SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION FOR CONTRACT C2430109901
- Notice Date
- 9/25/2010
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- Contracting Office
- WASO - WCP - Denver Contracting & Procurement 7333 W. Jefferson Avenue Lakewood CO 80235
- ZIP Code
- 80235
- Archive Date
- 9/25/2011
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION(JOFOC)Over $100,000 (FAR 6.303-2) 1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity: National Park Service(NPS)/WASO-WCP 2.Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved: Operational Leadership ProgramThe NPS requires the development and production of course materials for a range of risk management training, and the development of a complimentary facilitator instructor course. Because close to 3,000 NPS employees have been trained on a specific risk management curriculum, which is copyrighted, a sole source contract shall be issued to California Training Institute (CTI), 1831 Quail Court, Saint Helena, CA 94574.3. A Description of the Supplies or Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs, Including the Estimated Value:The NPS requires the development of the following courses, including curriculum and materials, using the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Team Coordination Training (TCT) as the foundation."NPS All-Employee Operational Leadership Basic/Content Course 16 Hour Course"NPS Operational Leadership Leader Course 8 Hour Course"Orientation to Operational Leadership 2 Hour Course"Operational Leadership (Basic) Facilitator Training & Skill Development Course (Train the Trainer): 16 Hour Course"In addition to developing the above courses, the NPS requires that the contractor provide approximately 7, 16 hour training sessions on the Operational Leadership (Basic) Facilitator Training & Skill Development Course (Train the Trainer)"In addition, in the four option years, the NPS may require that the contractor provide reviews and updates of the curriculum and materials. This will require approximately 80 hours of effort in each option year. Estimated Value of the Procurement: $266,605 4.An Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition: USC 2304 - FAR 6.302-1 (a)(iii) - Only One Responsible Source 5.A Demonstration That the Proposed Contractor's Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited: As early as 2004, NPS rangers began searching for programs/mechanisms to address behaviors that were associated with the serious injury and death of NPS employees engaged in law enforcement and emergency response. Repeated attempts over the history of the NPS to improve the safety and health of its employees were not proven effective in addressing the fundamental reason employees are injured - unsafe behavior and practices. As a result of this search, only one program was found to uniquely address behavior. The Team Coordination Training (the U.S. Coast Guard version of Operational Risk Management(ORM)) was evaluated and selected as the best mechanism for NPS adaption of risk management principles and tools for the field. While other military ORM versions existed i.e. USAF, and were familiar to the ranger workforce, the USCG version provided a curriculum and tools most closely identified to NPS ranger needs and best suited for NPS application. While information on USCG Team Coordination Training was available on the internet, NPS rangers met with and received teaching materials, background information, stories of success, and offers of assistance from the USCG in order to export the program to the NPS. USCG indicated that the program was property of the Coast Guard and NPS was free to use it in any way we wanted. Initially, at least 21 "training courses" were piloted to NPS managers and work groups, including Regional Directorates and the Safety Leadership Council, in order to audition the merits of Team Coordination Training. Unanimous support from senior staff provided validation that TCT was the best ORM course to satisfy ranger workforce needs. Rangers in the Pacific West Region renamed the USCG TCT to "Operational Leadership" and began a significant push to adopt the USCG content into NPS content. While there are other ORM models that could be used, since they all basically use the same fundamental principles of risk management, they are very different in their application, and that is a fundamental difference. The Operational Leadership model is unique and the NPS has embraced, and invested in, that unique approach. The NPS has invested significant resources to train employees as collateral-duty Operational Leadership instructors. To date, almost 3,000 employees have been trained on Operational Leadership with the core information provided by the USCG and a cadre of 36 active NPS employees has been established to instruct on Operational Leadership principles, tools, and techniques specific to the program. As a result of this training,the application of tools and techniques, such as the Green Amber Red(GAR) model of Operational Leadership into various levels of the NPS organization including the field level, supervisory levels, and management levels along with its emphasis on applying the content appropriately at those various levels distinguishes Operational Leadership from others. A primary strength that has made the underlying content come alive is the organization and presentation of the content into various chapters of learning including Leadership, Stress and Performance, Situational Awareness, etc. and the way that it incorporates an adult learning model into a system of "facilitating" and instructing the content. Other programs are geared towards the field practitioner level and do not adequately bring the concepts to the programmatic level. Other programs focus almost entirely on the activity and the immediate environment, but do not place the activity as well into the underlying organizational and programmatic context, which the GAR model does. Operational Leadership is "grass-roots" and employee-based, which in the world of a field ranger, is crucial for buy-in and success. Operational Leadership has become part of the NPS vocabulary The Safety Leadership Council adopted Operational Leadership as 1 of 4 action items to integrate safety into NPS Mission, work ethic, and behavior. Operational Leadership is the one behavior-based program to combine with our traditional safety programs in order to enhance our culture of safety and reduce NPS accident, injury and fatality rates. Operational Leadership is seen and accepted as the model that will eventually result in a shift in the way all employees recognize and evaluate risk. Employees champion the program across the field including collateral-duty instructors, regional operational leadership coordinators, and hundreds who practice the principles and tools every day. GAR models are actively used to assess team and park operations and programs. Operational Leadership concepts are being interwoven into other NPS programs especially Wildland Fire. Operational Leadership sessions are now a part of NPS Fundamentals Training, and becoming incorporated into the Superintendents Academy, the Facility Manager Development Program, Supervisory training, and U.S. Park Police operations. A change now - just when the program is becoming ingrained in our workforce and ready to bloom - would erase progress from the past six years. In December 2009, in an attempt to formalize the Operational Leadership materials/courses, a solicitation was issued to have contractors utilize the TCT program from the USCG as a starting point and then revise it to be more NPS specific. However, prior to award of the resultant contract, CTI asserted that the information in the TCT guide was not the property of the USCG to utilize as previously represented, and that using these guides by any other contractor would be copyright infringement. Therefore, since CTI has the copyright on the USCG TCT materials, and an extensive amount of money and resources have already been expended to train NPS employees on these principles, CTI is the Only Responsible Source IAW FAR 6.302-1. 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 FAR Subpart 5.2 and, If Not, Which Exception Under FAR 5.202 Applies: As discussed previously, a solicitation was issued to have contractors utilize the TCT program from the USCG as a starting point and then revise it to be more NPS specific. However, prior to award of the resultant contract, CTI asserted that the information in the TCT guide was not the property of the USCG to utilize as previously represented, and that using these guides by any other contractor would be copyright infringement. A notice stating our intent to award a sole source contract to CTI shall be posted in accordance with FAR Part 5.2. 7.A Determination By the Contracting Officer That the Anticipated Cost to the Government Will Be Fair and Reasonable: Price analysis shall be conducted in accordance with FAR 15.4 prior to award of any contract to CTI in order to determine the cost of the contract fair and reasonable to the government. 8.A Description of the Market Research Conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the Results or a Statement of the Reason Market Research Was Not Conducted: As discussed previously, there are other ORM models provided by other contractors that use the same fundamental principles of risk management. However, they are very different in their application, and that is a fundamental difference. The Operational Leadership model contained in the USCG TCT materials is unique, has been adopted by the NPS for numerous years, and CTI has the copyright to those materials. 9.Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition:NONE10. A Listing of the Sources, If Any, That Expressed in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: The following contractors submitted proposals in response to Solicitation N2430100003, which was issued based on the understanding NPS could utilize the USCG TCT materials as the basis for a competitive solicitation: Soaring Eagle EnterprisesPO Box 35707 Las Vegas, NV 89133-5707 California Training Institute1831 Quail CourtSaint Helena, CA 94574 Strategos Training1330 Orange AveCoronado, CA 92118 DB Associates of Wisconsin, LLC5702 Glenway StreetMcFarland, WI 53558 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 NPS plans to obtain unlimited data rights from CTI for the deliverables in the sole source contract. Therefore any further modifications of the course materials will be able to be done via competitive contract action or via NPS personnel. However, if the cost of unlimited data rights is cost prohibitive, then the NPS may negotiate other data rights.
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