code, tabulate, analyze and summarize an estimated 100,000 public comments

This is a Sources Sought Notice for market research purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). A solicitation is not being issued at this time and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) intends to issue a procurement for services to code, tabulate, analyze and summarize an estimated 100,000 public comments. These comments will be provided to the contractor in electronic format through Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), no mail processing is expected. We expect the timeframe for completion of this contract to be approximately 60 days from end of comment period or start of contract. Background The Child Nutrition Division (CND), a division of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), administers the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), Summer Food Service Program and the Child Adult Care Food Program. The mission of CND is to provide nutritious meals to children and some adults through schools and institutions. In order to change the regulations concerning how a program is managed the proposed changes must be published in the Federal Register and available for comment by the public and interested parties. Those comments are then analyzed and considered when creating the Final Rule. The incumbent will review and analyze comments and provide a summary document to the Department electronically within 30 days after the close of the comment period. The summary document should be of a length sufficient to describe the common themes and also to flesh out these themes in detail sufficient enough to give the audience context for the depth and breadth of the themes. The Department anticipates that the summary should be 20-30 pages in length. The audience is primarily the Secretary and Undersecretaries of the Department of Agriculture; it is assumed that the public, advocacy and trade groups, such as agricultural trade groups, will also read and refer to this document in the future. As a result, a neutral voice and approach to the narrative summary is crucial. The Government requests that all interested parties submit a statement of capability outlining past work that is related to this requirement as stated below. The statement of capability shall include:  Contractor Name  Address  Point of Contact (POC)  POC phone number and e-mail address  DUNS number  Business status (i.e. large/small business, disadvantaged, Hub Zone, woman-owned, etc.) Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information. The information obtained from responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and future RFP. No questions will be entertained or comment responded to by the Government. Offerors capable of providing these services should submit the information requested above via e-mail to [email protected] and no later than 2PM Eastern Standard Time, February 08, 2011.