Active

Contract Opportunity

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local PTAC (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program of the Department of Commerce (DOC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit MEP Centers (The MEP National Network (MEPNN) with locations in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, whose purpose is to provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with the help they need to succeed in today’s competitive world. Each Center works directly with area manufacturers to provide expertise and services tailored to their most critical needs. MEP has an integrated enterprise information system known as MEP’s Enterprise Information System (MEIS). MEIS is a customized Microsoft ASP.Net application for managing key business functions of the MEP Program. Included within the MEIS Framework are integrations with various internal and external systems including Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, and Dun & Bradstreet Direct+. MEP needs to maintain current operations as well as explore further enhancements to the MEIS Framework by integrating resources and technologies that will increase the accuracy, availability, scope and sophistication of data and information about manufacturing and manufacturers.

Currently, NIST MEP uses the unique DUNS identifier to provide the NIST MEP National Network with comprehensive business data about manufacturers and the manufacturing industry. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program requires a third-party independent resource to provide complete and accurate information about the approximately 333M business establishments worldwide. While NIST MEP is primarily focused on manufacturers and the manufacturing ecosystem in the United States and Puerto Rico there is also the need to access information about organizations outside of the United States. Vendor establishment data must be sourced from a variety of different entities that have been vetted including the company directly and third-party resources. The information must be compiled using different mechanisms (direct reporting, third-party reporting, automated/artificial intelligence, web scraping), verified/validated and distributed to NIST MEP via direct login/license to access database(s) AND automated queries using an application programming interface (API). The requirement includes client verification software, search/lookup capabilities, company profile data and custom reports (about 175) for an individual company or establishment. Up to 1.5M downloads for market research will be required with continuous updating as available.

Major data categories include:

• Company information (name, address including county, phone, website, size by employee count and revenue, diversity, ownership, synopsis)


• Market Segment


• Lines of Business


• Competitors and Competitive Landscape


• Unique IDs for data analytics (DUNS, Tax ID, etc.)


• Industry Information to include all focuses of the business (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)/North American Industry Classification System (NAICS))


• Global Positioning Data (latitude, longitude)


• State, County and Rural/Metro area codes (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC))


• Financial (Sales, Risk Assessment (credit, financial, long-term viability))


• Corporate Hierarchy (connections to other entities by identification number)


• Key positions at the company including phone and email (In the price proposal, please indicate the cost of business data records with and without personal email address information including reliability. Based on the cost the Government will choose the option that is most appropriate weighing the value of the information against the cost of the data record.)

This requirement is assigned a NAICS Code of 519290 Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services. This announcement is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) and does not commit the Government to award a contract now or in the future. No solicitation is available at this time. The purpose of this notice is to identify organizations with the requisite qualifications to meet the requirements of the item stated herein. The results of this market research will be to determine if any Small Business Set-aside categories will be considered. In addition, this Sources Sought is to determine the method of procurement. After results of this market research are obtained, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract.

If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then this acquisition may be solicited as a small business set aside. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses.

Interested business organizations that believe they are capable of meeting the requirement should submit electronic copies of their capability statement. Please limit responses to five (5) pages or less. Responses should include the following information:

1. Name of company that will provide service,

2. Specifications Sheets and/or examples of services that meet the requirements,

3. Typical lead time to commence work after receipt of order, and

4. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to provide the above-listed services are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by August 31, 2023, at 11:00am. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Send to Robert Singman, at Robert.singman@nist.gov. Direct all questions to this e-mail.

Attachments/Links