Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Small and Disadvantage Business Utilization Center for Veterans Enterprise Veteran Employment Initiative REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) The purpose of this RFI is to conduct market research to determine if responsible sources exist and to assist in determining if this effort can be competitive and/or a total Small Business Set-Aside. The proposed North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code is 611430 (PROFESSIONAL AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT TRAINING) which has a corresponding Size standard of $10 Million The Government will use this information to determine the best acquisition strategy for this procurement. The Government is interested in all small businesses to include 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Hubzone, and Women-Owned small business concerns. The government requests that interested parties respond to this request if applicable and identify your small business status to the identified NAICS code. This is a request for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This request does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in 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 request should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. In addition, contractors should provide the level of effort required to perform the work for a period of 60 days. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provided feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a solicitation may be posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) and/or other available procurement avenues such as Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). However, responses to this request will not be considered adequate response to a solicitation. 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)." INSTRUCTIONS: All respondents are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business. Interested firms responding to this market survey must provide (a) capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not to exceed 5 pages, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. Responses must be submitted via email to Jacky Jean-Jacques at
[email protected] by 12:00 EST on July 18, 2014. Below is a draft of the performance work statement. 1.0 TITLE: VETERANS EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Small and Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses Center for Veterans Enterprise 2.0 BACKGROUND VA is committed to bringing more Veteran-owned small businesses into a public-private partnership to help them grow and succeed. At OSDBU our goal is to help Veteran-Owned and Small businesses contribute most effectively to the important mission of VA. OSDBU seeks to enable SDVOSB, VOSB, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, HUBZone Businesses, and Woman-Owned Small Businesses to add value to the work of VA. OSDBU provides outreach and liaison support to businesses (small and large) and other members of the public and private sectors concerning Small Business Acquisition issues. OSDBU is responsible for monitoring VA implementation and execution of the socioeconomic programs. The best way to care for our Veterans and their families is to do everything in our power to assist American employers to hire and retain those who have borne the battle in good jobs. Unemployment is the root cause of so many of the situations which require so many of our resources to correct. Health, homelessness, criminal activity, failure to become contributing members of American society are most often a result of a lack of a good job with an employer who values them as they valued America when they volunteered to serve our nation. The Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI) will energize America's economy by instructing and incentivizing employers to re-capitalize their work force by recruiting, hiring, training and retaining veterans. 3.0 PERFORMANCE DETAILS Strategic plan to execute three state level events Participants in VEI will receive information, tools, tips, techniques and how-to instructions to start, build and expand a small business into a life-changing reality. 3.1 PERFORMANCE PERIOD The period for performance shall last no longer than 60 days 3.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Tasks under this PWS shall be performed in Washington, DC, Norfolk, VA and three designated states. 3.3 TRAVEL The Government anticipates travel under this effort to perform the tasks associated with the effort, as well as to attend program-related meetings or conferences through the period of performance. Anticipated locations include the following locations: 1. Office of Small and Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses 801 I Street NW Washington, DC 20001 2. Three states for training sessions coordinated by contractor and OSDBU 4.0 SCOPE OF WORK VEI sessions will use industry best practices and state of the art theory to meet current and future hiring and retention needs through the employment of veterans. This program is for organizations who desire to improve their business performance through improved workforce productivity and believe re-capitalizing their workforce with Veterans should be part of that effort. The overall scope of this effort is to make a model of economic development by creating a nationwide approach that will leverage these proven men and women and reduce veteran unemployment. The process is designed for employers who want to hire and retain veterans but are having difficulty doing so. PURPOSE VA is committed to bringing more Veteran-owned small businesses into a public-private partnership to help them grow and succeed. The Veterans Employment Initiative is to incentivize employers who are committed to making veterans a part of their overall talent acquisition and retention strategy. Participation is totally voluntary, completely positive, and has no pejorative nature. Employers may enter and leave the program at any time and for any reason. GOALS The objective is for small businesses to become Veteran Strong Certified. Employers that are trained, have a focused veteran pipeline and implement pipelines; then hire and retain a fixed percentage of new hires for one year. Help employers sharpen their focus on hiring training and retaining. Integrate veterans into the non-military workforce by providing them with meaningful employment. The Initiative is to educate employers of all sizes to navigate and leverage the systems available so they can access these proven Americans and meet their organizations hiring and retention needs. VIE will focus on companies with less than 1,000 employees. These employers represent the majority of hiring demand and connecting them with the primary hiring and retention recruitment. Develop economic incentive for employers to hire and retain veterans through both public and private means 5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES The Contractor shall support the development of the OSDBU Values Veterans requirement s with key success criteria and resources required for an OSDBU Values Veterans Program The Contractor shall customize the Vet STRONG program to meet the OSDBU program requirements. The Contractor shall provide strategic communications support to communicate to key internal and external stakeholders the business case. The Contractor shall provide implementation planning and a governance process to conduct a pilot program in 2014 culminating at the December 2014 SDVSOB Engagement. The Contractor shall support the creation of the Public-Private-Not-for-Profit Working Group. Lead the private sector effort. 5.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 5.1.1 CONTRACTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN The Contractor shall deliver a Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP) that lays out the Contractor's approach, timeline and tools to be used in execution of the contract. The CPMP should take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the schedule, milestones, risks and resource support. The CPMP shall also include how the Contractor shall coordinate and execute planned, routine, and ad hoc data collection reporting requests as identified within the PWS. The initial baseline CPMP shall be concurred upon and updated monthly thereafter. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the period of performance.