency s needs (including the estimated value). The proposed action will develop survey instruments for the VBA Fiduciary Service and Insurance Service Call Center. This requirement was identified during FY17. The new requirement would require a discovery session with each division and the creation of new survey instruments. An independent government cost estimate (IGCE) placed the cost of the new survey development at $596,549.36. An account with the One VA Plus (1VA+) for the FY17 funding was created to protect the approved funding. The period of performance is from January 31, 2018 until January 30, 2019. The contractor shall offer Program Management in accordance with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The contractor shall develop materials such as interview guides to be utilized during virtual and onsite discovery meetings for each business line. The contractor shall utilize this knowledge to develop a survey instrument design for each division. They will also provide support during the development of the survey methodology and cognitive lab testing. These survey instruments will help VA improve the Veteran experience by understanding the customer s perspective during select interactions with the VA. If this additional support is not obtained, VA will not have the necessary skills or resources to design a survey instrument that captures the program needs. 4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this procurement is Public Law (PL) 109-461, Veterans First Contracting Program, as codified at 38 U.S.C. 8127 and 8128 and implemented at Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) Subsection 819.7007. 5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. 38 U.S.C. 8127(c) permits a contracting officer to award a contract to a Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) verified SDVOSB using procedures other than competition if: such concern is determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance of such contract opportunity; the anticipated award price of the contract (including options) will exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (as defined in section 134 of title 41) but will not exceed $5,000,000; and in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States. The proposed action meets all three of the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 8127(c). Bowen has been verified by CVE as owned and controlled by a service-disabled veteran and has the corporate knowledge to develop materials such as interview guides to be utilized virtually and onsite. Bowen has successfully provided services similar to the required services to other agencies and was initially awarded the competitively procured Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Voice of the Veteran. Bowen s quote was determined the best value to the Government based on the merits of the quote. Therefore, VA sent the solicitation to Bowen for the first call order. Subsequently, the BPA was protested and VA took corrective action. Regardless, the Contracting Officer initially found Bowen to offer the best value, reasonable price, and made a determination of responsibility prior to the protest. Bowen is also registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) as an SDVOSB under the applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541611 for Administrative Management Consulting Services. As such, Bowen is determined to be a responsible source with respect to performance of this opportunity. The anticipated award price of the contract is $596,549.36 and, therefore, does not exceed the statutory threshold of $5,000,000. The contracting officer estimates that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States. Bowen has already competed and was initially awarded the Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with the VA for the Voice of the Veteran (VOV) program Bowen used their General Schedule Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) rates for the VOV competition. In accordance with FAR 8.404 (d), GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services, and rates for services offered at hourly rates, under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable.. Most importantly, the contracting officer will not award a contract without first determining that the proposed price is fair and reasonable and the offer represents best value. 6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies. In accordance with 819.7007(b), the determination to make a sole source award to an SDVOSB is a business decision wholly within the discretion of the contracting officer; therefore, the requirement to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable is not applicable to this procurement. In addition, 819.7007(c) further authorizes the contracting officer to make the award without first determining that only one SDVOSB source can meet the requirement. This effort was intended to be the first call order under the competitively awarded BPA; however, the protest and subsequent corrective action precluded award as an order. VA had solicited the order prior to corrective action determination. The funding associated with this action expires January 31, 2018 and the effort is required prior to that time. Future actions will be competed to the fullest extent practicable. The agency will make publicly available the justification required by 6.305(a) within 14 days after contract award. 7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the costs to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on historical pricing data agreed to in one or more VA contracts for the same or similar services. 8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted. VA conducted extensive market research and The Strategic Acquisition Center Frederick (SAC-F) solicited a set aside procurement to SDVOSBs via General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 874-1 for the VOV BPA. Award of the BPA was finalized in November 17, 2017 and after award decision SAC-F received a protest. Determinations were made in December 2017 to take corrective action of the award decision in order to re-evaluate due to a minor error. Market research was conducted using CVE s Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database to ensure that Bowen is verified by CVE as an SDVOSB. The VIP search confirmed that Bowen is verified by CVE. In addition, Bowen has been determined to be responsible, and is registered in the SAM as a small business under the relevant NAICS code. 9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition. The FAR allows restrictive provisions or conditions to the extent necessary to satisfy the needs of the agency or as authorized by law (FAR Subsection 11.002(a)(1)(ii)). As such, the Government has discretion to reasonably restrict competition as long as that requirement is needed to meet the agency s minimum need. 10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. None. 11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. The awarded VOV BPA was competed and it was initially determined that the Bowen Group provided the best value to the Government. Due to the delays based on the protest and the corrective action, a sole-source contract will be for 12 months for the required services. Future actions will be competed to the fullest extent practicable.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/AFMLOVASS/VASSMD/Awards/36C10X18C0021.html)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: 36C10X18C0021 36C10X18C0021_2.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=4076516&FileName=36C10X18C0021-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=4076516&FileName=36C10X18C0021-000.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN04818428-W 20180211/180209231032-5a4b5b15978de2651ef9d695e7759635 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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