Intent to Sole Source - NBAF OPTIC Conversion

Pursuant to FAR Subsection 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements, USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), intends to award a sole source contract in that only one responsible source and no other service providers will satisfy agency requirements (see attached justification). The contract will be a conversion of the existing contract awarded by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations, S&T Acquisition Division, in April 2017, to Merrick & Company (Merrick), DUNS 043220623, 5970 Greenwood Plaza Blvd, Greenwood Village, CO, 80111-4703). This contract is referred to as the Operational Planning and Technology Integration Contract (OPTIC). The contract is for professional consulting services to assist DHS in the preparation activities for stand up of the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas. Activities in the contract statement of work (SOW) include Program Management & Technical Support, IT Architecture Development & Support, Lab Operations & Support, and Bio-repository Support and Management. Support activities under the OPTIC have been integral to the DHS planning effort for the NBAF. In 2018 Congress decided that USDA is taking over the management of the NBAF from DHS. In October 2018 (FY2019 appropriation) USDA received funding for NBAF planning and is instructed to transition the OPTIC contract from DHS to USDA. USDA will convert the DHS contract from a non-commercial, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, Level of Effort, service contract to a commercial Time and Material, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), type service contract with both time and material and firm fixed priced task orders using FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items. The requirement is essential to meeting the government's needs. This is not a request for competitive proposals. This is a notice of intent to sole source with fair opportunity for all responsible sources to see the solicitation and respond if capable. All responsible sources capable of providing the service (and as detailed in the attached justification) may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency. The response must explain completely and in detail how the contractor would meet the need as outlined in the justification. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. The Government will not reimburse participants for information they provide. Information provided is strictly voluntary. Please email responses to Patricia Simon at [email protected] no later than the time indicated below. Telephonic inquiries will not be honored. Closing date for submission is 12/07/2018, at 4:00 p.m. CT. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 541611 with a small business size standard of $15M.