COASTAL MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM SUPPORT

This is a Sources Sought Notice for a commercial acquisition. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice or reimburse the costs incurred by potential offerors in providing the information requested herein. In preparation for an upcoming procurement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Coastal Services Center (CSC) and Eastern Region Acquisition Division are conducting market research to determine potential sources to provide administrative and logistical support for NOAA's Coastal Management Fellowship program. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code is 541990. The small business standard for this NAICS code is $7 million. This is not a request for technical or cost proposals. All types of business concerns, both large and small, are encouraged to submit a brief, typed Capability Statement in response to this sources sought announcement demonstrating their capability to perform administrative and logistical support for the fellows enrolled in the program, corporate experience providing same or similar services, references, and your business size using the above size standard. The nature of the work to be performed primarily involves providing administrative support for each fellow to include payment of an annual salary; arrangement for and support of medical insurance, worker's compensation insurance, state and federal income tax withholdings, FICA withholdings, annual and sick leave; reimbursement for professional development travel, professional development training, and textbooks, relocation, and necessary site visits. The contractor shall also be required to coordinate state match contributions, serve as a reviewer in the state project and fellow finalist selection, and publicize the program. The contractor shall provide a project manager to serve as the liaison between the fellows and the contractor, coordinating and resolving issues related to pay, benefits, travel, state matches and other administrative matters. The project manager shall attend several meetings a year with the fellows and be available via phone. The contractor shall also provide a professional development trainer to deliver several courses each year to the fellows on such topics (to be determined in coordination with NOAA and the fellows) as mentoring, career planning, and project management. For more information on the program, visit the website at www.csc.noaa.gov/cms/fellows.html. Capability Statements shall be limited to no more than ten (10) 8.5 x 11 inch pages, 12 point font type. Standard brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice. Submitted Capability Statements shall include the following: (1) Company name and address, (2) DUNS number, (3) Type of business as of April 1, 2011 (e.g., large business, small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and/or women owned small business) as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), (4) Company point of contact - name, phone and Email address, (5) Demonstration of the capabilities possessed for meeting the requirements, including knowledge of and experience with providing professional development support; ability to establish agreements with State agencies and advertise and market the program to universities; and providing administrative support to program participants (fellows); and (6) three (3) references for the same or similar services, to include name, phone number, and email address for a point of contact, and a description of the services provided to any entity to include federal, state, local, private or non-profit. Businesses shall submit an electronic copy of the requested information to Lynne Phipps, Contract Specialist, via email at Lynne.B.Phipps@noaa.gov, no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) November 30, 2010. Responses will not be returned. Any questions or responses to this Sources Sought announcement shall be directed to Lynne Phipps via the email address provided. No feedback will be provided regarding individual Capability Statements. Information received will be considered solely to make informed decisions regarding a potential procurement. Responses to the Sources Sought announcement are not offers and cannot be accepted by NOAA to form a binding contract. No reimbursement for costs will be made associated with providing information in response to this sources sought announcement or follow-up information requests, if applicable.