NCES Education Projections Contract

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Request for Information TRACKING NUMBER: iesne130016 This is a Request for Information notice only; the purpose of this notice is to acquire knowledge about potential qualified sources as well as receive feedback on the attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). Responses to this notice are requested to include the following: a) Company name b) Address c) Point of contact d) Number of employees e) Gross annual receipts f) Previous contract(s) performing same or similar services as identified in this notice, to include contract type (FFP, T&M,etc.); overall contract value; Agency/Business Entity contracted with; brief overview of services performed g) GSA Holder? If yes, GSA Contract number. h) Capability statement that addresses the organizations' qualifications and ability to perform as a prime contractor for the work described in the PWS The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is conducting market research to support a requirement for Institute of Education Sciences (IES) National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The acquisition title is "National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Projections Contract." The Department needs to determine if there are small business sources with all of the following areas of knowledge, capabilities, and successful experiences. Small businesses are encouraged to team with other large or small businesses for this requirement. The Department is seeking information on whether small businesses that are certified as HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-owned (WO), or 8(a) have the required capabilities to perform the Performance Work Statement tasks. The Department has identified the following codes for use in this acquisition. Please identify any other appropriate codes assigned to your company for the Department's consideration. NAICS code: 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting; $7.0 M size standard PSC code: U009 - Education/Training Small Businesses are requested to provide Capability Statements that address the requested information below. Instructions are provided as follows: Capability Statement Instructions: In response to the attached draft PWS, the Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible contractors. These statements shall be no longer than 3 pages, single-spaced. The cover page should provide information for a through g above and does not count as part of the 3 page statement. Contractors should include up to six resumes in the appendix. Each resume must be no more than 3 pages and should clearly demonstrate that individuals have the skills to perform the work described within the performance work statement. Only resumes for key personnel that would work on the contract should be included. The resumes will not be counted as part of the 3 pages of the capability statement. The capability statement should address the following collective expertise of key personnel: ? Interested contractors should highlight experience that equips the contractor with knowledge of (a) education, economics, econometrics, and forecasting methodologies, and (b) education and Census data. ? Building and maintaining macroeconomic models and producing forecasts. Interested contractors should highlight successful experience with building and maintaining large-scale macroeconomic models and producing economic forecasts. Contractors should indicate the specific role that key personnel played on these evaluations. In addition, the capability statement should address the following qualifications and experience at the corporate level: ? Projects similar in nature to that described in the PWS. Interested contractors should highlight successful corporate experiences with past projects that are similar to the current project in terms of the specific tasks to be performed and the level of effort required. Attachment(s): Draft Performance Work Statement Date and Time Due: Responses are due by November 16, 2012 no later than 2:00 pm ET Submit responses by email to: Sharon.Masciana@ed.gov Copy responses to: Sylvia.Reid@ed.gov Note: This Request for Information (RFI) is only for planning purposes and market research and shall not be construed as a Request for Proposal (RFP) or as an obligation on the part of the Department to acquire any products or services. The Department does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI nor pay for the information provided. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges will arise as a result of submission of responses to the RFI and the Department's use of such information. Please submit all questions/comments/responses via email. The Department does not intend to post a Question and Answers amendment to this notice. Instead, the Department intends to take those questions as items that will be utilized to strengthen the Department's RFP/Solicitation documents. Respondents may be contacted for additional information. A letter stating your interest or requesting a copy of the solicitation is NOT sufficient to determine contractor capability. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME and no date has been established for the RFP issuance. Point of Contract for this notice is Sharon Masciana, Contract Specialist, e-mail: sharon.masciana@ed.gov. Please courtesy copy Sylvia Reid, Contracting Officer at sylvia.reid@ed.gov, with all electronic correspondence. In addition, please request a reply email to confirm receipt of electronic correspondence.