Specifications include, but are not limited to: Montana State University—Bozeman, hereinafter referred to as “The University”, "MSU", and/or “MSU-TechLink,” seeks to create a roster of approved contractors (“Offerors”) to conduct business surveys for economic research to assess the quantitative economic outcomes of federal technology transfer and/or Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Descriptions and results of prior TechLink economic impact studies are available for download at http://techlinkcenter.org. TechLink is a federally funded technology transfer center at Montana State University. Since 1999, TechLink has served as the primary national Department of Defense (DoD) “partnership intermediary.” In 2018, Techlink became the sole, national partnership intermediary for the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). A more complete description of the supplies and/or services sought for this project is provided in the Buyer Attachment section. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation must comply with the instructions and procedures contained herein. . The approved Offeror will work independently and will continuously need to exercise initiative, good judgment, and discretion in contacting a large list of companies that have had prior SBIR/STTR contracts and/or technology transfer agreements. It is very important that the economic-impact studies have a very high response rate from the companies that have had these contracts and/or agreements. The expectation (based on similar TechLink-led economic-impact studies undertaken in the past few years) is that the response rate will be above 90 percent of the companies contacted that are still in business. To achieve this high response rate, the Offeror will need to exercise clear and effective communications, both written and verbal, a high level of persistence as well as initiative and tact. Offerors need to be aware that these companies may have been contacted frequently in the past by various researchers and data collectors and may be reluctant to share sensitive business information. Outside verification of the legitimacy of this study will be made available, provided by an appropriate government representative. While being diligent in collecting company financial information, approved Offerors must maintain utmost respect for the time and effort companies and individuals expend in providing such information. Any such time and effort can be minimized by careful preparation and clear, concise communications by the Offeror. In cases where the company appears to no longer be in business, the approved Offeror will need to investigate further to determine if it has moved, changed its name, or merged with another company instead of ceasing to operate as a corporate entity, or if specific individuals may be able to provide reliable information on past results. This will require Internet-based research and creativity as well as initiative and independent judgment. The Offeror will need to exercise a high level of discretion, because the company proprietary information is business sensitive or business proprietary, and also requires meticulous attention to detail, to ensure accuracy. Only aggregated financial results across a large number of companies will be published, and individual company financial results cannot be disclosed to the public, or to the government, without explicit permission from the company. Approved Offerors will be required to sign a Contractor Confidentiality Agreement to ensure compliance with these requirements.
