U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, CPO, 7th & D Streets SW, Room 3616, Washington, DC 20202-4443

A -- BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: SOL RFP: ED-00-R-0034 DUE 052400 POC John Zentner, Contract Specialist, 202/708-9061; Yolanda Abney 202/708-6498 A Broad Agency Announcement: "America Connects Consortium". The U. S. Department of Education is soliciting Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) abstracts for proposals to facilitate national efforts to create, improve, and sustain Community Technology Centers (CTCs), and in particular U.S. Department of Education (ED) grants funded under its Community Technology Centers Program (CFDA No. 84.341). This project is supported under the Technology for Education Act of 1994 as amended. Abstracts submitted under this Announcement shall bring together stakeholders whose services are critical to the success of projects funded under the Community Technology Centers program (CFDA No. 84.341) as well as broader Community Technology Center Development, service delivery, and sustainability. Consortium entities, non-consortium or single entity applicants will be considered. Although ED believes that no single entity has the resources and expertise to fully achieve the desired objectives and that a consortium, appropriately structured, could achieve them, all offers will be considered. The Consortium project shall consist of a variety of member entities and shall launch a focused, coordinated, and comprehensive national effort to promote, support, and sustain Community Technology Centers. The effort shall consider the needs of the field in terms of technical assistance and research and provide services to meet them. ED expects to make only one award through this competition for a base year of twelve (12) months, with up to three (3) optional years of twelve (12) months each. The not-to-exceed amount for the base year is $2 million, with equal to higher funding available for each of the optional years. This project also seeks funding that will leverage substantial contributions from non-federal sources and a match of cash or in-kind contributions that will be required at least 30 percent in option year one, and 40 percent in option years two and three each. Option years and funding levels are at ED's discretion, and subject tothe availability of funds. Anticipated opening date: April 25, 2000, and anticipated closing date: May 24, 2000. Please contact: Ms. Yolanda Abney, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, U.S. Department of Education, GSA Regional Office Building/ROB-3, 7th and D Streets, SW, Room: 3616 at Mail Stop #4443, Washington, D. C. 20202. Telephone requests shall be made to (202) 708-6498 or E-mail: yolanda_abney@ed.gov. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS 30 DAYS AFTER ISSUE DATE. To be considered, abstracts shall be received by 2:00 P.M./EST. on May 24, 2000, at the above address. All abstracts must include the identified RFP: ED-00-R-0034 and the title on all packages. Upon official release, this BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT will be available on the ED/OCPO Web Site under the Contract Information Page, Web site address: http://ocfo.ed.gov/Coninfo/currrfp.htm. For questions concerning only the Web site listing or electronic submission, please contact Gary Weaver at (202) 401-0083. There will be no formal Request For Proposal (RFP) or other solicitation regarding this requirement. ED will award a performance-based scope as a fixed-priced (award-fee or incentive-fee) contract type using a "TWO-STEP submission process" for this competition. STEP ONE: ED is soliciting abstracts of proposals which include a technical overview of the project; letters of commitment from proposed Consortium members; quality of the proposed performance measures & management structure of the Consortium; staff qualifications and time commitment; at least a one to two page summary of project costs (total salary dollars with total hourly commitment, other direct costs, subcontracting costs, overhead rates/costs, etc.) for each of the four years that also reflects the optional years contributions (matching of cash or in-kind); and a strong plan to use federal funding to leverage non-federal matching funds to maximize the impact of the effort; benchmark products including quarterly and annual reports and a final report that may be published. The abstract shall not exceed 16 pages, which includes a cover page/letter, budget sheets, and all other attachments are subject to the page limitation. Should the Offeror exceed the page limit, the Reviewers will not be required to read past the 16th page. All abstracts will be reviewed and ED will establish a competitive range. STEP TWO: ED will request full proposals from the offerors who make the competitive range. Such proposals shall, among other details, outline performance indicators and elaborate on the leverage of non-federal matching funds for their projects. In the invitation, ED will specify proposal format and content required by regulation, standards for an offeror-developed Performance-Based Work Statement, a technical proposal, a schedule of deliverables with a schedule of invoices, a cost proposal that provides sufficient detail to allow assessment of cost, evidence of the offeror's capacity to perform the work proposed, details on past performance, and contractor performanceinformation from relevant organizations. A request for abstract and proposal does not assure subsequent award. ED reserves the right not to fund a project. Abstracts and proposals will be reviewed by government and possibly non-government peers. For technical questions relating to the actual BAA document, please submit your comments/questions via e-mail to John_T_Zentner@ed.gov, or by FAX (if less than 10 pages) to 202/260-0525; or by mail to the attention of John Zentner. U. S. [Department of Education], Contracts and Purchasing Operations, 7th and D Streets, S.W., GSA Building/ROB-3, Room 3616, Washington, D. C. 20202-4443***** Posted 04/17/00 (W-SN445621). (0108)

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