Office of Education Support Services

September 16, 2015 Prospective Offerors: The purpose of this posting is to provide preliminary information on the Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) current plans to solicit a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Administrative, Education, Facilitation/Consultant, Outreach, and Technical Support Services for the NOAA Office of Education (OED). Please note that DOC/NOAA is in the final stages of planning, however, any information provided within this pre-solicitation is subject to change without notice. This information is being provided in an effort to improve industry understanding of OED's approach to the forthcoming Administrative, Education, Facilitation/Consultant, Outreach, and Technical Support Services (Office of Education Support Services) Contract. NOAA's Office of Education (OED) provides advice and counsel to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in matters pertaining to education. The office, in conjunction with the Education Council, coordinates educational activities across NOAA and develops NOAA's Education Strategic Plan and policy. These efforts help to ensure that NOAA's education programs and activities are based on NOAA science and support the agency's cross-cutting priority of promoting environmental literacy. The NOAA OED directly implements and manages scholarship programs aimed at fostering American competitiveness in science by providing quality educational opportunities for the next generation. The Office of Education also offers competitive grant programs at the national and regional level to promote environmental literacy efforts through collaboration with external partners. The primary objective of this acquisition is to establish a single-award contract with an experienced Contractor capable of providing Office of Education Support Services, per the solicitation's Statement of Work (SOW), for the NOAA OED. The Contractor shall be established as part of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541990 prior to the submission of a proposal. This requirement is a 100% Small Business set-aside. It is DOC/NOAA's intent to issue a Contract pursuant to the OED Support Services solicitation sometime during January 2016. The solicitation period will be open for approximately thirty (30) days. Please note that DOC/NOAA does not anticipate meeting in person with any prospective Offerors once the solicitation is released. No inquiries will be responded to in regards to the pre-solicitation. Any questions and comments pertaining to this requirement shall be provided within the stated time period, and format, established in the solicitation. Thank you for your attention and continued interest in the OED Support Services procurement.