ference Number: DE-SOL-0008302 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Loan Programs Office (LPO) has a requirement for contractor support to assist in the support operations and maintenance activities conducted by the LPO. These services include communications support, loan origination, intake and due diligence underwriting, subject matter and market advice, technical and project management support, project monitoring, financial risk management, oversight support regarding credit policies and regulations, credit assessment and operational and control support. As a precursor to the competitive process to acquire these services, LPO is conducting market research to determine the market?s capability to satisfy these requirements. Specifically, LPO is seeking to measure the capacity and capability of Small Businesses to perform these services under the anticipated NAIC code of 523930 with a size standard of $38.5M. Interested parties should review the Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) Attachment 1 for the specifi c requirements for LPO. This sources sought notice affords interested parties 3 avenues to provide feedback for this requirement: These include (1) Industry Day, (2) One-on-One Conferences and (3) Capability Statements. These options are optional and participation will not affect a party?s ability to provide a proposal if a solicitation does result from this requirement. DOE/LPO INDUSTRY DAY Industry Day is an opportunity for interested parties to better understand the mission of LPO, the draft PWS, and network with other interested parties. Attendance at this Industry Day forum is voluntary and is not required in order to submit a proposal; however, it will provide a valuable opportunity to obtain information on this requirement. All information presented, along with all questions and answers will be provided to every interested party to ensure consistency, fairness, and to avoid repetitive coverage of the same information. DOE will be holding the Industry Day on April 21, 2015 at the US Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20585, Large Auditorium, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. As seating is limited, registration is required for attendance. Attendees will be limited to 5 participants. Industry Day attendees will need to email their name, title, organization, email address, names of the participants, and telephone number to Krystal Paige at
[email protected] and Linda Vawter at
[email protected] , no later than April 14, 2015. Email Subject line: DOE LPO INDUSTRY DAY. Once that information is received, attendees will be provided with additional information regarding directions to the complex, parking, check-in, etc. Please direct any questions regarding Industry day registration process to Krystal Paige at
[email protected] and Linda Vawter at
[email protected]. Please note: Foreign Nationals, as defined by the U.S. Department of State, under Title 22, Foreign Relations, Section 120.16, may not attend. All information and discussions that take place at the Industry Day will be done at the unclassified level. Each attendee will need to bring a government-issued, photographic identification to gain access to DOE. Due to security requirements, persons who did not pre-register will not be given access. The anticipated agenda is to-be-determined and will be sent to all attendees prior to Industry Day. ONE ON ONE CONFERENCES AND CAPABILITY STATEMENTS: One on One Conference: On May 12, 2015, thirty minute One-on-One Conferences will be held with interested potential prime contractors and team members. The conference is an opportunity for interested parties to present their capability and capacity to perform these services in the framework specific to the draft PWS. Also, this will provide an opportunity for the interested parties to provide feedback and suggestions concerning the draft PWS, or on the overall acquisition. Potential prime contractors and team members should be preparing to discuss their capability statements as describes in the ?Capability Statements? section below. Specific questions on evaluation criteria, pricing, or selection methodology on any upcoming solicitation(s) will not be addressed. The Government will only provide information during these sessions that is equally available to all interested parties. All interested parties are invited to the One-on-One Conferences, however space is limited and will be reserved on a first c ome, first serve basis; there is no guarantee that each requesting party will receive an interview. See the ?Submission Deadlines? section on how to reserve your time. Note: No Recording Devises will be allowed at the One-on-One Conferences, and the same visitor restrictions apply as with the Industry Day. Capability Statements: Interested parties are requested to provide capability statements that specifically addresses the interested parties capacity and capability to provide the requirements in the draft PWS. The statements shall provide administrative information to include the following: Company, name, title, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact, business type and size (for the applicable NAIC), and DUNS number. These statements should specifically address: *Discuss how you provided services similar to those requested by the LPO Origination Division; including providing subject matter experts in the fields of project finance, financial modeling, energy market analysis, credit risk analysis, project management and also industry specific reviews. *Describe your experience in conducting evaluations and assessments of new applicants for financing; including carrying out due diligence on such applicants. *What is your experience in preparing presentations to executive level staff members, preparing reports, conclusions and recommendations? *What is your experience in providing detailed market analysis support though research and trend analysis? *Describe your ability to provide technical support and monitoring in the following areas: Nuclear Energy - front-end nuclear, reactors, construction and licensing; Fossil Energy - fossil and gasification; Transmission; Energy Efficiency; Renewable ? solar generation, solar manufacturing, biomass/biofuels, wind generation, wind manufacturing, hydro generation, geothermal, electric storage, battery storage; Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM). *Describe your experience in reviewing credit analysis and ensuring that risks are fully disclosed, evaluated, measured and appropriately mitigated. *Describe your experience in maintaining credit policy documents, risk frameworks, rating tools, risk metrics and index. *Periodic credit reviews of the LPO portfolio, stress testing of the portfolio, reports on internal and external risk factors affecting the LPO will need to be conducted. Describe your competency in these areas. *Please explain your experience in preparing responses to external audits. *Describe your experience in providing support in analysis of debt repayment and your ability to provide insight into business plans, feasibility studies, risk mitigation strategies and other specific elements of credit administration, and developing recommendations on all pertinent aspects of ongoing loan monitoring. *From time to time, a project will be placed on the LPO Watch List. Describe your experience in providing written and oral analysis, and also advice and recommendations in this area. *Describe your expertise relative to Davis-Bacon. *Describe your experience in environmental compliance and your ability to assess the adequacy of environmental health and safety reports, and preparing reports and recommendations as necessary. *Describe your experience in delivering consistent message via online and offline media to include support of communications and branding activities conducted using the most effective and efficient channels. This includes creating of graphics, website maintenance and improvement, performance of web analytics, strategic direction web communications, and provide strategic and tactical support for news development. *Describe your experience in providing experienced personnel in the following fields: Business administration, official correspondence, budget, IT, assembly of electronic news and briefing materials, inventory, space management, handling of mail, assistance with human resource matters for federal staff and other general office support. PWS Feedback: In addition to the capability statements, DOE requests responses to the following questions concerning the draft PWS: 1. Do you believe that the draft PWS is sufficiently clear to allow for a concise proposal response and realistic roadmap/schedule to be developed to achieving these objectives? Are there sections that you feel are weak and need more/better clarifications? If so please identify. 2. The draft PWS contains supporting details that we believe will help define our current environment, processes and procedures, and notional ideas of the data requirement. Do you believe additional information is warranted? Please explain what is missing and the value it will add if included. 3. Please indicate which portions of this draft PWS you believe could be completed with a Firm Fixed Price CLINS and indicate how you would do this. Vendors do not have to attend a One-on-One conference, or Industry Day, in order to provide a capability statement or PWS feedback. SUBMISSION DEADLINES: The deadline for registering for the One-on-One Conferences is May 1, 2015. Vendors who would like to schedule an appointment for one on one conference will need to email their name, title, organization, email address, and telephone number to Krystal Paige at
[email protected] and Linda Vawter at
[email protected], no later than May 1, 2015 at 8:00am. Email Subject line: DOE LPO ONE on ONE CONFERENCES 2015. The capability statement and comments on the draft PWS must be submitted via FedConnect (under DE-SOL-0008302), no later than May 22, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. The capability statement shall not exceed twenty five (25) pages in length (excluding comments on the draft PWS). Comments submitted on the draft PWS shall be submitted as a separate file. The capability statement and comments on the draft PWS shall be provided in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat file format utilizing Times New Roman, 12-point font. QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS SPECIAL NOTICE SHALL BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING VIA FEDCONNECT. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. ALL TIMES ARE STATED AS EASTERN. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICITATION ISSUANCE THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY to identify sources that can provide capabilities to the LPO and receive comments regarding the requirements documentation. This Notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes only as defined in FAR 15.201(e) to obtain comments on preliminary requirement specifications - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this Notice. DOE has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this Notice should not be construed as such a commitment or as au thorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. Not responding to this Notice does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. The information provided in the Notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned, but will be handled in accordance with applicable proprietary markings. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor FedBizOpps.gov and FedConnect for future information pertaining to this requirement. All information submitted will be considered procurement sensitive, becomes Government property, and will not be returned, but will be handled in accordance with applicable proprietary markings. Proprietary information, if any, MUST be kept to a minimum and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. Information which the respondent considers Proprietary Information pursuant to existing laws and regulations must be marked accordingly [see FAR 3.104-1 (3) & (4)]. NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION shall be submitted in response to this Notice.