Page 5 of 5 The proposed contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit under the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 entitled, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is 561450 Credit investigation Services The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Strategic Acquisition Center Frederick (SAC-F) intends to award a firm-fixed price (FFP) effort employment/income verification services to Equifax Workforce Solutions (TALX), 11432 Lackland Rd, St Louis MO 63146.The period of performance shall be one (1) 12-month base period, four (4) 12-month option periods. This proposed action is to provide VA employees with an automated method of obtaining employment and income verification. Equifax Work Force Solution (TALX) provides a secure way for verifiers to obtain employment information. Verifiers include mortgage lenders, banks, leasing companies, and other financial entities that use Equifax to verify proof of employment and income of employees. Equifax Work Force Solution (TALX) only provides employment and income verification for civilian federal employees. This service shall be available to VA employees 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $0.00 as the fee for a report is charged to the employee. VA has determined that there are no other sources capable of providing the relevant electronic verification services Equifax Work Force Solution (TALX) is the current incumbent and these services were available to third parties seeking employment verification of VA employees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service enables the VA to share employment and income data to third parties via electronically secure telecommunication for such purposes as to qualifying for mortgages, leases, and consumer loans. Employee information is protected by robust security controls to be accessed only by credentialed verifiers with a permissible purpose, and with employee consent. The VA requires trusted data and superior services in order to reduce risk as employee's data is properly managed. The contractor provides basic employment information and detailed employer compensation data, including wages and salary. As a result, data must be secured by the use of high-grade Transport Layer Security encryption. Services ensure timely responses are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which is critical in helping VA employees obtain the employment and income verifications instantly. Any source other than Equifax would require vetting by the VA plus 60 days transition to be able to receipt VA data, which is required for this effort before they could provide employee verification support. Failure to award a contract will result on an extended break in service greatly impacting/delaying services to over 378,000 VA employees world-wide. Ultimately, hindering their ability to qualify and/or secure mortgages, leases, and consumer loans. Furthermore, a Memorandum of Understanding/Interconnection Security Agreement (MOU/ISA) is required for vendors to have access to sensitive employee data. A vendor would require a vetting process that may take upwards of 60 days. Equifax has held this type of MOU for these services since 2013. Currently, there is only one responsible source and no other to supply the required services that will satisfy the agency requirement. While there might be other companies that could gain access to employer information and verification it would not be done at zero cost to the government. This is a sole source notice published for informational purposes only and not a request for proposals. Therefore, no solicitation documents exist for this requirement and telephone requests will not be accepted. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement no later than October 30, 2022 11:00am EST. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Point of Contact: Cedric Jackson,
[email protected]. No telephone requests will be accepted.