Sole Source award to provide consulting services to support the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot

United States Department of Agriculture Limited Sources Justification for an Order/BPA Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

Federal Supply Schedules/Multiple Award Schedule Program FAR 8.405

Control No. FNS-LSJ-23-0003

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Issuance Policy and Innovation Division (IPID) is awarding a follow-on contract to Innovative Management LLC (IM, LLC) to provide consulting services to support the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot. Innovative Management is currently providing this service under Blanker Purchase Agreement (BPA) 12319821A00014 Call Order 12319821F0066 (to provide technical assistance, testing and document review services related to SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

USDA, FNS, SNAP, IPID has issued a follow-on call order on a firm fixed-price basis with IM, LLC under BPA #12319821A0014.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

To provide consulting services to support the Online Purchasing Pilot (OPP) which includes testing/document review of Personal Identification Number (PIN) Solution providers, ecommerce providers and retailers to expand the use of online SNAP transactions. The call order is for a base year and two (2) option years. The value of the call is as follows:

Base Year $999,719.40

Option Year 1 $1,013,700.12

Option Year 2 $1,027,840.22

The total value for the base and all option years is $3,041,259.74.

4. The authority and supporting rationale.

The following circumstance justifies limiting the source under FAR 8.405-6:

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow- on to an original Federal Supply Schedule.

5, A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

On September 16, 2021, the government awarded 2 firm fixed price BPAs for SNAP technical assistance support to IM, LLC and Panum Telecom LLC (Panum). At the time the BPA's were awarded, the first call order was also awarded to IM, LLC for services that are the same as what the government is currently awarding. Both IM and Panum provided quotes in response to the Request for Quote (RFQ) for the first call order. Under the current requirement IM, LCC has already performed and currently performing the requirements covered in the new requirement. The requirements that have already been performed include:

• • Working with FNS to understand project requirements.
  • Participating in an orientation call with FNS to discuss the project details.
  • Reviewing documents such as the business requirements documents, testing plans and testing scripts.
  • Testing of retailer online purchasing functionality to ensure they meet all FNS rules and regulations.
  • Participating in conference calls with multiple OPP stakeholders.

Requirements that are currently being performed and would to be continued in the new call order include:

• • Working with individual ecommerce providers on their specific business requirement documents
  • Continued testing of retailer online purchasing functionality to ensure they meet all FNS rules and regulations.
  • Reviewing documents for the additional states such as detailed design documents, test scripts and developing what if test scenarios.
  • Participating in project conference calls with multiple stakeholders.

6. Description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

No market research was conducted as the current requirement was competed under BPA #12319821A0014. Market research was performed at the BPA level.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The new/follow on requirement is similar in scope to the current call order. FNS would realize the following by awarding a firm fixed-price follow-on call order to IM, LLC.:

• • Time FNS would not need to provide funding for and allow time for a different contractor to review all of the work already performed by Innovative Management.
  • Money - It is estimated that the government would save approximately 3,460 hours or $500,000 over the lifetime of the contract. These saving are realized by not having to provide time and funding for a different contractor to learn the processes and work that has already being performed by IM, LLC.
• • Continuity of Services - No interruptions in providing the services related to the Online Pilot Program for retailers and other stakeholders including retailer testing and document reviews. Would allow for all deliverables to be uniform in their format.

8. Statement of actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

No barriers to competition to subsequent acquisition/orders are anticipated.

9. Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer (CO) that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The call order is awarded using the negotiated rates in the BPA. The BPA was competed and awarded based on fair and reasonable prices. Moreover, the contractor has been successfully performing the work for more than two years.