Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF APRIL 24, 2011 FBO #3438
SOLICITATION NOTICE

U -- TPCC INTERAGENCY TRADE OFFICER TRAINING

Notice Date

4/22/2011
 

Notice Type

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
 

NAICS

611430 — Professional and Management Development Training
 

Contracting Office

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, SSMC4 - Room 7601/OFA61, 1305 East West Highway, 7th Floor, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910
 

ZIP Code

20910
 

Solicitation Number

TACS11091102576
 

Archive Date

5/21/2011
 

Point of Contact

Alisa R. Sydnor,
 

E-Mail Address

alisa.sydnor@noaa.gov
(alisa.sydnor@noaa.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial item prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Quote number TACS1109-11-02576. The RFQ document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition. This acquisition is full and open. NAICS code 611430. This requirement is to acquire Developing and Conducting Training Program-FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend Term of Contract, 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. Options will be exercised by issuance of modification. Provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial, applies to this acquisition and a statement regarding any addenda to the provision. Clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and a statement regarding which, if any, of the additional FAR clauses cited in the clause are applicable as follows; 52.222-3, 52.222-19, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.232-33, 52217-8. Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating, not applicable. In accordance with FAR Part 52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items (Jan 1999), the Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation is the most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate offers based on the Lowest-Priced Technically Acceptable (LPTA) methodology. Evaluation Criteria-Upon receipt of quotes, the Government will evaluate the cost and technical quotes for the following: (1) technical requirements (2) corporate and personnel experience and (3) past performance. The contractor shall demonstrated breadth and depth of expertise in federal trade promotion services, including, federal export assistance programs, trade finance services, foreign market access and trade agreements compliance initiatives and services, U.S. export regulatory compliance and customs procedures, and special issues affecting exporters such as product standards and intellectual property rights. In addition, the Contractor shall have experience designing and delivering courses for the government on trade-related topics, and demonstrated ability to call on representatives of major U.S. companies and trade associations to present international trade case studies. Quote should include indications of previous relevant work and biographical information on contractor personnel. It is the offeror responsibility to monitor this site for the release of amendments (if any). All provisions and clauses listed above can be referenced and viewed through Internet access at http://farsite.hill.af.mil. Offerors must be registered with the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) prior to award. The ORCA website address is https://orca.bpn.gov/ All contractors are required to register in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). If not already registered, you should immediately register with CCR by calling 1-888-227-2423 or via the Internet at https://www.ccr.dlis.dla.mil/ccr/scripts/index.html. Contractors are required to have a Dun & Bradstreet number (DUNS) in order to be registered in the CCR database. Lack of registration prior to award may make an offeror ineligible for award. A contractor can receive a DUNS number by calling Dun & Bradstreet at (800) 333-0505. Internet registration takes approximately 72 hours: mail-in registration takes approximately 30 days. Interested parties must submit any questions in writing, via email: alisa.sydnor@noaa.gov. no telephone request will be accepted questions should be received no later than April 29, 2011 at noon EST. It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure that all quotations and required supporting documents are received at the following address on or before April 6, 2011 @ 11:59 am (est) at the address: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration AGO/NCAD-1305 East-West Highway SSMC 4 RM 7543-Silver Spring, MD 20910 Alisa R. Sydnor - Contract Specialist, 301-713-0838 ext 203 The quote should not exceed 10 pages and should be submitted in hard copy (6 copies) and electronically. Background-The Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) is a Congressionally-mandated interagency task force made up of the heads of the 20 U.S. Government agencies with oversight of, or responsibility for, trade and is chaired by the Secretary of Commerce. The TPCC was created by the Export Enhancement Act of 1992 to coordinate the export promotion and export finance activities of the U.S. Government. One of the chief duties of the TPCC is to ensure better delivery of services to U.S. businesses. The mission of the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), is to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promote trade and investment, and ensure fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. Because of the broader responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce beyond trade, the Under Secretary for ITA serves as the de facto Deputy Chair of the TPCC. For this reason, the TPCC Secretariat is located within ITA. One of the mandates of the legislation which created the TPCC is a yearly report due to Congress detailing the National Export Strategy. The 2002 National Export Strategy Report called on the trade promotion agencies to develop a training program to improve customer service by strengthening interagency cooperation and client management. Prior research indicated that customer service would improve if trade promotion staff in each agency had a more sophisticated understanding of the programs of other Federal agencies in addition to their own, and how they all interrelate, in order to best serve the needs of their clients. Based on these identified needs and priorities, the TPCC created the TPCC Interagency Trade Officer Training Program in 2003, conducting three four-day sessions that year with the support of temporarily assigned staff and a contractor. In 2004, the TPCC retained a full-service contractor to continue developing the curriculum and to organize and facilitate three training sessions. In 2005, the program was extended through 2007 with an award and subsequent exercise of two option year renewals. In 2008, the Program was again extended through 2010 with an award and subsequent exercise of two option year renewals. The TPCC plans not only to continue this training but to intensify the level of it, given the strong support from TPCC member agencies, strong participant feedback, and especially, the strong underpinning it provides for the Presidential National Export Initiative recommendations calling for training programs to strengthen federal support of small business exporters (this is the directive created by Presidential Executive Order 13534 this past year).Objective-The intent of implementing a dynamic training program for Government trade assistance staff is not only to increase their knowledge and understanding of the array of Government assistance programs available to businesses, but also to improve the communication between the trade promotion agencies and the working relationships between Government trade assistance staff. All of this is directed toward improving the coordination of and collaboration by the programs and the leveraging of resources toward cross-governmental trade promotion priorities-with the ultimate goal of better equipping the Government trade officer (no matter which agency he/she works for) to be able to direct the business client to that part of the Government which can best serve him in his desire to either begin exporting or to increase how much he exports. This obviously becomes an all-around win-win-win situation for the business-person, the people to whom the business-person subsequently provides jobs, and for the country's economy as a whole. Scope of Work-The contractor shall train government business assistance representatives (both managers and staff), to accurately and holistically gauge their customers' needs. This addresses at a specific level; the full array of Federal export promotion, finance, advocacy, market access, and regulatory compliance programs and services that are available, as well as at a broader level; issues surrounding the changing global marketplace. Requirement-The contractor shall provide: 4.1Organization and facilitation of three each year, after extensive consultation with and guidance from the TPCC Training Director4.1.1The duration of each session shall be four days unless otherwise agreed to by the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR). 4.2Scheduling and arrangement for expert presenters from across the Federal Government and private sector 4.3Ongoing development of curriculum topics in response to feedback 4.4Curriculum content and materials reflecting current Government trade promotion and policy priorities 4.5Course content and materials shall give participants a clear understanding of:4.5.1Competitive pressures in the global economy and their impact on the customer service expectations of U.S. companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises4.5.2Best practices Government can employ to create customer value and seamless service delivery across agencies4.5.3Export counseling, marketing, and matchmaking programs throughout Government4.5.4Federal information resources and IT tools for exporters4.5.5Trade financing challenges and Federal financing and risk management solutions4.5.6Federal trade advocacy, foreign market access, and trade agreements compliance services, including resources for addressing standards and intellectual property issues 4.5.7Leveraging interagency resources in pursuit of Administration priorities 4.5.8Other Government programs and policies that U.S. exporters must consider and/or comply with, e.g., export regulations and customs procedures Deliverables-In order to achieve the desired level of interagency staff expertise and understanding, the requirement shall have the following deliverables: 5.1Developing a curriculum of three four-day sessions based on the course content noted above in Sect. 4.5 and extensive consultation with and guidance from the TPCC Training Director 5.2Recruiting and scheduling qualified presenters for each course content topic from throughout the Government and the private sector 5.3Coaching all presenters to address TPCC themes (e.g., interagency client referrals, information sharing, National Export Initiative (NEI), program coordination) 5.4Preparing and producing briefing books and course material CDs for each participant (35-45 per session, 105-135 per year)5.5Developing multiple interactive exercises, including at least two real-world case studies that bring in prominent U.S. company or trade association representatives to work with break-out groups (6 private sector experts made available for each session to present case studies) 5.6Facilitating each four-day session in its entirety, with demonstrated acumen across all Federal agencies and course content areas 5.7Comprehensive evaluation/review of the program with the participants, including providing copies of the feedback forms to the TPCC (and discussion with the TPCC of same) upon conclusion of each session 5.8 Ongoing development of the curriculum with the TPCC to ensure that the Program reflects changes in Government priorities, the business environment, and exporting tools and technologies 5.9 As per subparagraph 4.1 above, in 2011 the three sessions will be conducted in the April/May (first session), June/July (second session), and September (third session) timeframes. Specific dates shall be coordinated with and agreed upon by the COTR. Option year dates shall be established and agreed upon by the COTR at Option renewal timeframe. Period of Performance-The term of the contract will be a base year with two option years to be exercised at the discretion of the Government. Place of Performance-After the extensive preliminary planning and wide-ranging consultation with the TPCC Director of the Training Program, the contractor will then conduct the extensive preparatory work for the program in their own offices. The training program itself will be held in the Main Conference Room of the U.S. Trade Development Agency at 1000 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1600, Arlington, Virginia 22209. The TPCC Director of the Training Program is in attendance and observes most of the sessions and keeps COTR apprised of status of delivery of services as the training progresses. Government Provided Resources-The Government (the TPCC) will be responsible for recruiting participants for each training session. The Government will also be responsible for reserving the training venue (see 'Place of Performance' above). The Government stays in close communication with the contractor and therefore will be available to the contractor for approving final decisions on any last minute curriculum changes, identification of alternative presenters, or other ad hoc course development issues that might arise. The contractor will be responsible for all other resources required Administration-There will be ongoing joint review by the Government (the TPCC Training Director) and the contractor as each session progresses since the Training Director will be on site most of the time. There will also be a joint review with the contractor at the conclusion of each of the training sessions (which includes discussing the participants' evaluation sheets of each individual presenter and of the course; copies of the evaluation sheets are provided to the TPCC, as well as the contractor's summary of them). These reviews will give the TPCC the opportunity to redirect the contractor to make any changes or adjustments deemed necessary as the Program progresses. There will then be a review after the final session each year during which there will be an evaluation of the contractor's overall performance. The Training Director will keep the COTR fully apprised of all developments. Security Requirements-The Government reserves the right to perform any background or security investigations required with current policy.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/AGAMD/TACS11091102576/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: WASHINGTON, DC 20230, WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, 20230, United States

Zip Code: 20230
 

Record

SN02431199-W 20110424/110422234142-b1709d64a91a2359180a64d169c5d409 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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