Strategic Communications Planning Services for the NCATS

INTRODUCTION PURSUANT TO FAR Subpart 5.2'Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF A PROPOSED CONTRACT ACTION. THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to award to Patel Public Affairs, Corp., 313 Elm St. NW, Washington, DC 20001-1715, UEI: NTMMKAKJ7BA8, an order with an estimated value not to exceed $195,375 titled - Strategic Communications Planning Services for the NCATS. This will be a firm-fixed-price purchase order with a period of performance of March 1, 2025, through February 28, 2026; with an option period to extend services from March 1, 2026, through May 31, 2026. The rationale is the NCATS Communications Branch and the center's executive leadership have been working with Patel Public Affairs as a subcontractor under multiple, previous contracts for five (5) years to design and implement multifacted, highly integrated strategic communications planning activities. The services are currently provided under a contract expiring February 28, 2025. Given the status of active, high-priority strategic communications initiatives, it is critical that there is no interruption in strategic communications planning services. In addition, onboarding a new contractor would require a significant duplicative investment of time and resources from the NCATS staff training the successor contractor on NCATS operations, structure and activities. The government team would need to re-teach and re-train a successor contractor in the areas that Patel Public Affairs has already mastered, duplicating work already completed. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services, with a small business size tandard of $24.5 million. REGULATORY AUTHORITY The resultant task order will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the Federal acquisition Requlation (FAR) in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-02 with effective date of January 3, 2025. STATUTORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901 using the procedures in FAR Subpart 13.5. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT Background The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) turns research findings into health solutions through translational science. It brings together a diverse range of scientists, including medicinal chemists, biologists, toxicologists, and engineers, to transform the way that research is done, making it faster, more efficient and more impactful. NCATS mission is broad and requires extensive collaboration and disruptive thinking within the science community. To accomplish this mission, the CB develops and disseminates information to a wide range of stakeholders with diverse interests and needs, including patient groups, academic investigators, potential partners in the private and federal sector (including other NIH institutes and centers), venture capital groups, technology-focused research and development organizations (both for-profit and nonprofit), and other parties interested in speeding each stage of research along the translational science spectrum, from the biological basis of health and disease to interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public. This requirement focuses on strategic communications planning services necessary to carry out effective and well-resourced tactics to advance NCATS mission. Therefore, the center seeks a vendor with demonstrated experience leading the development and coordination of strategic communications plans that support the goals of an organization focused on advancing translational science. This project will consist of supporting the CB in developing and executing strategic communications plans for specific NCATS initiatives or areas of interest. The CB team manages a high volume of requests and promotion activities, and this dedicated support will help ensure this work is devised in ways that will advance the center's broader goals and mission. Purpose and Objectives The purpose of this acquisition is to procure strategic communications planning and consulting services for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Office of Policy, Communications and Education (OPCE) Communications Branch (CB). The goal is to support NCATS mission and CB operations through the development and implementation of strategic communications activities that enhance awareness of NCATS expertise, value and impact to specific audience groups. Project Description See Attachment 1 - Statement of Work (SOW) for a full description. Period of Performance Base Period: March 1, 2025, through February 28, 2026 (12 months) Option Period: March 1, 2026, through May 31, 2026 (3 months) CLOSING STATEMENT This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's technical capability of fulfilling the requirement. Responses that fail to include relevant technical capability information and all terms and conditions may be assessed as not capable of meeting the requirement. The respondent must also provide their Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), organization name, address, point-of-contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.), pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by 10:00 AM Eastern Time, January 21, 2025, and reference this Notice Number. All responses must be emailed to Mark McNally, Contracting Officer, at mark.mcnally@nih.gov. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.