This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing its acquisition approach, statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought Notice or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. The purpose of this sources sought announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) company name (b) address (c) point of contact (d) phone, fax, and email (e) DUNS number (f) Cage Code (g) Tax ID Number (h) Type of small business, e.g. Services Disabled Veteran Owned small Business, Veteran-owned small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small disadvantaged business, or Small Business HUBZone business and (i) must provide a capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below. The VA Heartland Network 15, Contracting Office located at 3450 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048-5055 is seeking a potential qualified contractor to provide living plant maintenance and seasonal decorations which will include over 100 existing live plants for an 800,000 square foot VA Medical Center, Honor Annex and when they are constructed- two new off-site clinics in Johnson County. The scope is to include special seasonal foliage for the medical center, Honor Annex and the new off-site clinics. The contractor should have the ability of providing replacements and new additions for decorative planters/pots; growing medium; live plant material; and decorative vases as additional stock is needed at the Kansas City VA Medical Center, in support of Department of Veteran Affairs Kansas City campus VA Medical Center, 4801 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City MO 64128-2226. NAICS Code: 444220 (Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Stores) $10 Million. Important information: The Government is not obligated to nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this sources sought synopsis request. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. Currently a total set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms is anticipated based on the Veterans Administration requirement with Public Law 109-461, Section 8127 Veterans Benefit Act. However, if response by Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms proves inadequate, an alternate set-aside or full and open competition may be determined. No sub-contracting opportunity is anticipated. This contract shall include a base year and four one-year options. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 444220 (Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Stores), the Product and Service Code is S208 (Landscaping/Grounds keeping Services.) The small business size standard is $10 Million. Notice to potential offerors: All offerors who provide goods or services to the United States Federal Government must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM located on the web at www.sam.gov). Additionally, all Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses or Veteran Owned Businesses who respond to a solicitation on this project must be registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise VetBiz Registry located at http://vip.vetbiz.gov. All interested Offerors should submit information by e-mail: to
[email protected]. All information submissions should be received no later than 3:00 pm CST on February 16, 2017. After review of the responses to this announcement, the Government intends to proceed with the acquisition and a subsequent solicitation will be published.