Intent to Sole Source This is an Intent to Sole Source, this is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, of quotations. The purpose of this notice is to provide information based on this requirement. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. § 1901 Simplified acquisition procedures implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subparts 13.106. In accordance with those subparts and 41 U.S.C. § 3304(e), this justification documents the circumstances of the contract action that deem only one source reasonably available (FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i)). The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 519130 519130 Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals. The size standard is Small Business or 500 employees. The Product Service Code (PSC) is U099-Other Education and Training Services. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Strategic Acquisition Center Frederick (SAC-F) intends to award one (1) twelve (12) month base period and four (4) twelve (12) month options year period Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) blanket Purchase Agreement(BPA) sole source award to: LRP Publications, Inc., 360 Hiatt Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418 for the Department of Veteran s Affairs (VA), Office of Resolution Management Diversity and Inclusion (ORMDI) to secure access to on-line eLearning Library and off-the-shelf virtual instructor-led training courses to provide EEO training to ORM EEO Counselors, Investigators, and Case Managers, VA supervisors, managers, and employees; as well as employees named as Responding Management Officials (RMOs) in EEO cases that result in findings of discrimination. The training is needed by VA ORM to meet requirements ordered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and VA s Office of Employment Discrimination Complaints Adjudication (OEDCA) and designed to increase VA EEO Professionals and RMOs knowledge of EEO laws and regulations and to equip them with skills necessary to avoid future EEO findings of discrimination. Training programs must be available on-demand, developed and updated to stay abreast with changes in the law, advances in technology, and available both in micro-learning (small, content-specific modules/lessons) and full competency/skill-set learning development. Course content must focus is on the laws, regulations, and procedures that govern the Federal EEO complaint process. Several statutes provide the basis for current prohibitions against discrimination in the workplace. Specifically, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended, prohibits discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, sex, and religion; Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act), prohibits discrimination based upon disability; Section 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), prohibits discrimination based upon age (40 years and over); the Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits sex based wage discrimination; and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prohibits genetic information discrimination in employment. Although the laws against employment discrimination apply equally to all citizens, there are differences in the way complaints of employment discrimination are processed in the private sector and in the Federal government. The EEOC, under Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978, was given responsibility for and supervision of EEO programs within the Federal government. Executive Order 12067 delegates responsibility to EEOC for enforcing all Federal EEO laws, and the duty to coordinate and lead the Federal government's effort to eradicate workplace discrimination. EEOC regulation 29 C.F.R. §1614, and Management Directive 110 establish requirements for all aspects of Federal sector EEO complaint processing, including complaint resolution, pre-complaint counseling, formal complaint processing and investigation, hearings, and appeals. Within VA, the EEO discrimination complaint process was established through a combination of administrative reorganization and statutory direction. On November 21, 1997, Public Law 105-114, codified at 38 U.S.C. §516, directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and administer an employment discrimination complaint resolution system in a fair, objective, and effective manner. To meet those objectives, VA created the Office of Resolution Management Diversity and Inclusion (ORMDI) led by a Deputy Assistant Secretary. ORMDI is responsible for all VA EEO training programs that focus on the EEO complaint resolution process as required by Public Law 105-114. Responsibilities include program leadership and administration, project planning, needs and task analyses, design of course curricula, facilitating the development of content, product marketing, training delivery, to include determining composition and training of faculty, and evaluating ORMDI sponsored programs that target VA executives, supervisors, managers, and employees, facility and ORMDI EEO Managers and Assistant Managers, EEO Case Managers, Investigators, Counselors, and ORMDI Program Support Staff. In 2014, the additional responsibility of designing, developing, and delivering EEO compliance training mandated by EEOC Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts in findings of discrimination was added to ORMDI s list of responsibilities. The mandatory EEO compliance training ordered by Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts will cover a myriad of federal human resource topics from a legal regulatory and compliance training aspect that only LRP can provide exclusively. Industry standard is 8-hours of design/development time for every one-hour of moderately interactive instructor-led training. Last year, EEO compliance training required in excess of 4300 design/development hours. This year, as of May 30, 2021, ORMDI has exceeded 3600 of design/development hours. Because of the short suspense given ORMDI to design, develop, and deliver compliance training; 30-90 days, imposed by EEOC Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts, ORMDI must reduce design/development time by developing blended learning solutions that include reading assignments, eLearning courses, and instructor-led components to address the training requirements. After thoroughly evaluating several vendors, CyberFeds / LRP was the only vendor capable of providing high quality and relevant EEO course materials, which are a critical part of our blended learning solution; necessary to help ensure VA meets the legal mandates and timelines imposed by Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts. Failure to meet these mandates and timelines could ultimately result in sanctions against the VA. EEO law is a highly specialized area of practice with a significant amount of complexity and nuance. Therefore, to address its mission requirements, ORMDI has historically leveraged CyberFEDS for blended learning solutions to provide mandatory EEO training to its EEO Counselors, Investigators, and Case Managers in compliance with EEOC Management Directive 110 and Public Law 105-114; to VA Directors, employees, supervisors, managers, and Union Official as part of VA s complaint prevention/ resolution strategy; and to VA employees named in Findings of Discrimination, when mandated by EEOC Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts. Previously conducted market research concluded in proving that cyberFEDS was the only source capable of providing off-the-shelf eLearning courses required to complete federally mandated training requirements to avoid sanctions. Having only 30-90 days to package and ensure completion of federally mandated training, ORMDI has relied solely on CyberFEDS ability to deliver the most up-to-date objective legal & regulatory information training not found anywhere else. CyberFEDS expertly developed courses are available 24/7 and focus on the laws, regulations, as well as procedures that govern the Federal EEO compliance process. The conveniency, and ability to access the training from any internet accessible device has will ORMDI meet its mandated training dates time and time again without fail. Reliance on cyberFEDS training will make it possible for thousands of VA employees to receive effective and accurate training with instant feedback necessary in acquiring knowledge as well as changing behavior, thereby promoting a healthier working environment for all. An Initial RFI was sent on January 21, 2021 to over 235 vendors, of which we received 5 responses. After reviewing the five responses ORMDI subject matter experts determined that none of the vendors could meet the requirements specified in the RFI. A second RFI was sent by the contract specialist to 223 SDVOSB contractors on May 11, 2021. The Request for Information (RFI) closed on May 14, 2021 at 11:00am (Eastern Standard Time); there were no responses. Subsequent to the May 11, 2021 RFI, on May 24, 2021, the contract specialist put a RFI on VECTOR to see if any vendors were capable of meeting our needs. On June 8, 2021, the Contract Specialist notified us that 1 vendor had responded. While the vendor was able to produce training, there was nothing in any of the documents submitted by the vendor that mentions EEO or EEO Training Materials. Cyberfeds eLearning and Federal Manager eLearning courses are specifically aligned with EEOC s legal mandates to VA. Cyberfeds is the only company that can provide a one stop solution to meet these legal mandates within the time constraints specified by EEOC Administrative Judges and VA triers-of-facts. This is due to CyberFed s proprietary rights to these courses and the fact that they are the only source that would allow our Government developers to use their proprietary courses to create blended learning solutions on short notice. There are other companies that can provide courses with similar content; however, they are not off-the-shelf courses and would require extended design and development time that would not permit ORMDI to deliver high quality and relevant EEO content and meet mandated timelines of EEOC Administrative Judges and VA Triers-of-facts. This why Cyberfeds is the only source capable of meeting the needs of the organization in unique and timely manner, no other sources are capable. The eLearning courses required are proprietary and only available from LRP Publications via CyberFEDS eLearning. As such, this is not a request for competitive offers, quotes, or capability statements. No solicitation will be posted as a result of this notice. If company believe they have the technical capability and can provide full access to off-the shelf courses and on demand virtual training that will allow for ORMDI government developers to tailor and make blended training courses to meet its training needs, submit a technical capability statement in accordance to the information mentioned above to
[email protected] within five (5) days of this notice. This information is only for market research purposes and will be used towards future requirements of the same or similar in nature. requirements. Quotations or proposals received in response to this notice will not be accepted since the synopsis is not a request for proposal. This notice complies with FAR 5.101. This Special Notice is being issued for information purpose only.