RELO Industry Forum

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION/RELO INDUSTRY FORUM Travel and Transportation Acquisition Support Division General Services Administration Employee Relocation Services September 23, 2008 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.0 OBJECTIVE On September 23, 2008, the General Services Administration (GSA) will host an industry information session to conduct market research to refine a proposed new guaranteed home sale services model. The purpose of the information session is to solicit feedback from industry on the proposed model, stakeholder requirements, and other pertinent issues to assess viability of the model and its requirements. 2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT Federal civilian agencies relocate approximately 28,000 civilian employees annually. Approximately 12,000 of these employees receive guaranteed home buyout assistance as a relocation benefit to expedite the sale of their home, maximize the sale price, and access the home's equity. This is an important human capital benefit for recruitment and retention and, for some agencies, is a requirement to ensure personnel are mobile for mission-critical functions. Historically, 85% of guaranteed home buyout services were procured via GSA's Multiple Award Schedule, entitled Transportation, Delivery and Relocation Services Schedule (Schedule 48). Under the terms of Schedule 48, Relocation Service Providers (RSPs) assume all burden and privilege of ownership of the relocating employee's home if the home does not sell within a specified period. For this service, RSPs charge fixed percentage rates based on the home's sale price. Recent downturns in the housing and lending markets have significantly affected suppliers ability to provide guaranteed home sale services to the Government under the Schedule because the model requires suppliers to bear all risks at fixed percentage rate pricing. Under commercial models, RSPs offer services under cost-reimbursable contracts and transferees private-sector employers bear the risks of owning the homes. GSA has assessed models based on commercial standards and best practices to develop a new guaranteed home buyout model to supplement home buyout services currently offered under Schedule 48. The objective of this new model is to task a service integrator with acquiring commercially priced guaranteed home buyout services that include full mortgage payoff that may be made available to the government at fixed percentage rate pricing. GSA wishes to acquire this capability through one commercial source which has contracts with the necessary range of suppliers and services, to accomplish the vision as described in the draft statement of objectives. The DRAFT sow may be obtained by e-mailing your request to: transportation.programs@gsa.gov and onthego@gsa.gov using the subject line RELO INDUSTRY DAY. 3.0 DISCUSSION OF INTEGRATE HOME SALES SERVICES INITIATIVE Below are some the questions that GSA will address during the Industry Forum: 1. What is the vision of this guaranteed home sale contracting vehicle? 2. What is the impact on the existing GSA schedules? 3. What are the roles, responsibilities, and anticipated requirements for the various stakeholders who would participate in this service as conceived in under the proposed model? 4. Will there be unique technology-related or security-related requirements? 5. What is the tentative timeline for the procurement? 4.0 INDUSTRY FORUM GSA is hosting an Industry Forum to refine its requirements for a proposed New Home Sale Services contract. GSA shall discuss preliminary information regarding the program initiative. The industry forum is scheduled as follows: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 1:00 PM (ET) - 4:00 PM (ET) Room L1301 2200 Crystal Drive Arlington, VA 22202 An industry forum may be used when the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. This meeting does not obligate the government in any way to issue an RFQ for the services discussed. 5.0 RESPONSES GSA requests feedback, comments, concerns, recommendations on the proposed guaranteed home buyout contracting vehicle. Respondents are encouraged to think broadly about how to best achieve the desired services. Vendors are encouraged to mark each page believed to contain corporate sensitive information with the note - Proprietary Information. Responses should be based on the material contained in this announcement and any other relevant information the vendor thinks is appropriate.. E-mail responses shall be submitted by 4:00 PM (ET), Wednesday October 1, 2008 to the following: transportation.programs@gsa.gov and onthego@gsa.gov Subject: RELO Industry Forum In outlining your company's response, please provide a cover letter, which includes the following: - Number of years of corporate experience - Business Size - Primary type of services provided - Primary Point of Contact - Address - Telephone Number - Fax Number - E-mail address for POC Any exchanges of information shall be consistent with procurement integrity requirements (see FAR 3.104). Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The responses from this RFI may be used to assist the Government in developing evaluation criteria for a future procurement. 6.0 REGISTRATION FOR INDUSTRY DAY In order to facilitate registration, those planning to attend this event are requested to send the information requested below to transportation.programs@gsa.gov and onthego@gsa.gov Name of attendee(s), telephone numbers, e-mail address, and vendor name 7.0 POINT OF CONTACT Dennis Harrison Division Director Transportation Division Travel and Transportation Acquisition Support Phone: 703-605-2720 Fax: 703-605-9935 Directions FAS headquarters are in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, VA. The Crystal Plaza 4 building is located at 2200 Crystal Drive. The following directions are provided from the subway (Metro), I-395 S from Washington, DC, and three DC area airports. Metro: Take the blue (towards Franconia) or yellow (towards Huntington) line train to the Crystal City Metro Station. Exit Metro to street level, turn left, and walk east on 18th Street to Crystal Drive. Turn right on Crystal Drive and proceed to 2200 Crystal Drive. From Washington, DC and I-395 S: Take I-395 S to US-1 South, exit right on the 15th Street ramp. Make a left at the traffic signal at the bottom of the ramp (crosses under Route 1) and proceed to Crystal Drive. Make a right onto Crystal Drive and proceed to 2200 Crystal Drive which is located on the right. Garage and meter parking are available. From Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: Take the ramp to Return to Airport/(US-1)/Crystal City. Continue on Abingdon Drive toward Crystal City (US-1)/Remote Parking (I-66) General Aviation. Bear right at VA-233. Turn right onto the Crystal Drive ramp and turn right at Crystal Drive. Proceed to 2200 Crystal Drive. Garage and meter parking are available. From Washington Dulles International Airport: Head east from Aviation Drive. Turn left into the Dulles Airport Access Road entry ramp. Continue on VA-267E and then I-66 E. Take VA-110 S exit 75 to Pentagon/Alexandria. Continue on Jefferson Davis Hwy and turn left at 23rd Street S. Turn left at Crystal Drive and proceed to 2200 Crystal Drive. Garage and meter parking are available. Note: Both lanes of I-66 are reserved for HOV-2 eastbound/inbound during the morning (6:30 to 9:00 am) and westbound/outbound in the evening (4:00-6:30 pm). However, motorists traveling to and from Dulles International Airport to go to the airport or to pick someone up at the airport are permitted to use I-66 inside the Beltway (I-495) during HOV hours. Motorists traveling to or from Dulles International Airport are not exempt from HOV restrictions on I-66 outside the Beltway (I-495). You are not permitted to use I-66 during HOV hours if you are going to the airport to eat, get coffee, etc. From Baltimore-Washington International Airport: Travel southeast to I-195 W toward airport exit. Take the MD-295 S exit 2B to Washington. Merge into US-50 W and continue on New York Ave. NE. Continue on New York Ave. NW and turn left at I-395 S. Take the US-1 exit 8C to Pentagon City/Crystal City/Alexandria. Continue on Jefferson Davis Hwy. Turn left at 23rd Street S. Turn left at Crystal Drive. Proceed to 2200 Crystal Drive. Garage and meter parking are available.