Lab Coat Cleaning Service

National Institutes of Health - Laboratory Coat Cleaning Service Small Business Sources Sought Synopsis This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. NIH is a very dynamic organization responding to the initiatives of the individual researcher, Institute Directors, and Congressional mandates. Research has an inherent inefficiency and many initiatives are readily abandoned and replaced by other initiatives in a slightly different direction. These program changes are reflected in increases or decreases in the demand for lab coats. The NIH investigates the causes, treatments, and preventive strategies for both common and rare diseases, helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. More than 83% of the NIH's funding is awarded through almost 50,000 competitive grants and awards to more than 325,000 scientists and research support staff at more than 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state and around the world. About 10% of the NIH's budget supports projects conducted by nearly 6,000 scientists in its own laboratories, most of which are on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. These scientists are spread out in approximately 250 laboratories in 50 buildings on a 300 acre campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Labs are also operated in Poolesville, MD, at The National Naval Hospital, and in several rental buildings in Bethesda, Baltimore, Gaithersburg, and Rockville, Maryland. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) anticipates a requirement for laboratory coat (lab coat) cleaning services. The lab coats of the scientists and their support staff need to be cleaned on a regular basis to assure proper sanitation in the laboratories. The NIH anticipates a requirement for a vendor to develop a plan for cleaning the lab coats that includes a reasonable methodology for the logistics of collecting and assuring that the coats get back to the user. Several Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) were established to meet this need. This method did not address the logistical hurdles encountered by the vendors so the service was inconsistent. NIH realized that a complete system for the cleaning of the lab coats, which included a sound logistical plan, was necessary. At one time, all lab coats were delivered to a central location on the campus for cleaning. The lab coats were then picked up by the owner and taken back to the labs. Over the years as NIH grew, a system was developed to deliver the lab coats back to the labs since some were delinquent in picking up their lab coats. That further developed into the lab coats being picked up by a central service, being cleaned and then being delivered back to the labs. This system remained in place for many years until the actual cost of the service was analyzed and was determined to be too expensive; therefore, this service was discontinued. The NIH anticipates a need for services to be provided for a base year, with four optional years possible as well. Option years would be exercised at the sole discretion of the Government. Quantities of lab coats to be processed may vary greatly, but by historical comparisons may approach 20,000 - 30,000 cleanings per year. The services would be provided to the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. That is: National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 Innovative approaches to satisfying the anticipated requirement to appropriately clean both NIH owned, and potentially leased lab coats, would be encouraged if a solicitation were issued. If your organization is a small business and has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, web site address, and telephone number. 2) Size and type of ownership for the organization [i.e., small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) firm, etc.]. Business experiences, sizes, types, and socioeconomic designations shall be included with the capability statements. Capability statements must be received by 2:00 pm (Local Time) on March 31, 2010. Please send/deliver capability statements to the following address: National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions - OLAO, 6011 Executive Blvd., Room 529P, Attn: Lorraine Geiser, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-7663. NOTE: When hand delivering or using FedEx, UPS, and other courier services, you MUST use the following City, State and Zip Code: Rockville, MD 20852. A maximum of five (5) pages for the capability statements are required. Only the first five (5) pages of any submission will be reviewed! The font size shall be a minimum of 10 point. All margins shall be at least - inch.