News Writer and Researcher (VOA Central News)

Modification #1 Solicitation is amended to extend closing date. Proposal packages are due by December 29th, 2014 at 12 Noon (Eastern Standard time) All else remains the same ____________________________________________________________________ THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR A COMMERCIAL ITEM PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN SUBPART 12.6 AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. (ii) Solicitation No. BBG50-R-15-0018is issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) and a contract will be awarded using simplified acquisition procedures in FAR Part 13. (iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect from the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-072, dated May 31, 2014. (iv) This is a one hundred percent (100%) total small business set-aside. The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 711510 with a small business size standards of $7.5M respectively . (V) The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Office of Contracts (CON) located in Washington, D.C. anticipates awarding a single Non-Personal Services Purchase Order for a News Writer and Researcher as described in the attached Statement of Work (SOW) subject to the availability of funding. The Offerors selected for an award must be able to successfully pass a BBG security investigation. (vii) The Government anticipates making multiple awards under this Solicitation on/or about on Janaury 1, 2015 and no later than January 12, 2015. The Contractor shall submit a monthly invoice electronically for services provided the preceding month in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act. (viii) The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation. FAR provisions and clauses may be obtained from the Internet Web address at: http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html. Interested contractors who are capable of providing these services should submit a proposal identifying capabilities as noted below. The contractor shall demonstrate their ability and experience in providing the required services. Offeror's minimum qualifications shall include but not be limited to: 1) Offeror's Qualifications- The Offeror shall provide their resume that includes work experience, education and specialized training necessary to provide the required services under this solicitation. The Offeror must be able to demonstrate expertise listed in the scope of work provided on the Statement of Work. Samples of written news material from offeror (individual offeror or key personnel) are to be submitted with technical proposal to showjournalism writing expertise. No more than three (3) samples are to be submitted. 2) Experience - The Offeror shall demonstrate experience in providing the required services under this solicitation to Governmental and/or commercial customers. INTERESTED OFFERORS RESPONDING TO THIS SOLICITATION SHALL SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO THE CONTRACTING OFFICER: (1) a Technical Proposal which addresses the technical factors described below in (ix) and (2) and a Price Proposal in accordance with (ix). The Price Proposal must contain a copy of Attachment A entitled "Price Schedule" which must be filled out by the interested contractor as well as either a copy of FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items or a statement that FAR 52.212-3 has been completed in the System for Award Management website. The technical and price proposals must be submitted separately. No price information should be contained within the technical proposal. (ix) The Government will award Commercial Items, Firm-Fixed-Price, Non-Personal Services Purchase Orders resulting from this RFP to the responsible offerors whose offer conforming to the RFP will provide the best value to the Government, based on technical, past performance, and price. When combined, technical evaluation factors are significantly more important than cost/price. THE FOLLOWING EVALUATION AND PAST PERFORMANCE FACTORS LISTED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE MUST BE ADDRESSED IN THE INTERESTED OFFERORS' TECHNICAL AND PRICE PROPOSALS AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL USE THESE FACTORS TO EVALUATE THE OFFERORS' PROPOSALS: 1) A narrative detailing the approach that they will take to meet the requirement. The offeror must illustrate its understanding of the requirement and its ability to provide the required services stated herein. The offeror must submit a brief description of its company's business and provide a company point of contact including address, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number and if applicable, the company's web-page address. (Technical Approach); 2) Recent examples (within the past three (3) years) demonstrating its experience in providing the services required under this solicitation to Governmental and/or commercial customers. Examples provided should be of the same and/or similar services specified herein. (Experience) 3) Detailed information on past performance and relevant contracts for same and/or similar services with a minimum of three (3) references including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and email addresses (i.e., the point of contact who can verify performance) Pursuant to FAR 15.305(a) (2) (iv), in the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. Offerors shall use Attachment B - Past Performance References to submit their past performance references. (Past Performance) and 4) A Separate Price Proposal showing a price breakdown for the services under solicitation. The prices shall be provided in United States dollars. The Price Proposal must contain Attachment A entitled "Service and Price Schedule"which must be filled out by the offeror. Offerors are cautioned that failure to address each of the above evaluation factors may deem their proposal unacceptable. (x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items which is completed by registering in the System for Award Management (SAM) Website at: https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. Proposals must also include contractor's DUNS Number, prompt payment terms, and correct remittance address, if different from mailing address. OFFERORS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH SAM PRIOR TO AWARD. Summary of Proposal Items Required: List Solicitation number on each proposal item and title of statement of work on each proposal item. Separate proposal packages are required for each individual key personnel submitting under this solicitation. -Resume (including samples) - Narrative (detailing how the offeror currently meets and would meet the Technical Requirements and Expertise objectives listed on the Statement of Work) -Price Proposal (Attachment A Sheet) - Past Performance (Attachment B sheet) - - SAM registration information in (x) (xi) The FAR clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition with addendum to the clause. The addendum is as follows: I. CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE: The Contracting Officer will appoint by letter a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) who will have the responsibility of ensuring that the work conforms to the requirements of the contract and such other responsibilities and authorities as may be specified in the letter of authorization or this contract. It is understood and agreed, in particular, that the COR shall not have authority to make changes in the scope or terms and conditions of the contract unless and only to the extent that such authority is specified in the letter of authorization or the contract. THE RESULTANT CONTRACTOR IS HEREBY FOREWARNED THAT, ABSENT THE REQUISITE AUTHORITY OF THE COR TO MAKE ANY SUCH CHANGES, IT MAY BE HELD FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CHANGES NOT AUTHORIZED IN ADVANCE, IN WRITING, BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER, MAY BE DENIED COMPENSATION OR OTHER RELIEF FOR ANY ADDITIONAL WORK PERFORMED THAT IS NOT SO AUTHORIZED, AND MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED, AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT, TO TAKE ALL CORRECTIVE ACTION NECESSITATED BY REASON OF THE UNAUTHORIZED CHANGES. (End of Clause) II. EXERCISING OF OPTIONS UNDER THIS CONTRACT: The Government reserves the right to unilaterally exercise the options in Attachment A entitled "Price Schedule." The Parties agree that the Government may partially exercise and fund any options in Attachment A and may do so multiple times up to the point that the option has been fully exercised and funded. The Contractor, however, will not be entitled to any additional compensation beyond that associated with the amount of the option exercise. In In the event that BBG does not give written notice to exercise an option, the contract will expire at the end of the existing period of performance (the Base Period or Option Period) as applicable. Additionally, the parties agree that, in the event the BBG decides not to exercise any options, BBG will have no further obligation to the Contractor under this contract other than to pay for services actually rendered by the Contractor to BBG hereunder. (End of Clause) (xi (xii) FAR clause 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this solicitation by reference and proposed subsequent contract as well as the following clauses contained within FAR clause 52.212-5: 52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards; 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (15 U.S.C. 644); 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns; 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Representation; 52.222-3 Convict Labor; 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies; 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246); 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (29 U.S.C. 793); 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-40 Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act; 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons; 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving; 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases and 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (31 U.S.C. 3332) (xii (xiii) Additional FAR provisions and clauses incorporated by reference and applicable to this solicitation and the proposed subsequent contract are: 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract. (xi A Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) assigned rating is not applicable to this acquisition. (xv Proposals shall be in writing and must be signed by an official authorized to bind the organization and/ or the individual offeror. Proposals will be accepted via courier, e-mail or hand-delivery. Oral and faxed proposals will not be accepted. QUESTIONS: Ple Please note that questions must be submitted in writing to Patrice Abner by email (contact@example.gov) and received before the deadline of 2:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on December 18, 2014. No questions via phone will be accepted. Submission of Proposals ALL proposal submissions must include the solicitation number. E-mail submissions must include the solicitation number in the subject line of the e-mail submission. Technical Proposals shall be submitted as an original and three (3) copies and Price Proposals shall be submitted as an original and one (1) copy (if submitting via e-mail, only one copy of each is required) . All proposals must be sent via courier or overnight delivery and must be received before the deadline set forth above. Proposals are due at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Contracts, 330 C Street, SW, Room 4007 F, Washington, DC 20237 on December 22, 2014 at 12 Noon Eastern Daylight Time (AMENDED PER MODIFICATION #1 - DUE DATE EXTENDED to DECEMBER 29, 2014 (EST) at 12 Noon)