SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- All Trade Promotion Program -Gap Analysis Project - Package #1
- Notice Date
- 6/25/2013
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 541613
— Marketing Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1640, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1640
- Solicitation Number
- SB1350-13-RQ-0540
- Archive Date
- 7/24/2013
- Point of Contact
- Jemal Williams, Phone: 202-482-1459
- E-Mail Address
-
jemal.williams@trade.gov
(jemal.williams@trade.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- SF18 Combine Synopsis/Solicitation TRADE GAP ANALYSIS This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541613 with a small business size standard of $14.0M. THIS IS A 100% SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE. 1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010) Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to jemal.williams@trade.gov. Questions should be received no later than Friday July 28th at 2:00 pm EST. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract. (End of Provision) Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, All Trade Promotion Program -Gap Analysis Project 1.BACKGROUND The U.S. Commercial Service (CS) is the Trade Promotion Arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (www.trade.gov/cs). Our agency's mission is to help U.S. companies - primarily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - export their products and services to international buyers and thereby support U.S. job creation. We do this though Trade Counseling, Generation of Market Intelligence, Business Matchmaking Services, and Government Trade Advocacy and Commercial Diplomacy. We employ over 1,400 trade professionals worldwide in over 100 domestic offices and nearly 115 commercial offices located in U.S. Embassies and Consulates in more than 70 countries. The Trade Promotion Program (TPP) is a program unit within the CS comprised of three sub-programs: Trade Fair Certification, International Buyer Program, and Trade Missions. About CS Trade Show Support Trade shows - both domestic and international - are a primary service delivery channel for the U.S. Commercial Service (CS). Annually, CS personnel support over 300 trade shows, including approximately 100 Trade Fair Certification (TFC) trade shows, 35 International Buyer Program (IBP) trade shows, and at least 100 trade shows outside the IBP and TFC Program. The services the CS provides at these shows include business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) assistance, e.g., matchmaking and trade counseling. Trade shows are a significant generator of CS export successes. Last year alone, the IBP and TFC program reported over $1 billion in export successes associated with the trade shows they served. While there is no systematic collection of results data for CS-supported trade shows outside of the IBP and TFC, the fact that so many CS personnel around the world dedicate their very limited capacity to support those shows validates the notion that doing so contributes to the primary organizational metric of export successes. 2. PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The project team will conduct a gap analysis of CS customers' needs as they relate to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) assistance at trade shows and the CS's capacity to address those needs. The analysis will focus primarily on the exploration of buyer and trade show organizer needs, and CS LES capacity to meet those needs. Buyer focus groups and or interviews, trade show organizer interviews, and LES focus groups and interviews will be the primary methods for collecting this information and generating ideas for the future state TPP. The output of this work will be a prioritized list of customer needs, CS strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis these needs, and recommendations on how to redesign the CS TPP to increase our relevance and value to our customers, and to increase the return on the CS investment in trade promotion at trade shows. The point of this project is to determine the needs of trade show organizers, U.S. companies exhibiting and or attending trade shows, and international buyers attending trade shows from the customer's perspective, where the USG can add unique value vis-à-vis those need, the level of effort and resources required to deliver that value and the optimal service mix for the CS/TPP to deliver to these customers moving forward At the conclusion of this project, the project team will deliver a gap analysis detailing customer trade promotion needs at trade shows; the current state of the CS/TPP service mix vis-à-vis those needs, including capacity/level-of-effort; and recommendations on a proposed future state for the CS/TPP service mix, including capacity/level of effort. This gap analysis is intended for the CS senior leadership team. Specifically, it is meant for the executive director of TPP, the deputy assistant secretary of ODO, the deputy assistant secretary of OIO, the OIO regional directors, and the four new OIO regional SCOs. The team will uses this information to establish all aspects of the organization's service mix and operations for trade shows to include the types and scope of services provided; delivery mechanisms, e.g., in-person, partner, virtual; selection criteria; pricing; promotion; capacity constraints; and all associated policies. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS FOR SOLICITATION INSTRUCTIONS AND SOW
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