Homeland Security Plans Construction Set-Asides The Department of Homeland Security plans to award at least 50 regional task order construction contracts to 8(a), HUBZone and service-disabled veteran-owned companies. In an innovative arrangement, each region of the country will be set aside for one of the socioeconomic groups; 8(a) firms will compete with 8(a)’s, HUBZones with HUBZones and SDVs with SDVs. The contracts, to be managed by the Coast Guard, can award up to $5 million annually to each company. Work will consist primarily of minor construction, renovation and repair at DHS facilities, but design/build orders are also permitted. The regional set-aside strategy was chosen to “keep it simple,” said Jeff Cross, chief of contracting for the Coast Guard’s Civil Engineering Unit in Oakland, CA, which is managing the contracts. “We could have a multitude of orders,” he explained, and trying to rotate the work fairly among 8(a), HUBZone and SDV firms in each region would be “impossible to do,” especially with all 22 DHS component agencies placing orders against the contracts. The Coast Guard plans to award at least five contracts in each of its 10 districts. But Cross said, “If I get seven great [companies] responding, I will award seven instead of five, because I want competition and I want great performers.” In addition to the multiple award contracts, each Coast Guard region will continue to award blanket ordering agreements for construction. The service has a national multiple award contract that covers major new construction projects. Cross said the regions were divided up among the three socio-economic groups based on market research to determine which regions were strongest in SDVs and which regions had more HUBZone firms. He said 8(a)’s were abundant in all regions. According to the presolicitation notice, the set-asides will be divided as follows: 8(a): Coast Guard Districts 7 (Southeast), 9 (Upper Midwest/Great Lakes) and 17 (Alaska). SDV: Districts 5 (Mid-Atlantic), 11 (California and Southwest) and 13 (Pacific Northwest). HUBZone: Districts 1 (Northeast), 8 (Gulf Coast and Mid-America), 14 (Hawaii) and a new district covering Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. RFPs will be issued around Feb. 20, with offers due about April 2.