ONR STEM Internships, Website, and Outreach Programs

Request for Information/Sources Sought 
ONR STEM Internships, Website, and Outreach Programs
N0001426RFI7010

RFI/SS Information for Responses

This announcement constitutes a combination Request for Information (RFI) and Sources Sought (SS) for the purpose of determining market capability of sources and obtaining market research information. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), or an indication that the Government will contract any of the items and/or services discussed in this notice. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201, responses to this RFI/SS notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Contractors responding to this request are advised that participation does NOT ensure opportunities for future solicitations or contract awards. 

Capability Statements, comments, or responses to this RFI/SS are not to be construed as offers and any input received is not binding on the Government or this potential future requirement. The Government will NOT reimburse any Contractor or individual for any expenses associated with preparation or participation in this RFI/SS.

The Government is seeking responses ONLY FROM 8(a) OFFERORS WHO ARE ALASKA NATIVE/HAWAIIAN OWNED/INDIAN OWNED. Responses from contractors that do not have 8(a) Tribal status will not be reviewed, returned, or considered. 

This RFI/SS includes the following attachments:

IDIQ DRAFT Performance Work Statement
First Task Order DRAFT Performance Work Statement
First Task Order DRAFT CDRLs

Responses to this RFI/SS shall be submitted via to the Contracting Officer at dunia.a.hickey.civ@us.navy.mil no later than 12:00 pm local time, Washington D.C. on 28 January 2026 (Wednesday). 

The submission should be prepared in the order below. Responses should be submitted as ONE attachment to the POC named above. 

Cover Page  - Not to Exceed 1 page

a.    Name of Organization, Cage Code and Unique Entity ID Number;
b.    Address of Organization;
c.    Telephone Number, Address, and Email address for the primary point of contact for Capability Statement;
d.    Evidence from Small Business Administration confirming 8(a) Tribal status for NAICS 541990;
e.    Indicate all Small Business Type(s) that you qualify for (e.g., Small Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a) Certified, HUBZone Certified, Veteran Owned Small Business, and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business); and,
f.    SBA Point of Contact, Telephone Number, Address, and Email address.

Contractor Responses to Government Questions – Not To Exceed 15 pages (excludes Cover Page)

Contractor Comments/Edits/Recommendations to the IDIQ PWS, First Task Order PWS, and First Task Order CDRLS - Unlimited

Planned Strategy
ONR plans to award an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) to one contractor. 

ONR will then issue the First Task Order for the contractor labor, travel, ODCs that will cover all labor for 60 months. 

This IDIQ will allow for decentralized ordering from other Navy Labs to issue Task Orders for intern stipends to the contractor for intern payment. Navy Labs are only authorized to issue Task Orders for stipend payment – they will not issue Task Orders for contractor labor.

ONR will issue their own Task Order for ONR stipends separate from the First Task Order. 

Incumbent Contractor
The incumbent contractor under current IDIQ N0001421D4002 is Saxman One LLC (CAGE 7QTC5). 

Prior Contract
The prior contract ceiling was set at $60,750,000. 

NAICS
The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to this potential award will be 541990 with a size standard of $19.5M.  

PSC
The Product Service Code (PSC) applicable to this potential award is R408.

Contract Type
The IDIQ will allow for the issuance of the following contract types:

Firm Fixed Price Level of Effort – ONR Only
Cost Reimbursement (no fee) – ONR and authorized Navy Labs

Stipend Task Orders issued from ONR or an authorized Navy Lab will not include fee; however, ONR will consider application of indirect rates.

Security Requirements
ONR anticipates a DD 254 will apply to this contract at the SECRET level. This DD 254 will be placed at the IDIQ level. The contractor will use this DD 254 to process security for the interns. See the First TO PWS for additional details. 

Period of Performance
The ONR IDIQ ordering period will be for 60 months/5 years. 

The First Task Order is estimated to be for 60 months/5 years which will include one 12 month base and four 12 month option periods. The Government will include FAR 52.217-8 and will evaluate for a 6 month option IAW the clause. 

Organizational Conflict of Interest
ONR has determined that an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI) exists when a Contractor (including its parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates) performs both systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) or other support services and Research and Development (R&D) work.  Such situations give rise to OCIs or potential OCIs based on impaired objectivity, biased ground rules, and unequal access to information.  ONR prefers that companies avoid such situations altogether by choosing to do only one type of work for ONR.  See ONR's Statement of Policy on OCIs, which can be found under Compliance and Protections at the following address:  https://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Organizational-Conflicts-Interest 

Questions to Offeror to address:

1.  Based on a review of the First Task Order Performance Work Statement, please provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for this Task Order.

2.  Based on the draft PWS for the First Task Order, provide comments on the labor mix. 
a.  Is the included labor mix reasonable?
b.  Could this requirement be done using a different mix of labor? If yes, include a basic strategy and identify how it would be beneficial to the Government to pursue. 
c.  Would you utilize in house resources or would you need to use consultants and/or subcontractors?

3.  For stipend payments to interns, included if your company would or would not apply indirect rates to the stipend payment. Include a ROM percentage applied to the stipend payment. Identify if the applied indirect rate would vary each year and/or if the rate would differ based on the intern program. 

4.  The IDIQ will have a DD 254 attached once a solicitation is released and the DD 254 will cover all Task Orders under this IDIQ. 

a.  For students who require the use of the DD 254, what is the process your business would use to process students who support Naval requirements where the DD 254 is needed?

5.  Does your company have a Facility Clearance? If yes, at what level is the business cleared for?

6.  If your business was to conduct an outreach event, explain the basic process taken to support that event. Include if this approach includes a number of days of lead time to the event. 

7.   For other direct costs for consumable materials to be used at outreach events, what is your process for procuring?

8.   What is your process for shipping outreach materials to events?

9.   How does your firm handle travel requirements?

10.  What IT tools does your business estimate it would need to accomplish the website requirements in the First Task Order PWS? How would these be sourced? 

11.  Does your firm have prior experience with managing internship programs? If yes, your examples should include:

a.    Magnitude of the internship (dollars and students processed per year);
b.    Innovative solutions to attracting interns to internship programs; and, 
c.    Moderate to significant challenges the prior internship presented to include the business performance and cost control.

12.  Based on your review of the IDIQ PWS and First Task Order PWS, does your business offer any commercial solutions to meeting this requirement? If yes, please respond to the items below:
a.  Is the requirement (or a substantially similar capability) currently available as a commercial item or service? If so, please describe the commercial item or service, including its features, capabilities, and intended use. 
b.  Is the item or service sold, leased, or licensed to the general public or non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental purposes? 
c.  Does your company have evidence of commercial sales, leases, or licenses (e.g., price lists, catalogs, brochures, website links, customer testimonials). 
d.  What percentage of your sales of this item or service are to commercial customers versus government customers? 

13.  Will your firm be compliant with the following systems at time of solicitation and at time of award:
a.  System for Award Management
b.  No adverse information on the SAM Excluded Parties Listing
c.  No adverse information on the SAM Responsibility Listing
d.  VETS 4212
e.  NIST
f.  CMMC