Seed Freezer and Installation - Sources Sought

A market survey is being conducted to determine if there are adequate Small Business, SBA certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), Women-Owned, or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) contractors available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below. This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This is not a solicitation Announcement or Request for Quote. It does not constitute any commitment by the Government. No award will result from this notice. The purpose is to conduct market research to gain knowledge of potentially qualified sources and to determine the capability of Small Business and/or Large Business companies to provide the supplies/services described below. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will be used by the Government to make an appropriate acquisition decision. Department of Agriculture (ARS) requests responses from ALL socioeconomic categories in order to gain a more complete understanding of the market for these products and service. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will not award a contract on the basis of responses or pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. After completing an analysis of the responses, the Government will determine whether to limit competition to 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, Women-Owned, or other small business firms, or to proceed with issuing an unrestricted solicitation, inviting full and open competition. The NAICS code for the expected acquisition is 333415, with a Size Standard of 1,250 employees and the PSC Code is 4110. Any subsequent procurement will be conducted as a commercial item purchased in accordance with FAR Part 12 and as a Simplified Acquisition Procedure in accordance with FAR Part 13. The Department of Agriculture (ARS) has the need for the following product and service: 001) Seed Freezer and Installation Scope of Work: The USDA-ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit's (VCRU) Potato Genebank in Sturgeon Bay, WI is seeking sources for an indoor freezer case with a remote (outside) compressor unit and installation. Background: Our current freezer was purchased in 2006 and is a 3-section freezer manufactured by Master-Bilt. The freezer has a slow leak which needs to be refilled with Freon two to three times per year. The leak is encased in a foam area where it is not accessible for repair, so the freezer needs to be replaced. The freezer unit preserves 15,600 botanical potato seed lots which are maintained at the genebank facility. The space designated for the new freezer is limited to the approximate size of the current freezer. By utilizing a remote compressor unit, we will be able to increase usable freezer space to accommodate our growing potato collection. Technical Requirements: We request a 3-section inside freezer case with stainless-steel doors to be installed in our seed processing lab. The maximum outside dimension of case needs to fit into a space limited to 89 wide by 34 deep by 98 high (but also needs to fit through an 83 high by 42 wide outside doorway). The inside shelving units should be set at 6 apart - we are hoping the case height will accommodate at least 10 shelving units. We also request that an outdoor condensing unit be mounted on the outside West facing wall of our office building (Images 1&2 far below show inside and outside wall) for cooling the inside case. The condensing unit must be able to maintain the inside case temperature at -17C. The contractor is to provide all required labor, materials, equipment and tools needed to perform installation of outdoor condensing units to the inside case, including electrical and refrigerant piping from the outside unit to the inside case (span from exterior wall to nearest bordering freezer space is 42). Travel: The contractor is responsible for estimating how long the project will take and setting up their own travel and stay (if applicable) to our office site at 4312 State Highway 42 North in Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. Contractor's Key Personnel: Electrical and refrigeration knowledge. Evaluation Factors: Lowest price, technically acceptable. The government intends to award a firm-fixed price award based on the lowest price technically acceptable product. The lowest priced product will be evaluated first; if not found acceptable, the next lowest priced product will be evaluated, and so on until an acceptable product is identified. The government will not review higher priced products if the lowest priced product is determined to be technically acceptable. For a vendor's products to be considered technically acceptable, they must meet all of the technical requirements identified in the solicitation. Key Deliverables Seed Freezer Installation Delivery: The contractor is responsible for all deliverables needed to perform task. Our office building is typically open and can be accessed Monday thru Friday from 7:00am to 4:30pm (excluding holidays). Delivery and installation are expected to be completed at USDA-ARS VCRU, 4312 State Highway 42 N in Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 before December 31, 2021. The vendor shall provide all items F.O.B: destination. Location of the Government site is aboard USDA-ARS Sturgeon Bay, WI and will be identified in the contract. The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed Price contract. Capability Statement: Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a Capabilities Statement which, for this notice, is not expected to be a proposal, but rather short statements regarding the company's ability to demonstrate their expertise and experience in relation to the areas specified in this notice. Companies should also indicate whether they are a Small Business, SBA-certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), SDVOSB, or Women-Owned Small Business. To be eligible, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a current and active registration. A DUNS (Dun and Bradstreet) number is required in order to register in SAM. A vendor can contact SAM by calling +1 (555) 000-0000 or e-mail at www.sam.gov. NO EXCEPTIONS. Vendor must include their DUNS# on their capability statements. To be eligible, all vendors must also be registered in SAM under the specific NAICS code listed as part of this sources sought. If a prospective vendor is not registered under the specified NAICS code and would qualify to be registered under it then they must update their SAM registration prior to providing a capabilities statement. Finally, to be eligible, all vendors must be NDAA 889 Certified. If they do not currently have a NDAA 889 Certification, then they must complete the attached NDAA 889 Certification form and submit it to contact@example.gov so that they can be added to the list of NDAA 889 Certified vendors. Submitting a Capability Statements: Responses should be submitted via email to contact@example.gov by Monday, September 6, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. CST. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Disclaimer: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Respondents are also advised that under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information or provide feedback about any of the information received. After review of the responses received, the Government may issue a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation. No proprietary, sensitive, confidential or classified information shall be included with your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation.