MCS Management, Inc., B-285813; B-285882, October 11, 2000

MCS Management, Inc., B-285813; B-285882, October 11, 2000 TITLE: MCS Management, Inc., B-285813; B-285882, October 11, 2000 BNUMBER: B-285813; B-285882 DATE: October 11, 2000 ********************************************************************** MCS Management, Inc., B-285813; B-285882, October 11, 2000 Decision Matter of: MCS Management, Inc. File: B-285813; B-285882 Date: October 11, 2000 Sam Z. Gdanski, Esq., Jeffrey I. Gdanski, Esq., and Scott H. Gdanski, Esq., for the protester. Julius Rothlein, Esq., U.S. Marine Corps, and Genemarie M. Pade, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. David A. Ashen, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of General Counsel, GAO, participated in preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency requirements for regional garrison food service should be set aside for small business concerns is denied where agency reasonably determined that there was no reasonable expectation of receiving fair market price offers from at least two responsible small business concerns; there was no indication that small business concerns had experience performing food service contracts of the scope and complexity of the new regional requirements, which combined features such as geographically dispersed messhalls across an entire region, rather than at individual installations; responsibility for the management of numerous messhalls, rather than for just a few messhalls or for only less demanding mess attendant services; need for use of advanced food technology, including centralized food processing; and responsibility for the purchase and ownership of subsistence. 2. Protest that agency improperly consolidated its garrison food service requirements, including work currently performed under 11 contracts and work currently performed by the government, into two regional contracts is dismissed where there is no showing that protester was prejudiced by consolidation; although protester challenges claimed benefits of the consolidated procurement approach, it failed to demonstrate that consolidation significantly inhibited or precluded its competing for the award, and instead argued that the requirements do not differ significantly in character from its current food service contracts and that it can perform the consolidated requirement. DECISION MCS Management, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) Nos. M00027-00-R-0001 (RFP 0001) and M00027-00-R-0002 (RFP 0002), issued by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) for regional garrison food service. MCS, a small business concern, argues that the requirements should be set aside for small business concerns. MCS also challenges the consolidation of the agency's food service requirements into two contracts (from 11 contracts currently). We deny the protests. BACKGROUND The RFPs provide for award of two primarily fixed-price incentive contracts, with a base period of 5 years, with 3 option years, to provide regional garrison food service at: (1) 32 messhalls on the east coast (RFP 0001), including messhalls at the Marine Barracks, in the District of Columbia; Henderson Hall, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Marine Security Force Battalion Norfolk in Virginia; Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Stations Cherry Point and New River, and Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, in North Carolina; and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina; and (2) 23 messhalls on the west coast (RFP 0002), including messhalls at Camp Pendelton, 29 Palms, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, and Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, in California; and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona. USMC currently is contracting for full food service at eight of the messhalls, including three operated by MCS (two at Camp Lejeune and one at Camp Pendelton) and five operated by National Industries for the Severely Handicapped (NISH) workshops; MCS currently provides messhall management, food preparation and mess attendant services at its three full food service messhalls. Under the solicitations, the number of full food service messhalls will increase to 35. USMC has current contracts for mess attendant services at 28 of the messhalls, including 18 serviced by MCS and 10 serviced by four other small business concerns. Under the solicitations, mess attendant messhalls will be reduced in number to 17 and will become management and mess attendant messhalls, with the contractors now also responsible for management of the messhalls (as well as furnishing mess attendant services). (Food preparation will continue to be performed by USMC cooks at the management and mess attendant messhalls). The contractors also will become responsible under the solicitations for management and food preparation for three brig messhalls not previously contracted out.