U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Contracting Officer (fp), 15 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT 06320-4195

U -- UNIFIED COMMAND POST TRAINING FOR MARINE SPILL RESPONSE WITHIN U.S. COAST GUARD DISTRICT ONE Sol DTCG39-95-B-E00229. Due 050595. Contact Point, Caroline Bennington, Contract Specialist, (203) 444-8665, Patricia L. McIlwain, Contracting Officer, (203) 444-8242. Proposed procurement is 100% Small Business Set-Aside; SIC Code 8748; Size Standard $3.5 million. Acquisition will be accomplished using the ``Two-Step Sealed Bidding'' method. STEP ONE, the contractor will submit a written proposal to provide multiple offerings of a comprehensive, one-week training program to selected Unified Command Post personnel, at designated locations within U.S. Coast Guard District One. The specific requirements of this training will be contained with the Request for Proposal (RFP) package. Interested contractors should have strong Incident Command System (ICS) training credentials. Those contractors determined to have presented an acceptable written proposal will be invited to present a lecture/exercise demonstration at a location within U.S. Coast Guard District One. Offerors should submit proposals that are acceptable without additonal explanation or information; the Government will make a final determination regarding a proposal's acceptability solely on the basis of the proposal as submitted, and the Government will proceed with the issuance of lecture/exercise demonstration invitations without requesting further information from any offeror. Time contraints preclude the submission of additional clarifying or supplemental information to make unacceptable proposals acceptable. Notice of unacceptability will be forwarded to the offeror upon completion of the proposal evaluation process and final determination of unacceptability. Only one technical proposal may be submitted by each offeror. Technical proposals shall not include prices or pricing information. STEP TWO, all offerors with acceptable technical proposals and acceptable lecture/exercise demonstrations will receive an Invitation for Bid (IFB). Bids must be based on the bidder's own technical proposal. Contract award will be made to that responsive, responsible lowest price bidder whose technical proposal and lecture/exercise demonstration has been approved during Step One. This information is not binding on the Government and the actual delivery/performance requirements will be contained in the invitation issued under Step Two. Requests for Step One RFP packages must be made in writing to Superintendent (fp), U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 15 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT 06320-4195 and must specify the solicitation number. No telephone requests accepted. For Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises: The Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), has programs to assist minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises to acquire short-term working capital and bonding assistance for transportation-related contracts. This is applicable to any eligible prime or subcontract at any tier. The DOT Bonding Assistance Program enables firms to apply for bid, performance and payment bonds up to $1.0 million per contract. The DOT provides an 80% guaranty on the bond amount to a surety against losses. Loans are also available under the DOT Short Term Lending Program (STLP) at prime interest rates to provide accounts receivable financing. The maximum line of credit is $500,000. For further information and applicable forms concerning Bonding Assistance program and/or the STLP, please call the OSDBU at (800) 532-1169. (062)

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