This week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released the solicitation for the NIH Conferences, Administrative, and Travel Services III (NIHCATSIII) contract, a 100% small business set-aside worth up to $100 million. After the previous iteration, NIHCATSII, ended in December, NIHCATSIII is expected to be awarded by the last quarter of 2017. It’s important to learn some background and key details about this program, and the large opportunity it presents for small businesses.

NIHCATSII

NIHCATSII was awarded as a total small business set-aside in 2011, with a primary NAICS code of 541611. The goal of the contracts was to provide administrative, meeting and conference, and travel support services not otherwise provided by the government. The contracts included 15 different labor categories ranging from audio/visual coordinator, to project manager, to graphic artist. Services were broken up into 5 task areas:

• Travel Support- Arrange and provide travel for participants in upwards of 100 nations worldwide.
• Meeting and Conference Support- Provide logistical support for conferences, meetings, seminars, and workshops held in the United States and in foreign countries.
• Documentation Support- Provide documentation services in support of meetings, conferences, seminars, and workshops held in the United States and in foreign countries.
• Administrative Support- provide services in direct support of conferences or scientific meetings, scientific program staff, and other Federal agencies in accomplishing a variety of research and administrative responsibilities.
• Website Design, Development, and Maintenance/Internet Support- Provide Internet and Intranet support, to include initial website design, development, and management, as well as to conduct usability testing.

NIHCATSII had 19 awardees, including Educational Services Inc. and Palladian Partners Inc, with a contract ceiling of $115 million. Performance ended in December 2016 after a 1-year base period and four 1-year options, and the NIH is now looking forward to NIHCATSIII. 

NIHCATSIII

With the solicitation released on March 6th, NIHCATSIII continues the NIHCATSII core requirements but includes some changes. While NIHCATSIII includes the same 5 core task areas, it now includes 19 labor categories above the 15 in NIHCATSII. The primary NAICS code will continue to be 541611, with a small business size standard of $15 million. The anticipated types of task orders will be Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Time & Materials (T&M), or a hybrid of FFP and T&M. The place of performance, due to the broad requirements in the Travel Support task area, will be determined at the task order level. Like NIHCATSII, this new opportunity will be awarded with a base period of one year and four more 1-year options.

Thinking about submitting a proposal, due on April 27th, 2017? For an in-depth look at all of the services supported in the NIHCATS task areas, lists of the awardees and task orders, and up-to-date tracking of NIHCATSIII, sign up for a trial with EZGovOpps. Use our custom features, including analyst updates, to provide the actionable intelligence you need to succeed in Federal contracting.

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