Publishing Space for Advertisement in the Professional Mariner Magazine

The US Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisition Division, Simplified Acquisition Branch intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Navigator Publishing, P.O. Box 569, Portland, ME  04101-4842 using the procedures in FAR Part 13, to effect a contract (Base and Four Option Years) that provides advertising space in the Professional Mariner magazine to support outreach and recruiting of hard to fill seagoing professional mariner’s positions for NOAA seagoing research vessels.  The objective of this contract is to purchase ¼ Page Black and White monthly publishing space for advertisement in a magazine, geared toward seagoing professional mariners.  The magazine must target approximately 145,000 professional mariners, licensed and unlicensed, in deck, engine and steward’s departments throughout the United States to be considered for award.  The statutory authority for other than full and open competition is FAR

13.106-1(b)(1)(i), Only one responsible source.The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) for this acquisition is 511120, Periodical Publishers, with a business size standard of 1,000 employees.    This is not a solicitation for competitive quotes, nor will one be posted on beta.SAM.gov (Contract Opportunities). Although a determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.  However, if any interested party believes that it is capable of meeting the requirements, and in an effort to comply with the requirements outlined in FAR 5.102, a firm may request an electronic copy of the solicitation from the Contract Specialist, Wendy Culbreth (Wendy.Culbreth@noaa.gov). All electronic correspondence shall have the subject line read:  1305M2-20-00627, Publishing Space for Advertisement in the Professional Mariner Magazine All responsible sources may submit a Capability Statement and/or a quote in accordance with the solicitation, which shall be considered by the agency if received on or before 4:00 PM EST on February 24, 2020.  The Capability Statement must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NOAA to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements. The solicitation will remain open from February 10, 2020 to February 24, 2020 (4:00 PM EST)..