Part 8 Over SAT JA Cross Program Alignment- Redacted

United States Department of Agriculture
Justification to Restrict Competition under FAR Part 8
Over the Simplified Acquisition Threshold
Identification Number:
In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.4 and General Services Administration Acquisition Manual (GSAM) 538.7104-3 (b), the following justification documents the decision to restrict competition for this acquisition.
(1) Mission Area and Contracting Activity.
Requisition Number: TBD
Requesting Activity Agency: RD, FSA, and OCIO
Contracting Activity: Procurement Operations Division
(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This Justification and Approval (J&A) formally authorizes and endorses the issuance of a sole source Firm Fixed Price contract to The Newberry Group. This work is for Implementation Readiness Support and is commercial. The work was previously completed under another contract where the Newberry Group operated as a sub-contractor during the initial Implementation Readiness engagement. This new requirement does not match the previous contract, as the scope has been significantly reduced and therefore it is considered a different requirement. The original contract was strategically executed prior to the deployment of the technical solution for loan modernization, thereby supporting both the Farm Service Agency and Rural Development. Through this engagement, Newberry Group acquired in-depth familiarity with the intricate workflows, specialized terminology, and nuanced processing requirements inherent to the USDA programs encompassed by this initiative. The Loan Modernization initiative continues to be a top priority for Administration, with substantial progress already achieved across multiple program areas. The specialized expertise cultivated between federal program stakeholders, the software vendor, and the implementation readiness team is integral to the success of this migration; transitioning this knowledge base to an alternative provider would pose significant risks and could adversely affect the overall migration timeline and program continuity. THE NEWBERRY GROUP, INC.

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(3) A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).
In support of USDA’s loan modernization efforts, the purpose of this initiative is to establish consistency across major federal business programs in Rural Development (RD) and Farm Service