U.S. Maritime Administration, Office of Acquisition, 400 7th St., SW, Room 7310, Mar-380 Washington, DC 20590

73 -- FOOD SERVICES FOR THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY AT KINGS POINT, NY. Sol DTMA91-96-R-00004 Due 082096 POC Krista N. French, Contract Specialist. The purpose of this solicitation is to provide food services for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy located in Kings Point, New York. Through full and open competition, the Maritime Administration intends to make an award in December 1996, for food services at the USMMA. The Contractor shall furnish food handling services consisting of (i) management and operation of food handling facilities, kitchens, and dining operation of food handling facilities, kitchens, and dining halls, and (ii) purchase, receipt, storage, handling, processing, cooking, packaging, serving and disposal of food at the locations and for the period of time set forth in the contract. The Contractor will be responsible for preparing and serving approximately 650 cadets per meal. The Contractor shall also provide a vehicle (off-road is acceptable) to transport food service items or supplies to various on campus destinations. The contractor shall be responsible for cleaning and sanitation within the food preparation and general area of the dining facilities, including removal of discarded/excess food and dirty plates/utensils from the tables, and removal/replacement of soiled table linens. Breakfast and dinner meals will be served buffet style. Lunch will be served family style to the Midshipmen. The contractor shall also be responsible for serving meals in the Topside Dining Room and other dining area for Academy functions. All interested contractors should submit a written request to the Contract Specialist above. The Competitive Range will be limited to a maximum of 3 proposals. The Government requests best offers be submitted, as award may be without discussions. ``This Notice is for informational purposes for Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises: The Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), has a program to assist minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises to acquire short-term working capital assistance for enterprises to acquire short-term working capital assistance for transportation related contracts. Loans are 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 the STLP, call the OSDBU at (800)532-1169. For information concerning the acquisition, contact the contracting official listed above. (184)

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