This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources, (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses, service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. The notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a small business social-economic set-aside, competitive or non-competitive method is possible, and to determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government's requirement. ALL organizations with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice. NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE 424690 OTHER CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS MERCHANT WHOLESALERS The National Institute of Mental Health requires storage and preservation of transgenic animals for neuroscience research. Preserving valuable transgenic organisms by cryopreservation is a core mission of the NIMH Transgenic Facility. For the last five years commercial biorepositories have been used to provide off-campus storage for these resources. Samples will be stored at these sites as long as the mandate to preserve these lines continues. In general, the vendor will provide continuous supply of liquid nitrogen, continuous monitoring of temperature and level of liquid nitrogen in the supplied tank. Access to these tanks shall be granted after a reasonable advanced notice. Specifically, the vendor will: Accommodate three NIMH-owned MVE XLC 810 HE Tanks, with the potential to increase the number of tanks to five over the next two years. 24 hours Point-of-Contact for tank (sample) access Free access during normal business hours Supply about 122 Liters of LN2/week Automatic fill of LN2 required immediately in order to preserve the samples Automatic measurement with alarm and notification on LN2 level and temperature Regular manual measurement of LN2 level and temperature Backup LN2 supply Backup power supply (e.g., generator) Facility must be within 20 mile radius of NIMH facility on NIH’s campus located in Bethesda, Maryland One base year with three subsequent option year periods. CAPABILITY STATEMENT INFORMATION SOUGHT Respondents must provide, as part of their responses, clear and convincing documentation of their capability of providing the item(s) specified in this notice. Contractors that believe they possess the ability to provide the required must submit specific documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist. Contractors must provide their Company Name, DUNS number, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. Interested organizations are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. All capability statements sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Farrin Stanton, Contract Specialist, at
[email protected] in MS Word format by or before the closing date of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. The response must be received on or before March 4, 2016 11:00am, eastern time. CONCLUDING STATEMENTS Note: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After review of the responses received, pre-solicitation and solicitation notices may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The solicitation release date is pending. The Government intends to negotiate a fixed-price purchase order. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).