Attn: Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Operations & Analysis Service, (93), 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, District Of Columbia 20420

89 -- PRIME VENDOR FOR FOOD & FOOD SERVICE SUPPLY ITEMS DISTRIBUTION SOL 101-08-00 DUE 012400 POC Contracting Officer -- Dennis Maloney, Supervisory Contracting Officer, (202) 273-8765 WEB: RFP 101-08-00, http://www.bos.oamm.va.gov/solicitation?number=101-08-00. VA intends to solicit proposals to establish a prime vendor contract for the distribution of food and food service supply items to Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in the SPV Cluster 9 area of North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, and Northern Georgia. Some 11 VA medical centers are involved. The contract will be for approximately 20 months depending on award date, but will end on September 30, 2001. Additional facilities including Other Government Agencies (OGA) can be added to the contract by mutual agreement between Government and vendor. Based on either the VA or the vendor obtaining an OGA. Please note, OGA business is not guaranteed to the winning distributor and they must market their services to ensure they obtain the additional business. The solicitation will be released on or about December 20th, 1999, with proposals due by January 24th, 2000. All communication must be done by electronic means and no paper copies of the solicitation will be provided. All responses to this solicitation including proposals, oral presentation material etc. must also be submitted electronically on the date required. The solicitation will be available on VA_s web Business Opportunity System page. VA is also scheduling pre-proposal conferences with potential vendors for the Cluster 9 solicitation RFP 101-08-00. These conferences will review the new proposal process and allow vendors to ask questions specific to this contract. The VA is looking for creative, innovative contracting strategies for this and future subsistence solicitations. Please contact Jeanne Myscofski at 708-786-5231 or email Jeanne.Myscofski2@med.va.gov to schedule a conference time on January 5th or 6th, 2000 in Washington, DC. Please forward all questions to Dennis Maloney and Jeanne Myscofski. Because of holiday schedules, we require that you copy your correspondence to either of the two point of contacts identified to ensure it is received in and can be responded to in a timely fashion. Failure to comply with this requirement can adversely effect your opportunity to successfully make an offer. Posted 12/16/99 (D-SN409226). (0350)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0261 19991220\89-0001.SOL)