76--QuickSeries Guides

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Justification and Approval For Other Than Full and Open Competition 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 1 Business Office - Outreach. Justification for other than full and open competition TA#: 523-12-3-9182-0070 (QUICKSERIES PUBLISHING) 2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: One-time open market firm fixed price purchase order for the purchase of 85,000 QuickSeries Reference Guides and 5,000 eGuides. This is a reprint from a custom order that was completed in FY11 under transaction 523-11-3-9182-0002. 3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: Purchase of 85,000 Quick Series Reference Guides and 5,000 eGuides with the following titles: 1. VISN 1 - Your Personal Guide to VA 2. Welcome to Your West Haven VA Health 3. Welcome to Your VA Boston Health Care 4. Welcome to Your Northampton VA Medical 5. Welcome to Your White River Junction VA 6. Welcome to Your Providence VA Medical 7. Welcome to Your Manchester VA Medical 8. Welcome to Your Edith Nourse Rogers 9. Welcome to Your Togus VA Medical This is a reorder of a custom order processed in FY 11. Delivery to be made approximately 60 days after award date. (Nov 2012) 4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: ( X ) (1) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements per FAR 6.302-1; 5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): Quick Series Publishing Inc. is the publisher and sole distributor of the QuickSeries guides. All QuickSeries publications produced by QuickSeries Publishing Inc. are protected under the "1976 Copyright Act. QuickSeries Publishing Inc. is therefore the Sole Supplier and Sole Distributor of the QuickSeries guides. This would make QuickSeries the only one responsible source (FAR 6.302-1). All QuickSeries Pocket Guides are copyrighted off-the-shelf products. Each publication is carefully researched, edited, and presented in such a way as to ensure maximum credibility combined with user friendliness. Accordingly, QuickSeries is the only firm capable of providing the supplies described in section III above without the Veteran's Health Administration experiencing substantial duplication of cost through custom set-ups that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements. 6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: No other efforts will be made to solicit potential sources at this time. Quick Series is the only publishing company used by VHA and other Government agencies to create these Quick Reference Guides. There is no other publishing company that can provide the same quality reference guides for VHA staff. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The guides for VISN 1 are a custom order and therefore would not be found on QuickSeries' GSA Federal Supply Schedule (GS-02F-0276P). However, QuickSeries Publishing Inc, is offering the Government discounted GSA pricing based on the non-custom guides that are on their schedule. Pricing under GSA schedules is deemed fair and reasonable. The pricing offered is no different from other reference guides offered by the firm and is at cost similar to other publications of a similar nature. 8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: Market research was conducted. Quick Series Publishing Inc. is the publisher and sole distributor of the QuickSeries guides. All QuickSeries publications produced by QuickSeries Publishing Inc. are protected under the "1976 Copyright Act. QuickSeries Publishing Inc. is therefore the Sole Supplier and Sole Distributor of the QuickSeries guides. 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: There are no other known vendors of this quality of reference guides that have the same level of expertise as reflected by Quick Series Publishing. Over the past 17 years, QuickSeries has produced over 300 publications under the QuickSeries trademark for Government agencies. Their trademark has become a trustworthy reference resource for millions of users. 10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: None 11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: The barriers of cost and experience are high to create the quality and turnaround possessed by QuickSeries publishing. No actions are planned at this time.