April 6, 2004

Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson 
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1600)

RELEASE: 04-116

NASA MODIFIES SHARED SERVICES CENTER COMPETITION

NASA announced a modification in the Public-Private Competition to 
operate the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC). The modification was 
announced after agency review of possible sites for the Center. 

NASA's Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory said, "The exceptional 
quality and creativity of the site proposals caused us to reevaluate 
the selection process. NASA's goal is to ensure the Public-Private 
Competition is conducted in a fair and equitable manner in order to 
achieve maximum advantage to the taxpayer." 

NASA's original assumption was one site would be materially superior 
to all others, and all of the NSSC service competitors would use the 
selected location. However, during the evaluation process, it became 
evident all of the nominations exceeded the technical standards set 
forth in the site nomination criterion and guidelines. After 
conclusion of the site evaluation, there was no clearly superior 
proposal that would be of greater benefit to NASA than the others.

NASA concluded the public-private competitors would be in a better 
position to specifically assess and capitalize on site selection if 
allowed to choose from all six locations. As part of the 
public-private process, NASA will allow competitors to incorporate 
one of the six eligible sites into their proposals. The six sites are 
in the vicinity of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Glenn Research 
Center, Cleveland; Johnson Space Center, Houston; Langley Research 
Center, Hampton, Va.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.; and Stennis 
Space Center, Miss.

The NSSC will perform a variety of consolidated transactional and 
administrative activities performed at Headquarters and Centers. The 
NSSC will be an efficient and effective organization that will 
perform high volume and routine activities. The NSSC will also 
perform activities that require specialized knowledge or expertise in 
human resources, information technology, procurement and finance.

On December 12, 2003, NASA announced the Public-Private Competition 
under OMB Circular A-76 for the NSSC Service Provider. A separate 
competitive process was initiated in December 2003, to select a site 
for the shared services center among the NASA field centers. Six 
proposals for the NSSC site selection process were received on 
January 30, 2004. NASA's Administrator and Deputy Administrator 
concluded visits to all six proposed sites during February/March 
2004. NASA evaluated each of the six potential sites, and all where 
deemed acceptable locations for the NSSC.

Planned selection of the NSSC Service Provider and associated site 
under the A-76 Public-Private Competition will occur on or before 
June 2005. The draft Request for Proposal will be released for 
comment in May, and the final NSSC A-76 solicitation in July 2004. It 
will stipulate proposals must include one of the six sites NASA 
already has reviewed.

NASA will consult with each of the six agency site proposal teams to 
review the A-76 process, how the sites will be represented in the 
Request for Proposals, and any restrictions necessary to maintain 
procurement integrity. NASA will work directly with each center and 
their partners to provide for fair consideration of all six sites. 
The complete package of each proposer will be evaluated, and NASA 
will pick the best proposal for the NSSC. 

Communities competing for the NSSC will need to revise their 
infrastructure proposals to reflect a later occupancy date at a 
specific location. NASA will work with the communities in the coming 
weeks and months to assist in understanding the A-76 competition 
process. 

For information about the NSSC on the Internet, visit: 

http://nssc.nasa.gov/indextext.htm 

For the NASA process modification white paper on the Internet, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/57494main_NSSC.pdf 

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov 

	
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