On April 9, 2024, the Department of the Navy (DoN) announced the opening of the SeaPort NxG multiple award contract (MAC) vehicle solicitation, with a current submission date of June 18, 2024. Two main service categories under this solicitation are Engineering Services and Program Management Services, which collectively cover 23 functional areas (listed below). These contract onramps only happen every two to three years – keep reading to learn why you don’t want to miss this current opportunity!

What is SeaPort NxG?

SeaPort NxG (the follow on contract to SeaPort-e) is the DoN’s strategic contract vehicle for purchasing engineering and professional support services. The Seaport NxG MAC vehicle issues Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to qualified bidders who then compete for Task Orders (TOs) issued by 10 DoN commands and 106 ordering offices (Note: The DoN includes the U.S. Marine Corp [USMC], which means USMC TOs are also issued under SeaPort NxG). This contract is the Navy’s mandatory vehicle for professional support services, and all TOs are competitively solicited, awarded, and administered using the SeaPort portal. The current SeaPort NxG contract features:

Two main service categories and 23 subcategories

Fast Facts

What is Required for Submission?

Eligibility is fairly straightforward (but also rather binary). Essentially, your business must have an active registration in SAM.gov, must be registered in NAICS 541330 – Engineering Services, and must be able to demonstrate in your Technical Proposal that you have recent and relevant experience (as a Prime or Subcontractor) in direct support of the Department of Defense (DoD) that is applicable to DoN purposes. This is significant because previously, offerors were only permitted to use experience that was in direct support of the DON.

For the Technical Proposal, “recent” is defined as within the last 10 years, and “relevant” is defined as mapping to one of the functional areas (subcategories) in one of the two main categories listed above.

Additionally, other than small businesses (OTSBs) must submit a subcontracting plan. 

Recent Questions and Answers Released

The Government released the first round of Questions and Answers (Q&As) on May 3 with 64 Q&As. Here’s are some key takeaways you need to know.

• The Government may consider an individual’s experience as qualifying experience. This is also a departure from previous solicitations where the experience must have been performed by the company itself and you could not submit an individual’s experience. The Government further clarified that an individual’s “experience can be gained prior to employment with the offeror as long as it was recent and relevant.” (Question 56)
• You can only have one MAC per corporate entity – inclusive of Mentor Protégés and Joint Ventures. Several questions regarding the eligibility of Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) participants and Joint Ventures (JV). The Government responded that, “the ‘One MAC per company’ rule applies to MPP JVs, however, MPP JVs are allowed to bid at the Task Order level under the small business's (mentor or protege) MAC. If neither partner of the MPP JV holds a MAC, the MPP JV itself OR one of the partners (but not both) is allowed to apply for a MAC at Rolling Admissions. Past Performance from either the mentor or protege can be used for either partner to win a standalone MAC.” (Question 21)
• If a company holds a current SeaPort NxG contract but wants to pursue a SeaPort award as part of a JV, it will need to request in its cover letter that the Government terminate its existing SeaPort NxG contract in favor of a contract awarded to the JV during this rolling admission. Of note, if the JV is awarded a contract but then dissolves during the period of performance, the JV’s contract will not automatically transfer to one of the remaining . (Question 32)
• You really only need one qualifying project. We know it sounds too good to be true, but that’s all you need for the Technical Proposal. There’s no Cost/Price volume requirements at the IDIQ level, just the five-page Technical Proposal and some associated attachments.

Who Should Apply?

Whether you are a Large or Small Business, if you provide professional support services and you want to do business with the Navy and Marine Corps, this contract is for you. SeaPort NxG provides opportunities for Small Businesses to expand their participation in government contracting through Small Business Prime awards. In fact, of the current Seaport NxG awardees, 85% of the Primes are Small Businesses. You don’t have to have a facility clearance or DCMA-audited cost accounting system, but both of these elements may help you be more competitive at the TO level. And speaking of that DMCA audit, the SeaPort vehicle is a great way to get a sponsor to accomplish that audit, helping you with future contracts.

Next Steps

Contact Trident today for an eligibility check or one of our two package offers: a Compliance Review or our “Done for You” option. We also have a FREE basic eligibility checklist to kick start your approach. Check it out here. 

Written by Kristi Bickel and Rebecca Wayland
Kristi Bickel
Kristi is a capture and proposal manager and our Client Advocate. Her skills go beyond technical editing and compliance checks, she’s also well-versed in post-proposal reviews. As a U.S. Navy veteran and military spouse based on the East Coast, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.  

Rebecca Wayland
Rebecca is our Chief of Staff. While Rebecca may primarily wear the HR hat, she offers comprehensive proposal management, capture support, market research and training. She is also our GWAC and MA-IDIQ lead, so if you’re exploring SeaPort, SEWPV VI, OASIS+, or Alliant 3, she is definitely your SME. As a U.S. Navy veteran and military spouse based in Hawai'i, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.