Month: August 2020

Laguna Field Office Building Renovation

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Laguna Field Office Building Renovation

  • Original Set Aside: Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)
  • Product Service Code: Z2AA – REPAIR OR ALTERATION OF OFFICE BUILDINGS
  • NAICS Code: 236220 – Commercial and Institutional Building Construction

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This announcement is for acquisition planning purposes and no formal solicitation for this requirement exists at this time. All businesses, regardless of size; capable of providing these items are invited to respond to this announcement and submit a capability statement for consideration. Capability statements received will be reviewed to determine a firm’s previous experience performing similar work. The capability statements will be reviewed and used to determine an appropriate procurement strategy, in particular whether a set-aside is warranted or an alternate procurement strategy.

The Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Basin, Multi Species Conservation Program (MSCP) has a requirement for a construction project. The Statement of Work includes three major items:

  1. The purchase, delivery and installation of a Prefabricated building
  2. Demolition of an existing building
  3. Renovations to three existing buildings.

All of this work is to take place in Imperial County, California, at the Laguna Field Office. The anticipated period of performance is approximately 180 days from the date of issuance of a Notice to Proceed.

All responses must be submitted via email no later than 12:00 Noon Pacific Time, September 18, 2020. Email address: [email protected]. Include the reference number (140R3020R0032) in the subject line.

FULL details via beta.sam.gov

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U.S. Army Granted $428M Contract To General Dynamics Land Systems

Posted on by Eric Coffie

General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $428,229,970 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the field level maintenance, field service representative support, contingency maintenance support, new equipment training and total package fielding for the family of Stryker vehicles.

Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0075).

General Dynamics Corporation is an American aerospace and defense corporation. As of 2019, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the United States, and the sixth-largest in the world, by sales. The company ranked No. 92 in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue

Dr. Joseph Grant: Retired NASA Space Technology Mission Director

Posted on by Eric Coffie

A retired NASA Space Technology Mission Director, Dr. Joseph Grant shares his insights about the SBIR or STTR Program in NASA and his advice for businesses that want to be part of the program.

BACKGROUND

Dr. Joseph Grant is a retired National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology Mission Directorate after being part of the organization for 20 years.

He previously served as NASA’s Deputy Program Executive in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Also, Dr. Grant has more than 15 years research and development experience in the area of Optics and Photonics.

Dr Grant earned his doctorate degree in Applied Physics from Alabama A&M University.

SBIR OR STTR PROGRAM

The SBIR or the STTR program funds the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that will fulfill NASA’s requirements.

This is also aimed at small businesses and nonprofit research institutes such as universities and research laboratories that have ties with small businesses.

“That’s why I’m always out there trying to encourage entrepreneurs, small business, and university because in the universities is where a lot of the entrepreneurs, a lot of the technologies will come. They come from a lot of these minority universities.”

One thing that small businesses should also take note of is that this program is a grant and not a loan which means that you don’t have to pay it back after you are  done with your innovation or you failed to go to the next phase of the program.

This is made for the reason that a grant is the best way to pay the efforts of the researchers. Regardless if the study turns out nothing or it wouldn’t work, NASA is okay with that as long as you made your best effort and you couldn’t get the product where it was supposed to be.

“As long as you put in your best effort to try to get done what you proposed in phase one, no one is going to come back after you and say, ‘You didn’t do what you proposed, so I want my money back.’ That’s never, ever going to happen.”

However, even with this, NASA still hasn’t met a huge percentage of small businesses that join the program. Due to this, they aimed to encourage more minority universities and small businesses to join through a SBIR road tour.

Through this road tour, NASA aims to break the roadblock between the agency, the institutions, and the small businesses. They combine organizations that have the same capabilities. They also invite some of NASA’s prime contractors and the directors to talk about the goal of the program in front of minority universities and small businesses.

“So we created this entity to go out to the universities, set up a tour and invite as many of the minority universities within that region as possible and share with them the opportunities that were available to them as a minority university and to convince them that we as NASA, interestingly, do want to work with them.”

ADVICE FOR BUSINESSES

Dr. Joseph Grant believed that everyone wants to create technology that can change the world but in order for this innovation to achieve its purpose, you should be able to convince the program manager or the buyer about the worth of your technology.

“You have to convince him, the buyer, that it’s the best thing since sliced bread and honestly, he’s not really as much interested in the deep technology or technological advances that it has. He’s more interested in what is it going to do for me and how am I going to benefit from it?”

So, he advises to do a much better job in actually showing your target people how your development will do a better job against what they already have.

“Instead of telling them how great your technology or your product is, spend a little bit of time telling them what it is and spend much more time telling them how it would benefit them.”

In doing that, you should be able to communicate clearly with the government, which in this case is your target buyer. The government doesn’t want to waste their time so you must do your homework. Know everything beforehand before you present your innovation and learn about the program that you aim to be part of.

With this, Dr. Grant encourages minority small businesses to communicate with the government and your local small business program offices and to respond to requests for proposals and requests for information.

“Let them know that you’re interested in or you have something that they might be able to use… We can’t get to you if you don’t respond and we don’t know you’re out. Let them know you’re out. That’s what I would say.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video where the former NASA Mission Director Dr. Joseph Grant talked about the SBIR or STTR program, then be sure to click the links below:

048: Dr Joseph Grant former NASA Mission Directorate discuss SBIR, NASA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-84zTiy1PaM&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=41

048: Dr Joseph Grant, Retired NASA in Space Technology Mission Directorate discuss the ins and outs of SBIR/STTR

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/dr-joseph-grant-retired-nasa-in-space-technology-mission-directorate-discuss-the-ins-and-outs-of-sbir-sttr/

Sources Sought: Hypersonic Technology Development

Posted on by Eric Coffie
  • Product Service Code: J014 – MAINT/REPAIR/REBUILD OF EQUIPMENT- GUIDED MISSILES
  • NAICS Code: 541330 – Engineering Services
  • Place of Performance: Cambridge , MA 02139 USA

RESPONSE DEADLINE: Interested sources shall submit a capability package by the deadline provided in this notice (10 pages or less) containing: 1) Company Name and Address, 2) Company Point of Contact, 3) Email Address, 4) Phone Number, 5) specifics addressing the tasking listed below and company’s capability, 6) specifics addressing existing subject matter expertise of Strategic Weapon Systems Guidance and Reentry subsystems, 7)  related past performance and 8) general corporate information.  Facilities and citizen personnel must be U.S. citizens and possess a Secret Clearance or higher.  The prime contractor must also be International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliant.  In addition, prospective sources should be able to receive, generate, modify and store classified documentation.

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Respondents should indicate which portions of their response are proprietary and should mark them accordingly.  Failure to provide a response does not preclude participation in any possible future competitive RFP for which a business is eligible to participate in, if any is issued.

REQUIREMENT: The work described under this Sources Sought Notice is entirely for the Strategic Systems Programs’ Conventional Prompt Strike Program. None of the work is for Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System. The (previous) title of the Sources Sought Notice was a reflection of the contracting vehicle used, and is hereby updated. The United States is not pursuing nuclear hypersonic weapons.

Responses are due no later than Sep 05, 2020 05:00 pm EDT

FULL details via beta.sam.gov

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Messer Construction Co Awarded $126M Contract For The Construction of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Messer Construction Co., Dayton, Ohio, was awarded a $126,324,295 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center Intelligence Production Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 29, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction, defense-wide funds in the amount of $126,324,295 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0030).

Messer Construction Company operates as a general contractor. The Company specializes in managing, developing, and performing complex commercial construction. Messer Construction serves health care, higher education, industrial, and science and technology sectors.

AccuProbe Reagents & Supply Kits

Posted on by Eric Coffie

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The VACHS has the need to purchase AccuProbe Reagents & Supply Kits & Instrumentation/Equipment (see list of items below). The intent is to find qualified businesses relative to the North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) 325413 for In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing. You must be an authorized distributor of the products for the items of your submittal. You will be required to provide proof of designation or official letter from the manufacturer.

Potential sources are to respond by email only to Contract Specialist: Earl Johnson at [email protected] no later than August 27, 2020 at 4:00PM Eastern Time

Full details HERE.

📌 Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

NAVY Awards Amentum Services Inc $430M Contract For AUTEC Operations & Maintenance

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded a $430,016,852 cost-plus-award-fee, cost reimbursement and firm-fixed-price contract for the operation and maintenance of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). AUTEC is the Navy’s large-area, deep-water, undersea test and evaluation range. Underwater research, testing and evaluation of anti-submarine weapons, sonar tracking and communications are the predominant activities conducted at AUTEC. The contractor performs AUTEC range operations support services and maintenance of facilities and range systems. In addition, the contractor is responsible for operating a self-sufficient one square mile Navy outpost. 

Work will be performed on Andros Island, Commonwealth of the Bahamas (64%); and West Palm Beach, Florida (36%), and is expected to be complete by August 2025. With all options exercised, work will continue through August 2030. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website with six offers received in response to Solicitation No. N66604-18-R-0881. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport Division, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity (N66604-20-C-0881).

Amentum Services, Inc. is located in Germantown, MD, United States and is part of the Investment Firms Industry. Amentum Services, Inc. has 17,000 total employees across all of its locations and generates $7.21 billion in sales (USD). There are 101 companies in the Amentum Services, Inc. corporate family.

Dr. Ramsey Smith: Helping Engineers and Researchers Find Opportunities

Posted on by Eric Coffie

With his experience in working in NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for over 10 years, Dr. Ramsey Smith shares advice for technology-focused businesses and his experience in dealing with the organization and building his own company afterwards.

BACKGROUND

Dr. Ramsey Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in Morehouse College and his doctorate degree in Atmospheric Chemistry at Howard University. He also pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GFSC).

During his time in NASA, he started as a Research Space Scientist and transitioned as a Center Lead for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Program Lead for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program at NASA GSFC.

Currently, Dr. Smith is  the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Geaux Innovation Agency, an agency that provides strategy, research & development, and commercialization services for science and technology based entrepreneurs, universities, and investors.

He is also the  Chief Strategy Officer of Sou Sou Investment Solutions, a global financial technology and consulting firm that provides financial management, training and development, and consulting services.

MANAGING NASA’s SBIR/STTR PROGRAM

Dr. Smith started in NASA as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a research scientist. After almost five years, he transitioned as the SBIR/STTR Infusion Manager of NASA.

During this time, Dr. Smith managed the policies and activities for them to engage with other government agencies. He primarily believes that the technology from various agencies such as the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, and NASA should overlap with one another.

He also looked for issues and opportunities in dealing with small businesses in terms of commercializing their technology within the agency. He encouraged companies to understand the importance of pivoting  their business and how to deal with the technology from ideation to creation.

MANAGING GEAUX INNOVATION AGENCY

Dr. Smith’s company works with businesses in laying out their goals and providing inputs to strengthen their strategies. They also help accelerators in preparing for a pitch competition that will happen.

“(We) plan that out over months where when the pitch competition application opens there, they have everything finished. And they get accepted. They won on national and international stages doing this.”

Apart from that, they also help their clients who are dealing with problems from analyzing the situation into providing input on how to move forward.

“You have to really take a step back and be compassionate and have empathy at that point. (However), we’re not going to solve the problem for them. We can work together on a solution that they’re comfortable with and we’re comfortable with because we want everybody to take ownership on the path forward. So it can be sustainable for them as an organization.”

ADVICE FOR TECHNOLOGY-CENTERED BUSINESSES

One mistake that Dr. Smith sees businesses make is that they didn’t know how to move from ideation to market.

1. Have A Plan.

In order to avoid this problem, businesses should have a plan. There are a lot of questions to be answered in building technology-based products. Some of these include:

“How do you plan to develop this? When do you plan to roll out your products for someone to use?… How do you plan to prototype it? When do you plan to prototype it? Are you protecting us along the way? When do you see cash flow coming into your organization and where will it come from? Does it come from personal investments? Do you have investors lined up? Do you already have customers?”

2. Know How To Write Proposals.

You should also understand how to write a proposal for various technical projects. If you don’t have people who don’t have experience in the subject matter, then you should find someone who knows the technicalities.

However, if your business knows how to do so, then you should also recognize that solicitations are different so you should write the proposal in a way that will address the needs of the specific agency.

Remember that although there are outlines how to write a proposal, the instruction varies and priorities change from  within subtopic to subtopic, and from agency to agency.

“Yes, they have guidelines, but there’s no such thing as writing a… someone having a silver bullet or a magic wand to write a winning proposal.”

3. Learn From Partnership.

Other ways to avoid this problem is working with a partner or other business that has the same values and goals as yours. This is a good way to learn from one another and to use each other’s experience to land on various opportunities.

Consider that government contracting is not a one day course, it is something that you learn over time. Besides, this is an educational opportunity where you are still making money.

“Sometimes we fixate on where we can lead instead of where we can partner. We’re so used to being subject matter experts in our area.We don’t think about someone needing us to be a subject matter expert where they can lead and we can all work together and still accomplish our goal.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Dr. Ramsey Smith as he shares his advice for technology-focused businesses and his experience in NASA and building his own company, then be sure to click the link down below.

060: Dr. Ramsey Smith – Helping engineers and researchers find applications for their technologies

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/060/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApfAhNQhkKo

Network Analysis and Reporting Program (NARP)

Posted on by Eric Coffie

STATEMENT OF NEED:

The objective of the FirstNet Network Analysis and Reporting Program (NARP) is to gather, process, analyze and report wireless broadband network coverage and performance data for the FirstNet Authority Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN).

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The NARP requires sufficient pseudo-random outdoor data collection and sampling in each state, DC and Puerto Rico in order to properly characterize the NPSBN at the state and nationwide level. The sampling in each state and territory shall include rural and non-rural morphologies.  In addition to the pseudo-random testing for each state and territory, in-building measurements of wireless broadband network coverage, including Wi-Fi measurements when available, are also required in each state and territory, as well as post-processing and analyses of the collected data.

The wireless broadband network coverage verification and validation process and methodology should adhere to the current contractual definition of coverage for the NPSBN: persistent and temporary coverage is defined as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Band 14 network capable of providing cell edge data rates of 256 kbps uplink (UL) and 768 kbps downlink (DL) measured from outdoor stationary User Equipment at (3) feet from the ground level with a 95 percent confidence margin for the cell area with a uniform cell load of 50% for the DL and UL.

SUBMISSIONS AND FORMAT OF RESPONSES:

All interested parties who believe they are able to meet the requirements are invited to provide a written response in accordance with the submission instructions identified herein.

Responses shall include the name and telephone number of the point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives.  RFI responses shall be sent to the Point of Contact at following email address: [email protected].  All emails shall include in the subject line the RFI title and the submitting organization’s name.

Responses are due in writing, via email, no later than 2:00 p.m. ET, Monday, August 31, 2020

Full details HERE.

📌 Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

067: Denita R Conway – Award-winning Strategic Planning & Risk Mitigation Executive

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Denita R. Conway, Founder, and CEO, Proven Management has proven that you can be the change you want to see.

During the interview, she tells the story of the founding of her company. Without giving away too much of the story, the basis was often times when employees were working management was not available to offer direction or leadership. That situation frustrated so much she made the decision to establish her own standards and set out on her own that pathway.

Ms. Conway founded PROVEN Management in 2011 since that time has managed to grow at a rate of 25% each year – including during the shutdown in 2013. PROVEN has remained profitable and has grown from just 1 employee in 2011 to 102 full-time employees and now provides service to 29 government agencies in 48 cities.

Ms. Conway continues to make strides as evidenced by her winning the 2020 Washington Business Journal Minority leadership award. 2020 Enterprising women’s award, 2018 SBA Washington DC Small Businessperson of the year, 2017 USDA/Aphis HUBZONE small business contractor of the year, American Express OPEN 2016 Woman Contractor of the Year. In 2014, she was recognized with Washington DC’s Smart CEO BRAVA! Award, and that same year, her firm was named Small Business of Year in Prince George’s County, MD.

In today’s episode, you will find out how has her business adjusted for COVID, where did this entrepreneur journey began, what is it like working at the Pentagon, her daily practices, success habits and much more