Leapfrog Investment Promotion (IPA) Applied Best Practices Learning

DESCRIPTION1.1 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI1.2 The International Trade Administration Office is seeking information for vendors with the capability of conducting a study of best practices among multiple Investment Promotion Agency's (IPAs) that will culminate in both a public-facing executive summary of best practices for federal-level IPAs, as well as an institutionally informed non-public best practices

implementation road map for SelectUSA that will maximize SelectUSA's impact.Background2.1 Mission and VisionIn FY2016, the Job-Creating Investment (JCI) Cross Agency Priority (CAP) Goal team was awarded funding by the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) for carrying out the Leapfrog Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) Applied Best Practices Learning Initiative (also known as the "Leapfrog Initiative"). This initiative dedicates resources to research and assess best practices in investment promotion from other leading national-level IPAs for adoption by the SelectUSA program, the U.S.'s federal level program for investment promotion and facilitation.Benchmark research completed a few years ago revealed that competitor nation governments were spending an average of $58.8M per year, with an average of 167 dedicated staff, on investment promotion. As a relative newcomer to the federal investment promotion space, the SelectUSA program and JCI CAP Goal team have much to learn from established, comparable IPA counterparts.The Leapfrog Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) Applied Best Practices Learning Initiative will allow the SelectUSA program to:• Scale and deepen previous analysis of a single IPA and adopted actionable recommendations to include aggregated findings from proprietary IPA strategies;• Enhance understanding of best practices in investment promotion from leading international IPAs including, but not limited to, IPA operations, organizational structure, communication, and federal investment promotion intervention; and• Implement select findings from the structured comparative analysis for improving program efficacy. OBJECTIVES3.1 The objective of this procurement is to conduct an informed study of best practices among multiple IPAs that will culminate in both a public-facing executive summary of best practices for federal-level IPAs, as well as an institutionally informed non-public best practices implementation road map for SelectUSA that will maximize SelectUSA's impact.3.2 Development of a detailed project execution strategy, project plan, fully articulated project milestones, and final project deliverables that will, with little alteration, be of sufficient quality and specificity to guide work to successful project completion.3.3 Development of the project strategy, plan, milestones, and deliverables will be iterative and collaborative with the program office. Regular check-ins of varied frequency between the Consultant and the program office throughout the period of performance will be necessary to provide a fully developed product.REQUIREMENTS4.1 The contractor will conduct an in-depth study of Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) best practices leveraging both its existing body of knowledge and conducting studies with IPAs that have potentially transferable best practices. The development of the project strategy and implementation of the project plan will be informed by deep past performance in the investment promotion advisory space. The contractor will then compile its IPA institutional knowledge and the newly collected best practice examples, apply widely academically accepted analysis techniques, and provide recommendations for how SelectUSA can implement IPA best practices.4.2 The vendor will be expected to develop a formal plan of their intended approach to successfully meet the deadlines of the deliverables below. Deliverables will be submitted in two packages, one as a draft of the final project to serve as a milestone and ensure the Government's satisfaction with the direction of the study in accordance with the dates specified in the deliverable table below.4.3 Project Products/DeliverablesThe project products/deliverables of this project include:• Project Plan and Milestone Dates - the Vendor will include detailed descriptions of project milestones and deliverables.• U.S. Government (USG) Investment Promotion Mapping - the Vendor shall map the different roles within the ITA and different agencies within the USG that touch inward investment facilitation and service delivery.• Pre-Paper Presentation - the Vendor must present a strong draft of the Structured Comparative Analysis Report to JCI CAP Goal team. The presentation must include a structured comparative analysis product with infographics and visuals developed for public consumption.• Structured Comparative Analysis Reports- the Vendor must deliver two versions of the structured comparative analysis report of best practices of investment promotion agencies. These audience-focused reports consist of a 1) publication-quality report for public consumption and 2) USG-limited report for internal practitioners. The reports shall be accompanied by a shareable professional Executive Summary.• Best Practice Recommendation and Implementation Plan- the Vendor shall deliver a well-reasoned proposal of recommended investment promotion best practices that SelectUSA should implement supported with a strategic implementation plan.• Facilitated Best Practice Presentation- the Vendor shall present up to six presentations made to the SelectUSA leadership and team and the Job-Creating Investment Cross-Agency Priority Goal team to present findings from research.Phase 11. Detailed work plan - Development of this plan requires a holistic understanding of potentially transferrable best practices within the global IPA ecosystem. This intrinsic understanding is essential so the contractor can judiciously identify target IPAs for potential confidential interviews. To understand the lifecycles and stages of IPA strategies and maturation, the contractor must have proven engagement studying the IPA ecosystem over time.2. Interim (confidential) assessment of SelectUSA;3. Publishable benchmarking report, approximately 25 pages in lengtha. Benchmarking Report - Information Gathering: The contractor will conduct confidential interviews with IPAs to learn of their best practices. The contractor must have pre-existing relationships with high-level IPA staff so that the IPA staff will discuss proprietary business strategy and remain confident that the information shared will remain confidential. In addition, the contractor must present a diverse, holistic perspective of how different countries can engage in investment promotion, strategy formulation, aftercare, and national-subnational IPA relationships. The contractor must have a track record of engaging in this holistic approach and must have done at least two surveys of over one hundred IPAs.b. Benchmarking Report - Structured Comparative Analysis: The contractor will conduct a structured comparative analysis to assess best practices throughout the investment life cycle. This analysis will include a review of Foreign Direct Investment theory and an assessment of how this theory has been implemented in the field by IPAs. The contractor will consider a heterogeneous IPAs with varied in experiences by budget size, intervention application, impact valuation, and government structure and assess impact multiples and evaluate the feasibility of multi-factor evaluation.c. Benchmarking Report - Knowledge Management Transferability Analysis: The contractor will conduct an academically tested analysis of interview data, synthesized with unique FDI-related institutional intellectual property, to determine the applicability of SelectUSA's organizational goal of applying best practices.d. Benchmarking Report - Recommendations: The contractor will provide heuristic analysis for optimal IPA strategy that leads to actionable recommendations for SelectUSA. The contractor should have a demonstrated track record of providing such analysis.e. Benchmarking Report - Recommendations: The contractor will provide recommendations within a Lagrange resource constrained optimization model to assist SelectUSA in understanding the minimum and maximum potential of actionable recommendations.Phase 24. 4-6 site visits (end March 2018);5. A final project report incorporating the complete benchmarking results and all activities contributing to the assessment of Select USA (end- May 2018);6. Detailed recommendations and an action plan for improvement (end - May 2018).Deliverable Table:Milestone Description Due DatePhase 1 DeliverablesProject Plan The Vendor shall deliver a project plan. 14 days after awardDraft Deliverables Interim assessment of SelectUSA and the publishable benchmarking report, approximately 25 pages in length. 190 days after awardPhase 2 Deliverables Optional Tasks4 - 6 Site Visits The vendor shall conduct 4 - 6 site visits and include an outbrief from each 3/31/2018Final Benchmarking Report The final project of the benchmarking report, as well as the recommendations for SelectUSA and an action plan for improvement. 5/31/2018RESPONSES5.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.5.2 White papers are due no later than July 31, 2017, 5:00 PM EST. Responses shall be limited to 30 pages and submitted via e-mail only to Monica.Brown@trade.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.5.3. The white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:A. Name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.B. If equal product is proposed, a detailed narrative explaining how it can meet the requirement.C. Demonstrated knowledge base of the following information regarding internal budget, personnel, contracts, investment service delivery processes, IPA sector and market strategies, organizational mapping and jurisdictional and incentive strategies of the IPA for 20 diverse IPAs at the national level.D. Describe ability to obtain internal strategy information including detail about personnel, budget, services, priority sector, sub-national and national level relationships within global IPA.E. Describe past work collecting non-public information from at least 100 national IPAs over the last 5 years.F. Description of capability to provide advisory services for attracting foreign direct investments.G. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541618, Other Management Consulting Services. "Small business concern" means a concern, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part 121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, averaging no more than $15.0 million dollars in annual receipts. Respondees are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions may apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards. The FAR is available at http://www.arnet.gov.SUMMARYTHIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide the services as described above. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Department of Commerce has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.Contact Information: Monica Brown, Phone 2024820932, Email monica.brown@trade.gov Office Address :100 Bureau Drive, Building 301Room B130 Gaithersburg MD 20899-1410 Location: Acquisition Management Division Set Aside: N/A