In This Week's Newsletter:

• Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: DON NITE

• Four To Follow: Four Interesting Pursuits

• Pricing Insights: Direct Labor in Proposals

• Capture Corner: Education Sector Bid Approach

Opportunity Alert – DON NITE

Contact Katie: [email protected]

Department of the Navy (DON), Navy Integrated Training Environment (NITE). 

On August 7, 2025, the Contracting Office released a Draft Solicitation, with a final anticipated release in Q2 FY2026 via SeaPort NxG as a Full and Open/Unrestricted with an $890M estimated value. Contractors are expected to provide comprehensive task order management, network asset management, training range asset maintenance, engineering support, and configuration support to sustain and extend the life of range systems and capabilities. The projected award timeframe is June 2026 as a single award. Reach out to Hinz Consulting for Capture, Price to Win, and Proposal support.

Four to Follow

1. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Basic Enabling Support for Collaboration, Analysis, and Research (BESCAR) BPA. On August 7, 2025, the Contracting Office released a Sources Sought notice for information from potential contractors to collaborate with Air University (AU), DoD, Service, and Interagency partner(s) to perform research, analysis, assessments, development, prototyping, testing, education, and training. Responses are due August 21 at 4:00 PM CT. Contract value and set-aside are currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further information on this effort.

2. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Technical Support Services for Developing Updates of Community Resilience Guidance and Stakeholder Engagement. On August 7, 2025, NIST released Sources Sought for research to advance community resilience planning and assessment. Questions for this Sources Sought are due August 11, 2025, with a final due date of the response to Sources Sought no later than August 16, 2025, by 12:00 PM EST. Continue to monitor Sam.gov for further updates and changes to the acquisition schedule.

3. Department of the Army, Army Training Doctrine and Command (TRADOC), Huachuca Training and Support Contract (HTASC). TRADOC requires support training information infrastructures, developing training products, and conducting training for military intelligence occupational specialties and professional development courses. The estimated release date for this $785M Full and Open/Unrestricted IDIQ is October 2025, with a projected award timeframe of March 2026. Continue to watch SAM.gov for updates regarding the solicitation schedule.

4. US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Contractor-Operated (COCO), Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Services (ISR). USSOCOM requires COC ISR services to support combat and contingency operational requirements. The estimated award date for this $154M effort is September 2025, with a project award timeframe of November 2025. The contract type is currently unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for any changes or modifications for this effort.

Direct Labor in Proposals

Contact Tom: [email protected]

Direct Labor.

Defined, it is the pay of the proposed person that is calculated at an hourly rate. Usually, pricing would calculate direct labor as “annual salary/2080”. 

In proposals, if personnel are named and cited as “Key” or will be used, their actual direct labor should be used. This also applies to any cost-type proposal. In the case where placeholders/TBDs are used, you enter a direct labor cost based on salary survey information. 

Why is direct labor important? In any reasonable proposal, a Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis should be conducted to provide metrics such as contribution and profit (net and gross). You would want to know if that deal will be good or not, right? A good pricing model should have a P&L page.

There are many sources to get that data. For paid subscription sites: ERI, Payscale, WMG, and many others are available. ERI, in my opinion, is one of the best because it allows you to include years of experience, certifications, geographical location, education, and many other considerations. Those licenses can be costly, but worth the cost.

There are also many free resources for good information. I recommend BLS.gov (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and Dept of Labor’s Wage Division (suitable for minimum wage data). There’s also Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, et al, which can give decent data. However, when using those, I recommend pulling data from multiple free sources.

While salary (or direct labor in this blog) is typically under HR’s purview, pricing can always provide valuable insights, mainly through data research, particularly for the “TBDs”.

Finally, if actual direct labor data isn’t available, conduct salary surveys and ensure the data is defensible and compliant.

Education Sector Bid Approach

Contact John: [email protected]

When applying the Capture Methodology to bids in the Education Sector, a key component is to adapt the core framework to the nuances of K-12, Higher Education, and Education-related Agencies. A structured approach is detailed below:

1. Budget Intelligence:

   • Research procurement cycles – the Education sector often buys on the usual fiscal year schedules through significant cooperative purchasing agreements or contract vehicles (State or Federal)

   • Map Funding Sources – identify state appropriations, federal grants, and bond funding

   • Early Engagement – build trust with decision-makers such as CIOs, Superintendents, and Procurement Officers before any solicitation is released.

2. Opportunity Qualification:

   • Use a Bid/No-Bid Decision Framework and consider the following:

   • Alignment to your organization's strengths

   • Competitive landscape (incumbents, local vendors, cooperative purchasing contracts, and state/federal contract vehicles)

   • Cultivate stakeholder relationships

   • Identify past performance references similar to projects/customers similar in size, scale, scope, and complexity

3. Relationship Map:

   • Identify key stakeholders, evaluators, and decision-makers

   • Assess customer pain points/hot buttons

4. Win Strategy Development:

   • Tailor your value proposition to Education outcomes (Ex, “Enhance student learning outcomes while reducing IT burden.”)

   • Ensure compliance with FERPA and State Privacy Laws

   • Highlight success stories

   • Teaming and Partnerships – consider local ed-tech firms or regional service providers who have supported education customers to strengthen credibility

5. Competitive Assessment:

   • Identify incumbents' weaknesses

   • Develop ghosting strategies to incorporate into the proposal response

   • Value add – consider investment for the opportunity (Ex, Teacher training, student workshops, parental engagement tools)

6. Proposal Development:

   • Ensure Compliance – education procurements often have stringent technical requirements (Ex, 508 Compliance, etc.)

   • Integrate educational impact metrics into the proposal response

7. Price 2 Win:

   • Many education buyers “buy” in a multi-year cycle, not just a lump payment upfront

   • Consider offering flexible financing aligned with the academic budget

   • Leverage state/federal contract vehicles and Cooperative contracts to reduce procurement costs

8. Post-Submission:

   • If allowed, continue customer engagement

   • Prepare for Best and Final Offer (BAFO)

• August 18th: Premier Navy Procurement Expo in San Diego, CA

• August 18th: Small Business Expo in San Diego, CA

• August 25th: National Homeland Security Conference in DC

• August 26th: 2025 Navy Summit in McClean, VA

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

• Proposals

• Capture

• Price To Win

• Competitive Intelligence

• Strategic Pricing

• Production

• AI Services

• Training

• BD Transformation 

• Process/Methodology 

• Tools and Template

• Small Business