NOTICE TO ALL OFFERORS

REFERENCE: AMENDMENT NO. 2
RFP-DCS-02-20

Section M. 1 - Basis for Award (Best Value) is hereby deleted in its entirety and is replaced with the attached.

Keith A. Bond

KEITH A. BOND
Contracting Officer

Attachment

The Government intends to evaluate proposals using a two-step methodology. The first step will involve the evaluation of the offeror's TECHNICAL APPROACH, INDIVIDUAL STAFF EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS, UNDERSTANDING, AND PRICE, evaluation factors A, B, D, and E. Based on these evaluations, a Competitive Range (FAR Part 15) consisting of the most highly rated proposals will be established.

The second step will involve evaluation of the CONTRACTOR'S PAST PERFORMANCE (evaluation factor C), for the offerors within the Competitive Range. Therefore, each offer should contain the best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint.

A cost realism analysis shall be performed for all technically acceptable offerors.

Contract award will be based on the combined evaluations of Technical Approach, Individual Staff Experience and Qualifications, Contractor's Past Performance, Understanding, and Price. The contract resulting from this solicitation will be awarded to the responsible offeror whose offer, conforming to the solicitation, is determined to provide the "best value" to the Government, which may not necessarily be the proposals offering the lowest cost nor receiving the highest technical score.

It should be noted that cost is not a numerically weighted factor. Although non-cost factors are significantly more important than cost, cost is an important factor and should be considered when preparing responsive offers (proposals). The importance of cost as an evaluation factor will increase with the degree of equality of the proposals in relation to the remaining evaluation factors. When the offerors within the competitive range are considered essentially equal in terms of technical, past performance and other non-cost factors (if any), or when cost is so significantly high as to diminish the value of the technical superiority to the Government, cost may become the determining factor for award. In summary, cost/non-cost trade offs will be made, and the extent to which one may be sacrificed for the other if governed only by the tests of rationality and consistency with the established factors.

Prospective contractors are advised that the selection of a contractor for contract award is to be made, after a careful evaluation of the offers (proposals) received, by a panel of specialists chosen by DOL/ETA. Each panelist will evaluate the proposals for technical acceptability using a range of scores assigned to each factor. The factors are presented in the order of emphasis that they will receive (i.e., Factor A has the greatest weight, Factor B the second greatest weight, etc.). The scores will then be averaged to select a contractor for award on the basis of their proposal being the most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered.