Sources Sought Notice

Sweet Cherry Culture Shoots

Sources Sought #1143796-SS

This is a Sources Sought notice Only.  This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.  This Sources Sought is issued for information and planning purposes only as part of USDA ARS market research and does not itself constitute an RFQ.

General Information

We recently developed a genetic modification protocol for sweet cherry as part of an ongoing cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Pairwise, Inc. This protocol relies on sweet cherry shoot cultures that are grown by a private tissue culture company, Micro Paradox.  Pairwise previously contracted with Micro Paradox to develop a sweet cherry shoot growth protocol and are the only provider of the specific sweet cherry variety needed for our experiments (‘Sweetheart’). The propagation protocol used and developed by Micro Paradox was paid for by Pairwise and is the proprietary property of Pairwise, Inc. The protocol took 2 years to develop and the cultures are currently not sold to any other parties. Pairwise had been purchasing these cultures for us as part of our CRADA but have recently completed their scope of work. Pairwise has given permission to continue propagation and sale to us as their CRADA partner. Pairwise has provided us with the propagation protocol developed by Micro Paradox, but despite extensive in-house testing, we have not been able to replicate the quality of the cultures produced by Micro Paradox. All cultures produced in-house, at Pairwise, or at an alternative tissue culture company failed to work in our experiments due to unknown reasons. Therefore, our research Unit needs to purchase them directly from Micro Paradox to continue our genetics research on sweet cherry that is not related to the CRADA.

Requirements

The sweet cherry shoots must be propagated from the sweet cherry variety ‘Sweetheart’. The cultures must be healthy and free from bacterial or fungal contamination.  

Testing and Verification

The starting material must be genetically confirmed to be the correct ‘sweetheart’ cherry variety.

Packaging and Shipping

The cultures must be shipped overnight in sterile containers to avoid contamination.

This Sources Sought is only for the purpose of identifying potential sources as part of USDA ARS market research. The Government does not intend to make an award based on responses to this inquiry. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the Government.

Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.  

The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources including any Small Businesses; HUBZone small business; service-disabled, veteran-owned small business; 8(a) small business; veteran-owned small business; woman-owned small business; or small disadvantaged businesses. Please state if you are a large business or a small business according to the NAICS code listed in this Sources Sought.

All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary, and the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response defines how it can specifically meet the specifications for the items requested.  Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  After reviewing the responses received, a Combined Synopsis solicitation notice may be published on Sam.gov.

Submit ALL the Following in order to be a valid response to this Sources Sought Notice:

1. Capability Statement and/or product descriptions that demonstrate your ability to meet all of the specific requirements, including Company Contact Info.
2. SAM.gov UEI Number.
3. Identify if you are a Large business or a Small business with NACIS 111339.

Original Point of Contact: All responses to this Sources Sought Notice must be received by December 16, 2024, by 2:00 PM PST/PDT, the specified due date and time to be considered and must include all items requested above. 

Email responses to Elizabeth Wilson at Elizabeth.Wilson2@usda.gov.

Responses will not be returned. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Inquiry.

Do not submit pricing information in response to this Request.

DESCRIPTION

This initiative, 9mm Service Ammunition, is a new requirement to allow Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Components, and other federal agencies the ability to supply their armed workforce with service ammunition while achieving significant cost savings.  CBP has around 45,000 armed agents and officers with approximately another 27,000 armed DHS employees across other Components for a total of ~72,000 that are required to carry a handgun as part of their assigned law enforcement duties.  CBP intends to solicit a 5-year Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract for 9mm ammunition for this new service handgun.  This contract is intended to be a Multi-Agency Contract (MAC).

The Law Enforcement Safety and Compliance Directorate (LESC), Harpers Ferry, WV, on behalf of Operations Support (OS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is assessing the ammunition industry’s ability to provide DHS with suitable duty ammunition which meet the government’s preliminarily identified requirements.

This announcement constitutes an official Request for Information (RFI).  This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future.  This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.  Further, CBP is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals.  Responders are advised that CBP will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.  Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued.  If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website.  It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

INFORMATION REQUESTED:

1. Company Name, Company Address, Point of Contact, Telephone Number, and e-mail Address.
2. Are you under NAICS code 332994 Small Arms, Ordnance, and Ordnance Accessories Manufacturing?  If not, what NAICS code do you use?  What size business are you registered as with this code?
3. What is your organization’s experience with, and capability for, manufacturing and distributing service ammunition for military or law enforcement agencies? Does this experience include designing specific cartridges to meet agencies/military technical requirements?
4. Where is your ammunition manufactured and/or assembled?  If parts/components are manufactured in a different location from final assembly, please identify all subcontractors’ names and locations.
5. Is your organization capable of manufacturing 9mm cartridges that meet the technical requirements for both the Service Ammunition and the Reduced Hazard Qualification Ammunition included in the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW)?
6. Is your organization capable of producing a readily identifiable projectile as described in the SOW?  
7. Is your organization capable of producing a Reduced Hazard Qualification Round that has a consistent point of impact in comparison to the Service Ammunition as described in the SOW? 
8. Does your organization offer ammunition with a warranty?  If yes, please provide warranty length, and coverage of warranty.
9. Provide a synopsis of current Quality Control process related to duty ammunition. 
10. Are you ISO certified?  If so, what is your level of ISO certification? 
11. Provide your total manufacturing capacity for handgun ammunition on a quarterly basis.
12. What quantity of production could be devoted to this contract per quarter?
13. What is your surge capacity for ammunition devoted to this contract?
14. What is the normal lead-time for delivery of ammunition once an order is received?
    5,000,000 rounds
    10,000,000 rounds
    30,000,000 rounds
15. Can the ammunition specified in the Statement of Work be bulk packaged?   If so, what would be the possible quantities of these bulk packages?
16. Would there be any cost differential between having cases of 500 rounds as opposed to cases of 1,000 rounds?
17. Do you have any concerns or questions regarding the requirements set forth in the attached draft Statement of Work?

RESPONSES

Responses shall be the minimum length necessary to accommodate all requested information and submitted via e-mail only.  Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED.  To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. All responses shall be submitted via email not later than 3pm ET December 12, 2024 to the following:

Jared A. Tritle, Contracting Officer
Jared.A.Tritle@cbp.dhs.gov 

QUESTIONS

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the Contracting Officer, email address listed above.  Verbal questions will NOT be accepted.  Questions, if not answered directly to the respondee, may be answered by posting on SAM; accordingly, questions shall NOT contain proprietary, sensitive, or classified information.

SUMMARY

This Request for Information (RFI) and Presolicitation Notice is for planning purposes only and should not be construed as a Request for Proposal or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any services or hardware.  Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only.  No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or Government use of such information.  No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort.  The information provided may be used by CBP in developing and refining its Acquisition Strategy, Statement of Work, and Performance Specifications.  Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response.  The Government does not intend to award a contract solely on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to same.  The information provided herein is subject to change and in no way binds the Government to pursue any course of action described herein.  The U.S. Government is not obligated to notify respondents of the results of this survey.

The purpose of this RFI is to conduct market research for potential CBP 9mm ammunition.  All RFI submissions become Government property and will not be returned

The Huntington District Corps of Engineers intends to solicit a contract for the fabrication of Gates for Winfield Lock and Dam. Contract will include a base with eight additional options. The contract will be a Firm Fixed Price, supply contract. The contract will be awarded to the offeror whose quote conforms to the solicitation and is within a technical/price competitive range, if established, as determined by the contracting officer and has been evaluated as the most advantageous to the Government, all factors considered. All responsive offerors will be evaluated utilizing the following technical factors: Qualifications and Technical Approach, Past Performance, Capabilities and Capacities, Small business Participation Plan. Solicitation documents will be available on or about 10 December 2024 online at https://www.sam.gov. To be eligible for contract award, a firm must be registered in the System Award Management (SAM). Register via the SAM website at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM. Questions may be submitted to James Holstein at james.m.holstein@usace.army.mil  A NAICS Code of 332312 has been established for this solicitation. The size standard is 500 employees. This procurement is full and open competition.