Emergency Management Institute Independent Study Program

Modification A00001 extends the response date to 12/18/2013 at 3:00 PM EST. ************************************************************** The purpose of this sources sought synopsis is to determine if there are two (2) or more capable Small Businesses that can perform the requirements of the planned contract (base and four (4) option years). For this reason, it is vitally important for Small Businesses to respond to this announcement with highly effective Capability Statements. Interested firms with capabilities of providing the required services are requested to submit a Capability Statement to assist the Government in determining in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b) whether or not this procurement will be set-aside in full or in part. The intended procurement will be classified under the North American Industrial Classification (NAICS) code 611710: Educational Support Services (Educational Testing Services) with a size standard of $14M. All respondents are required to identify their firm's size and type of business. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, is the coordinator within the Federal Government for a wide range of emergency management activities. FEMA is dedicated to working closely with all levels and branches of government, as well as related organizations of the emergency management community to achieve a realistic state of preparedness and an increased capacity to mitigate against, respond to and recover from emergencies of all types. The agency has numerous roles, including: coordinating government activities; providing planning, grants and technical assistance; guiding and advising various agencies; and delivering training. FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) provides both training and technical assistance to State, tribal and local jurisdictions as well as our Federal partners, other government agencies, and associated organizations such as the American Red Cross on a wide variety of topics related to emergency management. EMI's Independent Study (IS) Program uses alternate delivery formats to provide emergency management training to State, tribal and local officials, Federal partners, and associated organizations in emergency management communities. This program provides free on-demand training that is available through print copy, downloadable format from the Web, or Web interactive and may include CD-ROM, DVD and video materials. There are currently approximately 100 accredited courses through the current contract. These courses result in a combined average annual number of course completions at approximately two-four million. An additional 50 courses are projected to be added to the program annually and will require review for accreditation. It is also projected that approximately 50 existing courses will be revised and will require review for accreditation. The IS curriculum is increasing and expanding to include additional independent study/self study courses from EMI. The total enrollments fluctuate between two-four million (with approximately three million active student records managed per year). Receipt, warehousing, inventory, and distribution of IS course materials are conducted by the FEMA Warehouse. New independent study courses are developed under separate contract(s) and/or Government employees. These courses are submitted to the independent study program contractor for enrollment and student record keeping. This contract does not include development of any independent study courses. The Capability Statement shall succinctly address the following three items to demonstrate the contractor's capability to perform the requirements of this Performance Work Statement (PWS) (attached): (1) The contractor's ability to manage, as prime contractor, the types and magnitude of tasking in the PWS; and (2) The contractor's technical ability, or potential approach to achieving technical ability, to perform at least 50% of the cost of the contract for personnel with its own employees; and (3) The contractor's capacity, or potential approach to achieving capacity, to conduct the requirements of the PWS. For the purposes of this Capability Statement, capacity shall refer to matters such as the magnitude of the tasking, the amount of equipment or facilities involved, and the size of the staff needed. (4) Demonstrated ability to manage, technical ability and capacity includes citing and describing the same or similar relevant performance. The Capability Statement shall be in sufficient enough detail so that the Government can determine the following: your ability to manage, technical ability and capacity to meet requirements above. The Capability Statement shall not exceed ten (10) single sided single spaced pages of a font size no smaller than 12 point. The Capability Statement should have attached a minimum of three (3) business references with current contact information (email and phone number) relevant to the primary functions of this requirement as described in the PWS. Please email your Capability Statement to Laura Harshbarger (contact@example.gov) and Gary Topper (contact@example.gov) by no later than the close of business (3:00 pm local Washington, DC time) on December 12, 2013. This sources sought is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation nor will the Government pay for the information requested.