Daly Associates, B-287908, August 2, 2001

B-287908 Aug 02, 2001 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest of agency's evaluation of quotations is denied where record shows that evaluation was reasonable and consistent with applicable evaluation factors. Daly principally contends that the agency's evaluation was unreasonable and that Daly should have been selected for award. The RFQ stated that the primary goal of the acquisition is to enhance military spouses' facilitating. The second goal is to develop Army War College students' spouses as instructors/trainees to teach the contractor's FLAGS program to small groups of other spouses at the Army War College each academic year. The RFQ provided that technical was significantly more important than price. Were experience of personnel. View Decision Daly Associates, B-287908, August 2, 2001 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Daly Associates protests the issuance of a purchase order to Donovan Training and Development (DTD) under request for quotations (RFQ) No. DABT43-01-T-0026, issued by the Department of the Army, United States Army War College and Carlisle Barracks, for facilitating, leadership and group skills training (FLAGS). Daly principally contends that the agency's evaluation was unreasonable and that Daly should have been selected for award. We deny the protest. The solicitation, issued February 28, 2001, as a total small business set-aside, contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price order for commercial services. The RFQ stated that the primary goal of the acquisition is to enhance military spouses' facilitating, leadership and group skills to prepare them to constructively influence and to positively interact with the military communities within which they live. RFQ Para. 1.2. The second goal is to develop Army War College students' spouses as instructors/trainees to teach the contractor's FLAGS program to small groups of other spouses at the Army War College each academic year. RFQ Para. 1.3. The RFQ provided for issuance of the order to the vendor whose quotation would be most advantageous to the government considering the evaluation factors of technical and price. The RFQ provided that technical was significantly more important than price. The technical factors, listed in descending order of importance, were experience of personnel, understanding of the agency's needs, management plan, and past performance. The RFQ further provided that, in selecting the best overall quotation, the government would consider the value of each quotation in terms of the quality offered for the cost. Four quotations were received, including those from Daly and DTD, the incumbent. The quotations were evaluated by the source selection evaluation board (SSEB) and all four quotations were determined to be technically acceptable. The protester submitted the low price of $72,240. DTD submitted the second lowest price of $92,250. The board determined that the quotation submitted by DTD represented the best value to the government and recommended award to DTD. Agency Report, Tab I. The board concluded that DTD's experience and background were a "perfect match" for the FLAGS program and that DTD's proven record in the field "ideally" qualified it for selection. Id. While DTD did not submit the lowest price, the board determined that DTD's price was within an acceptable range and reflected the value of the experience the firm brought to performance of the work. Id. The contracting officer reviewed the board's findings and disagreed with the board's decision. The contracting officer believed that the protester's lower price more than compensated for the advantages offered by the incumbent. The contracting officer advised the source selection authority (SSA) of his opinion concerning the award selection. Agency Report, Tab A. The SSA decided to return the evaluation to the board with instructions to establish a checklist of important technical sub-factors for each board member to individually rate each proposal, then use the checklist to arrive at a consensus on a recommendation and to rewrite the SSEB report. Id. The board reevaluated the Daly and DTD quotations with the intent of providing the contracting officer and SSA more specific data as to the basis for the selection decision. In its reevaluation, the board used a decision matrix that reflected the technical factors, contractor qualifications, and statement of work. Agency Report, Tab H. After the reevaluation, the board again selected DTD's quotation as providing the best value to the government. Agency Report, Tab G. The board noted that DTD scored consistently higher than the protester in the technical factors of experience, understanding of the agency needs, management plan, and past performance. Id. The record shows that the evaluators found that DTD represented the best value for several reasons.