SWR, Inc., B-294266, October 6, 2004

B-294266 Oct 06, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights SWR, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. M00146-04-R-9024, issued by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) for the washing of various aircraft at three Marine Corps Air Stations (MCAS) in North and South Carolina. SWR asserts that the RFP, issued as a small business set-aside, instead should have been set aside for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business concerns. We sustain the protest. View Decision B-294266, SWR, Inc., October 6, 2004 Decision Matter of: SWR, Inc. File: B-294266 Date: October 6, 2004 Benjamin M. Bowden, Esq., Albrittons, Clifton, Alverson, Moody & Bowden, for the protester. Julius Rothlein, Esq., and A. Neil Stroud, Esq., U.S. Marine Corps, and Laura Mann Eyester, Esq., and John W. Klein, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Paul E. Jordan, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging agency decision not to set aside procurement for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses is sustained where decision was based on insufficient facts to establish reasonableness of conclusion that HUBZone business concerns of which the agency was aware were not interested in, and/or not capable of, performing the requirement. DECISION SWR, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. M00146-04-R-9024, issued by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) for the washing of various aircraft at three Marine Corps Air Stations (MCAS) in North and South Carolina. SWR asserts that the RFP, issued as a small business set-aside, instead should have been set aside for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business concerns. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP sought proposals for a fixed-price contract to provide authorized maintenance personnel to clean, wash, lubricate, and inspect aircraft at three USMC installations--three wash racks at MCAS Cherry Point for EA-6B, AV-8B, and KC-130 aircraft; two rotary-wing wash racks at MCAS New River for UH-1N, AH-1W, CH-53, and CH-46 aircraft; and two fixed-wing wash racks at MCAS Beaufort for F/A18 aircraft. The requirement here resulted from the combination of the work under two delivery orders that had been issued to large businesses, representing 95 percent of the work at all three installations, and a Cherry Point contract awarded to SWR, which represented the remaining 5percent. In January 2004, prior to issuing the RFP, the agency performed market research that included consideration of current and past aircraft washing procurements. This research disclosed that the last USMC combined aircraft washing procurement had been conducted at Camp Pendleton in August2000 on an unrestricted basis, and that award had been made to a small business. The contract specialist also obtained a copy of an RFP for aircraft washing issued by Charleston Air Force Base (CAFB); the specialist believed that procurement was a 100-percent small business set-aside based on the RFP's cover page but, as she later discovered, it was a HUBZone set-aside. The specialist also used the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Pro-Net webbased small business database system to search for potential HUBZone offerors. [1] She ran several searches after determining that the most relevant North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code was 488190, which covers "other support activities for air transportation." Two searches included NAICS code 488190, the HUBZone restriction, and the keywords "aircraft maintenance" and "aircraft washing." Neither search identified any HUBZone certified firms. When the specialist ran another search using the keywords "aircraft maintenance" and NAICS code 488190, but without the HUBZone restriction, she found 18 small businesses. Based on her market research, the specialist decided to issue the RFP as a 100-percent small business set-aside, and obtained concurrence in that decision from the local (Cherry Point MCAS) small business specialist. Notice of the requirement as a proposed small business set-aside was posted to FedBizOpps on February 20. Thereafter, in telephone conversations on March 30 and April 1 with CAFB contracting personnel, the contracting officer learned that the CAFB procurement was a HUBZone set-aside. Agency Report (AR) Tab 8. She also learned that the awardee was U.S. Logistics, Inc. (USL), that SWR had protested the award, and that there also was a third offeror, a team comprised of the incumbent and another firm. Id. The contracting officer asserts that it was from these conversations that she first learned that "SWR might be a HUBZone firm." Contracting Officer's Statement (COS) 8.