Global Solutions Network, Inc., B-294054; B-294054.2, August 10, 2004

Global Solutions Network, Inc., B-294054; B-294054.2, August 10, 2004 TITLE: Global Solutions Network, Inc., B-294054; B-294054.2, August 10, 2004 BNUMBER: B-294054; B-294054.2 DATE: August 10, 2004 ********************************************************************** Decision Matter of: Global Solutions Network, Inc. File: B-294054; B-294054.2 Date: August 10, 2004 Gerald H. Werfel, Esq., Pompan, Murray & Werfel, for the protester. David T. Copenhaver, Esq., Bureau of the Public Debt, Department of the Treasury, for the agency. Edward Goldstein, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Cancellation of request for proposals for support services is unobjectionable where agency reasonably determined that the solicitation failed to reflect its minimum needs. DECISION Global Solutions Network, Inc. protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No.A BPD-02-R-0018, issued by the Bureau of the Public Debt, Department of the Treasury, for support services. Global maintains that the decision to cancel the solicitation lacks a reasonable basis. We deny the protest. The Bureau of the Public Debt awards contracts on behalf of the Department of the Treasury's nine FedSource branch offices, which operate as part of the Department of the Treasury's *franchise fund." [2] The branch offices essentially market and provide a wide range of support services to other agencies on a reimbursable basis. On August 23, 2002, the Bureau of the Public Debt issued the subject RFP as a set-aside for small business concerns, with a portion reserved for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) concerns, to provide the FedSource-Denver office with a contractual mechanism for ordering *various support services" for its customers, which include *other federal agencies." Contracting Officer's Statement at 1; RFP S C.2.a. The RFP contemplated multiple awards of indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a base period of 1 year plus four 1-year option periods. Offerors could compete for the award of a HUBZone contract with a nationwide geographic scope (excluding the state of Colorado); a non-HUBZone nationwide contract (excluding Colorado); a Colorado-only contract; or a combination of these awards. RFP S M.2.b. Offerors competing for the nationwide contracts were advised that they must be *immediately capable of providing services on a nationwide basis in at least 50% of the states in the continental United States in all four labor categories . . . ." RFP S M.2.c. The RFP divided the general requirement for support services into four labor categories: (1) general administrative, (2) technical, (3) professional, and (4) industrial, and indicated that task orders could be issued on a fixed-price, labor-hour, or time-and-materials basis for the services provided.[3] The aggregate value of the task orders issued under the contracts awarded could not exceed $250 million. RFP S B.4. By the RFP closing date, the agency had received 14 proposals for the nationwide portion of the solicitation and 23 proposals for the Colorado portion. On September 9, 2003, the agency identified nine apparent successful offerors. Prior to award, however, the agency received five small business size protests, which were submitted to the Small Business Administration for resolution. All of the protests and appeals were ultimately resolved by April 20, 2004. While the size protests and appeals were pending, the Acting Franchise Fund Manager made a decision to consolidate contracts across the nine FedSource offices. This decision was documented in an internal memorandum dated March 12, 2004. The memorandum explained that consolidation was intended to eliminate *wasted time, effort and expense" for FedSource, the Bureau of the Public Debt, and their contractors resulting from the nine FedSource offices operating as separate autonomous entities and issuing duplicate contracts with different terms and conditions. Agency Report, Tab 16. In addition, the memorandum noted that there was an immediate need to award a contract to cover several of the FedSource offices, and because the subject FedSource-Denver solicitation did not have a dollar ceiling high enough to cover the needs of the other FedSource offices, the agency determined that it made *good business sense" to issue a master contract for all nine offices, otherwise the agency would *have yet another set of different contracts to manage and eventually merge anyway." Id. Thereafter, the contracting officer issued a letter dated April 27, 2004 canceling the solicitation.