Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool

November 25, 2024 - Amendment 0012 of the Polaris Small Business Pool has been posted in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). This amendment is to incorporate an updated FAR provision. Offerors should login to the Polaris Submission Portal and review for necessary action. 

This amendment is only applicable to existing offerors with an active proposal that was submitted for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022. 

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November 25, 2024 - Attached is a written announcement to all interested parties. The General Services Administration is announcing additional apparently successful offerors in place of previously identified offerors that either withdrew their proposal or were found to be other than small. No response is required unless a basis exists to challenge the size status of the additional apparently successful offerors. Written correspondence may be sent to the contracting officer at polaris@gsa.gov. 

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October 03, 2024 - Attached is a written announcement to all interested parties. This list represents a complete roster of the apparently successful offerors in response to Solicitation Number 47QTCB22R0001 for the Polaris Governmentwide Acquisition Contract Small Business Pool. No response is required unless a basis exists to challenge the size status of an apparently successful offeror. Written correspondence may be sent to the contracting officer at polaris@gsa.gov. 

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September 03, 2024 - GSA is completing the evaluation process and nearing announcement of awards for the Polaris GWAC SB Pool. Contract awards for the SB Pool are now planned to be announced in the first quarter of FY25 with the WOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB Pools to follow later in FY25. 

Amendment 0011 of the Polaris Small Business Pool has been posted in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). This amendment is to extend the offer acceptance period for existing offerors based on this updated award timeframe. Offerors should login to the Polaris Submission Portal and review for necessary action. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022, and previously extended their offer acceptance period through September 30, 2024.

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November 2, 2023 - GSA has issued Question & Response #8 of the Polaris Small Business Pool in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). Offerors are encouraged to review the information within the Polaris Submission Portal. 

The due date for response to Amendments 0009 and 0010 remains unchanged. Proposal revisions must be submitted within the PSP no later than 4:00 PM ET, November 7, 2023. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022.

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October 31, 2023 - GSA has extended the due date for response to Amendments 0009 and 0010. Offerors are encouraged to review the information within the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). 

Proposal revisions must be submitted within the PSP no later than 4:00 PM ET, November 7, 2023. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022.

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October 25, 2023 - GSA has issued Question & Response #7 of the Polaris Small Business Pool in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). Offerors are encouraged to review the information within the Polaris Submission Portal. 

The due date for response to Amendments 0009 and 0010 remains unchanged. Proposal revisions must be submitted within the PSP no later than 4:00 PM ET, October 31, 2023. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022.

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October 17, 2023 - GSA has issued Amendment 0010 and Question & Response #6 of the Polaris Small Business Pool in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). Offerors are encouraged to review the information within the Polaris Submission Portal. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022.

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September 29, 2023 - GSA released Amendment 0009 of the Polaris Small Business Pool in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). This amendment is in response to SH Synergy, LLC and VCH Partners, LLC v. The United States, the Court of Federal Claims decision (Case Nos. 22-1466 and 22-1468) dated April 21, 2023. Offerors should login to the Polaris Submission Portal and review for necessary action. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022. 

Offerors are encouraged to verify access by an active administrator within the Polaris Submission Portal (PSP) as soon as possible. If your organization requires a new Administrator in the PSP, and you do not have any active Administrators currently in PSP, allow up to 72 hours for the new Administrator to be activated. Offerors without an active Administrator will be unable to submit their amendment response. 

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September 20, 2023 - Amendment 0008 of the Polaris Small Business Pool has been posted in the Polaris Submission Portal (https://polaris.app.cloud.gov). This amendment is to extend the offer acceptance period for existing offerors. Offerors should login to the Polaris Submission Portal and review for necessary action. 

This action is only applicable to existing offerors that submitted a timely proposal for the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool by October 7, 2022.

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August 31, 2023 Update - GSA is continuing work on amendments for the Polaris GWAC Pools. Release of the Small Business (SB) Pool amendment is now planned for September, and release of the amendments for the WOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB Pools is expected four to six weeks after the SB Pool amendment.

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July 27, 2023 - GSA plans to issue an amendment to Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool offerors in August 2023. The amendment will incorporate submission of a price proposal as well as adjustment to the evaluation requirements specific to protégé firms. Solicitation amendments for the WOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB Pools are planned for September 2023.

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June 29, 2023 - In response to a Court of Federal Claims decision, GSA plans to issue an amendment to the Polaris GWAC solicitations. GSA is committed to supporting both our customer agencies and the small business community as we work to bring Polaris to market.

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May 1, 2023 (This update has been reposted on May 2, 2023 due to system issues) - GSA has received a protest decision from the Court of Federal Claims. GSA is currently reviewing the decision and working to determine a path forward. This decision prohibits further proposal evaluation and contract awards under the current versions of the Polaris solicitations. 

GSA remains committed to providing opportunities for small businesses while supporting Federal agencies and their small business program goals. 

Further updates and next steps for the Polaris program will be communicated through SAM.gov.  

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September 20, 2022 - Amendment 0007 and Question and Response Document #5 of the Polaris Small Business Pool RFP are attached. The proposal due date has been extended from September 23, 2022 to October 7, 2022. No further extensions of the proposal due date are expected. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0007
• Small Business Pool RFP - Conformed Copy
• Question & Response Document #5

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September 6, 2022 - Amendment 0006 of the Polaris Small Business Pool RFP is attached. As shared on September 2nd, the proposal due date has been extended from September 9, 2022 to September 23, 2022. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0006 
• Small Business Pool RFP - Redline Copy

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September 2, 2022 - The proposal due date is extended from September 9, 2022 to September 23, 2022. This will be reflected in Amendment 0006 that will be provided on sam.gov in the coming days. 

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August 19, 2022 - Amendment 0005 and Question and Response Document #4 of the Polaris Small Business Pool RFP are attached. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0005 
• Small Business Pool RFP - Redline Copy
• Question & Response Document #4

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August 11, 2022 - Amendment 0004 of the Polaris Small Business Pool RFP is attached. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0004 
• Small Business Pool RFP - Redline Copy.

Proposal due date has been extended to September 9, 2022. Any offerors and team members experiencing SAM.gov delays, which are impacting their ability to submit their proposal, must notify the Polaris CO no later than Friday, August 19, 2022 via email to Polaris@gsa.gov.

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August 8, 2022 - Question and Response Document #3 is attached. 

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August 3, 2022 - Amendment 0003 of the Polaris Small Business Pool RFP is attached. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0003
• Small Business Pool RFP - Redline Copy
• J.P-8 Multiple Award Schedule Contractor Teaming Arrangement (MAS CTA) Experience Template

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July 29, 2022 - SAM.gov Entity Validation Issues

The Polaris team is aware that some offerors and team members who intend to submit proposals for Polaris are currently experiencing delays with SAM.gov. We understand that access to the Symphony portal and proposal development is predicated on offerors and team members being able to validate their entity information in SAM.gov. 

Polaris offerors and team members should ensure all required documentation has been submitted in SAM.gov. Additionally, please review the referenced FSD Resources on SAM validation issues here:

https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0058422&sys_kb_id=7bb8810ddba05990060d5425f3961912&spa=1

Entity validation in SAM.gov can take time. We strongly encourage offerors and team members to start the validation process as soon as possible to avoid issues with submitting Polaris proposals by the due date. 

Please let us know at Polaris@gsa.gov if you are having any system challenges that may cause a delay in the submission of your Polaris offer.

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July 26, 2022 - The recording of last week’s PSP industry training webinar is available at the link below. A summary of questions and responses from the session regarding use of the PSP is also attached.

https://gsa.zoomgov.com/rec/share/ShkfPXeR2geBxIe-N5gvsFkJ9QY-6VXYe1wZ2NeYRh8EDtkAekXVCsNWNQeQ4HCY.FVk0eDl-0QN8SzWO

Additionally, the proposal due date is extended from August 10, 2022 to August 19, 2022. This will be reflected in Amendment 0003 that will be provided on sam.gov in the coming days. 

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July 20, 2022 -

Question and Response Document #2 is attached. 

An industry training session for the Polaris Submission Portal (PSP) will be provided Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 1:00pm ET. The session may be accessed at the below link:

https://gsa.zoomgov.com/j/1616367989?pwd=aXpsL1A5UzVPMWd2aXVYWUcxNnVNQT09 

Passcode: Polaris

Closed captioning for the session may be accessed at: https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=BIS-GSA-LG

The live session will be limited to the first 3,000 participants. It will be recorded and shared via SAM.gov.

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July 7, 2022 - The Pre-Proposal Conference recording, as noted in L.3.6, is available at the link below with the provided passcode.

https://gsa.zoomgov.com/rec/share/gp0BaDPSzdwK__ydmDQTPE-ukDt5aLAZUCjyO9KfXiqBNmkUsPs8yVvdjpiRR_Y.E_yXEVbgrFArZdPL  

Passcode: dVp1?dU%

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July 1, 2022 - Corrected RFP attached consistent with Amendment 0002 SF30. Text corrected within L.3.5 and L.5.2.1. Due date for questions is confirmed as July 12, 2022.

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June 30, 2022 - The Polaris Small Business Pool RFP is unpaused via Amendment 0002. The proposal due date is extended to August 10, 2022. The Polaris Submission Portal is open. The following are provided:

• SF30 Amendment 0002
• Small Business Pool RFP - Redline Copy
• Questions and Response Document #1 
• J.P-2 Joint Venture Experience Template (Amendment 0002)
• J.P-3 FPDS-NG Sample (Amendment 0002)
• J.P-4 Past Performance Rating Form (Amendment 0002)
• J.P-6 Project Verification Form (Amendment 0002)
• J.P-7 Joint Venture Work and Qualifications

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May 13, 2022 – Through review of industry feedback and engagement with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the General Services Administration (GSA) has drafted changes to Section L.5.1.3.1 of the Polaris GWAC Small Business Pool request for proposals (RFP) and is seeking feedback from the small business IT community. This draft language is available within the attached document, “Polaris SB Request for Feedback - 13MAY2022.pdf”

We want to emphasize that this language is in “draft” form and is subject to change. We encourage interested parties to review these draft changes and provide feedback to Polaris@gsa.gov, no later than May 23, 2022. This feedback request is specific to the draft language attached.

Following review of the feedback received in response to this request, the Polaris GWAC RFPs will be amended to incorporate final language regarding this subject along with any other changes needed. Responses to questions previously submitted will also be provided with this forthcoming amendment.

The Polaris RFPs remain paused until further notice. The opening of the Polaris Submission Portal also remains on hold. Please note the proposal due date in this SAM.gov announcement has been updated from May 13, 2022 to June 30, 2022; however, the forthcoming amendment is anticipated to be released in June 2022 and will establish a new closing date which will take into account the total number of days paused. Offerors are still encouraged to pause proposal activities until the amendment is issued. 

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April 6, 2022 - After receiving feedback related to the evaluation of joint ventures under Polaris, GSA is currently assessing whether any changes are necessary for the RFPs. While completing this assessment, GSA is temporarily pausing the RFPs until further notice. A subsequent amendment will establish a new closing date.  

Following completion of the assessment, the proposal due date will be extended accordingly. Offerors are encouraged to pause proposal activities until this assessment is completed.

During this pause, the opening of the Polaris Submission Portal is also on hold. 

The due date for questions has not been changed.  Please submit questions to polaris@gsa.gov no later than April 18, 2022. 

Please continue to monitor SAM.gov for future updates.

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March 30, 2022 - Attachment J.P-6 Project Verification Form is provided. This attachment may be used as the Project Verification Form when required by Section L.5.2.2.1.1(2), L.5.2.2.1.2 and/or L.5.2.3.1.1 for verification of submitted relevant experience.

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The General Services Administration (GSA) is pleased to release the Polaris Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Small Business Pool Request for Proposals (RFP), 47QTCB22R0001. This solicitation is the only source of official information about this procurement.

The Polaris Small Business Pool RFP consists of the following:

• Polaris Small Business Pool RFP
• SF33
• J.P-1 Representations and Certifications from Section K
• J.P-2 Joint Venture Experience Template
• J.P-3 FPDS-NG Sample
• J.P-4 Past Performance Rating Form
• J.P-5 GSA Form 527 Contractor’s Qualifications and Financial Information

An optional pre-proposal conference will be recorded and released online to provide an overview of the Polaris RFP. This conference will not introduce new information. Details on accessing the recording will be provided through this announcement in the coming days.

To account for the planned SAM.gov downtime for Unique Entity ID (SAM) transition, the Polaris Submission Portal (PSP) will open for registration no earlier than April 5, 2022. Prior to the PSP opening for registration, industry is encouraged to review the solicitation requirements on SAM.gov and view the upcoming pre-proposal conference.

The Polaris CO is the sole point of contact for all questions under this solicitation. Industry is welcome to submit any questions after viewing the pre-proposal conference and upon registering in PSP. Offerors must submit all questions regarding the solicitation via the PSP. Questions not submitted via the PSP will not be answered. GSA reserves the right to publicly discuss and publish, or simply consider, questions and comments regarding the RFP. Questions answered will be made available to all potential Offerors via PSP.