The training courses offered are commercial items with fixed prices and can be ordered by issuing a Delivery Order under contract GS-10F-0090K. To order services, firm fixed price Delivery Orders must be negotiated based on the labor rates provided in the contract and noted below. Ordering instructions are provided at the GSA MOBIS web site: GSA MOBIS Schedule

GSA has determined that the rates for services contained in the price list applicable to this Schedule are fair and reasonable. However, the ordering office using this contract is responsible for considering the level of effort and mix of labor proposed to perform a specific task being ordered and for making a determination that the total firm-fixed price is fair and reasonable.

If you have questions, please contact us:

MSC Associates, Inc.
2961-A Hunter Mill Rd, #804
Oakton, VA 22124-1704
Telephone 703 242-7928 - Cell 703 928-8957 - FAX 703 242-0497
e-mail address "msca@msca.com"

There are three Special Item Numbers (SIN) under the contract:

SIN 874-1 CONSULTING SERVICES
Click here to see a description of services offered

SIN 874-4 TRAINING SERVICES
Click here to see a description of courses offered
SIN 874-6 PRIVATIZATION SUPPORT SERVICES AND DOCUMENTATION (A-76)

Click here to see a description of services offered

MSC Associates, Inc. (MSCA) specializes in developing and delivering training courses tailored to specific needs of federal agencies. MSCA has developed and delivered a number of technical courses for the Army Prospect program; however, in recent years, the thrust of our training business has been in the areas of management, organization, and business improvement in response to the renewed emphasis placed on the Government-wide policy of contracting for services using Performance-Based Service Contracting (PBSC) techniques. As of January 2000, this approach to service contarcting is referred to in DOD as "Performance-based Services Acquisition" (PBSA). Under SIN 874-4, we provide a full range of Training Services in support of PBSC and Privatization.

Even before PBSC/PBSA was coined as a phrase describing the policy, MSCA was an adherent of and participant in teaching the basics of PBSC/PBSA as embodied in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Pamphlet #4 (provided as Supplement #2 to OMB Circular A-76). This pamphlet provides the basic guidance for writing a Performance Work Statement (PWS) and developing a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). Although the pamphlet is now outdated, it still offers excellent guidance in several important areas of planning for and administration of service contracts.

At many Federal installations, outsourcing of functions has become a primary organizational objective. Following the model of the recently revised OMB Circular A76, outsourcing in now easier and more common. Concurrently with outsourcing, many activities are being downsized, consolidated and reorganized. However, even as the organizational infrastructure is reduced in size, a greater number of government employees will be involved in planning for and administering the service contracts let to satisfy mission needs that can be contracted out. To address this change, training in PBSC/PBSA methods is needed.

Implementation of PBSC/PBSA has been endorsed by all Federal agencies and it is one element of the Government's Acquisition Reform initiative. Both contracting and technical personnel involved in contracting for services need training to implement this initiative.

We have specialized in supporting those activities with significant facilities to operate and maintain, such as the Service Centers of the Internal Revenue Service and military bases. In this regard, we have developed and delivered a number of specific facility type courses addressing various aspects of Performance-Based Service Contracting and Government Contract Quality Assurance as applied for service contracts.

Classroom materials are based on routine facility support service requirements such as those for custodial services, grounds maintenance, pest control, family housing operation and maintenance, etc. Some courses are designed for the concurrent training of contracting and technical personnel working as a team in preparing and administering Performance-Based Service Contracts. Other courses are prepared for a more limited target audience.

It has long been a general policy the federal government to rely on the private sector to supply required goods and services when the private sector can provide them more efficiently. In recent years, the Federal Government has reemphasized this policy as a means of dealing with reduced budgets, reduced manning, and changes in mission functions. The Government must make use of the competition inherent in the private sector to foster improved quality and increased efficiency. The Commercial Activities addressed in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 program enables the Government to obtain improved quality and increased efficiency in two ways. First, it provides an incentive for the in-house Government activities to streamline and re-engineer operations and reduce operating costs to become more competitive with private suppliers. Second, it provides private competitors an opportunity to compete with one another, and with the in-house Government operations, to take on the business of providing needed goods and services as economically as possible. This competition leads to improved efficiency, better quality and lower costs. This is the principle behind OMB Circular A-76 and other guidelines for managing commercial activities.

The procedures for acquiring Commercial Activities under OMB Circular A-76 involve the following basic steps. First, an agency must identify which functions are inherently governmental (cannot be contracted) and those functions that are Commercial Activities and hence can be contracted out. The agency must identify and maintain an inventory of those functions that are Commercial Activities and these functions must be reviewed periodically to determine the compelling reason for retaining them in-house without competition. When there is no compelling reason for in-house performance, the functions are scheduled for competition.

When functions are scheduled for competition, this competition can be a public-private sector competition-- wherein a cost comparison is made to determine whether to contract for the functions or retain them in-house--or be limited to private sector competition --wherein the functions are directly converted to contractor performance. In both cases, the Government must prepare a PWS, QASP and related solicitation documentation.

In the first case, after the functional performance work statement is developed, two separate and independent processes evolve: (1) Contracting proceeds with soliciting private sector offers to select the contractor to compete with the in-house staff, and (2) the in-house staff proceeds with developing the Most Efficient Organization (MEO). The MEO is the Government organization that will perform the requirements identified in the PWS if the functions are retained in-house. An in-house cost estimate for performance of the requirements is then prepared and independently reviewed by appropriate financial managers. After a contractor is selected and the in-house cost estimate completed, a cost comparison between the two is conducted and the most cost effective is selected.

OMB Policy Letter 92-1, Inherently Governmental Functions, provides guidance for Federal agencies to determine which functions are inherently governmental. Commercial activities, not inherently governmental functions may be outsourced. Outsourcing is not limited to small CAs (like grounds maintenance or billeting). The candidates are not limited to labor and management but include materials, facilities, technology, and land as well. In many cases, it is practical to cost compare multiple functions under one solicitation.

Under some circumstances, functions that are contracted out can be converted back to in-house performance if the Government can show that Government civilians can operate the commercial activity at a lower cost than a contractor can.

As noted in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (SUBPART 37.6--PERFORMANCE-BASED CONTRACTING) it is Federal policy that performance-based contracting methods be used whenever possible when contracting for services. These methods are not new, nor with proper training are they difficult to implement. Nonetheless— budget constraints, downsizing and reorganizing activities make it necessary for some agencies to seek assistance in the performance of requisite cost studies, preparation of Performance Work Statements, Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans, and related solicitation documents. The major deterrent to successful implementation of PBSC has been and remains the up-front investment of the resources required to prepare the supporting documentation. This deterrent can be overcome with the support of top-level management and the investment of initial resources, which are frequently acquired from the private sector. MSC Associates, Inc. provides such services by assisting Government agencies in the preparation of performance work statements, quality assurance plans and related solicitation documents. As documentation models are perfected, the up-front costs are reduced. PBSC is Federal policy and it must be implemented.

Contracts awarded using the guidance must be properly structured and must contain specific provisions that define and describe the use of the unique PBSC terms and procedures. Specifically, contract line items in the price schedule must be supported by corresponding contract requirements in the Performance-based Work Statement (PWS) and a related Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) must provide guidance and, where needed, detailed supporting documentation for monitoring contractor performance.

The systems approach to job analysis is used for identifying requirements.

Under SIN 874-1 MSC Associates Inc. offers consulting services for any aspect of organizational and business improvement efforts to include, but not limited to, studies, analyses and reports documenting any proposed developmental, consultative or implementation effort. Pricing for tasks issued under this SIN will be negotiated with the requiring activity based on the labor rates shown in the labor rates table.

Under SIN 874-6 MSC Associates Inc. offers consulting services for the preparation of Performance Work Statement's, Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans, and related solicitation documentation. Pricing for tasks issued under this SIN will be negotiated with the requiring activity based on the labor rates shown in the labor rates table.

MSCA provides expert advice, consultation, assistance, and documentation in support of studies conducted under OMB Circular A-76 or other privatization or commercial activities studies, projects, or efforts. These services include, but are not limited to:

• strategic, tactical, and operational level planning support;
  
  

• development of Performance Work Statements (PWS) or Statements of Objectives (SOO);
  
  

• development of Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) tables
  
  

• development of Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans (QASP);
  
  

• development of in-house Government cost estimates;
  
  

• initial study planning;
  
  

• comparison of in-house bids to proposed Interservice Support Agreement (ISSA) prices; and
  
  

• performance of management studies to determine the Government's Most Efficient Organization (MEO).

SIN 874-4 TRAINING SERVICES

Revised for 2009 Deliveries

The class size may vary from 15 to 30 and the base price is $9500 for up to 15 persons. For additional students, up to 20 (from 16 to 20 students), the additional cost is $350 per student, or $11,250 for 20 students. For additional students above 20 (from 21 to 25 students), the additional price is $250 per student, or $12,500 for 25 students. For additional students above 25 (from 26 to 30 students), the additional price is $150 per student, or $13,250 for 30 students.

The prices shown include all materials. We accept all Government credit cards (purchase card) and all other major credit cards (including Government travel cards). In cases where less than the number of students specified participate and the ordering agency has paid for the course materials, excess material becomes the property of the agency.

Each of the above courses is delivered over a five-day period. The actual delivery schedule is negotiable, based on a nominal schedule of daily classes from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break--except on Friday, which ends at noon. Negotiated travel, subsistence, and shipping related cost are added to the delivery order.

SIN 874-1: CONSULTING SERVICES (A-76)
and
SIN 874-6: PRIVATIZATION SUPPORT SERVICES AND DOCUMENTATION (A-76)

MSCA labor categories and the hourly and daily rates for each are shown in the following table. The total price for privatization support services will be established at the time a Task Order is placed and will be based on the prices shown herein. The estimated number of hours negotiated with the ordering agency and the labor rates provided below are used to establish Fixed-Price Task Orders. Task Order travel, subsistence and any applicable Other Direct Costs (ODCs) are burdened with a 14% General and Administrative Cost and Profit of 8%.

Task Orders from this SIN are not accepted on a Labor Hour basis.

MSC Associates, Inc. (MSCA) is a small business by all size standards, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1988 to provide selective management, analytic, and training services for Federal agencies.

Since 1988, we have developed and delivered training courses for the US Army Corps of Engineers and Center for Public Works, the US Air Force, the Internal Revenue Service, the Financial Management Service, the US Secret Service, the US Customs Service, the US Geological Survey, the Minerals Management Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Courses we have delivered under the US Army "Prospect" program and for the Treasury Acquisition Institute have been attended by personnel from many other agencies as well.

MSC Associates, Inc. MOBIS
Privatization and Training Services Catalog