STEM International, Inc., B-295471, January 24, 2005

B-295471 Jan 24, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights STEM International, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Integrated Systems Support Associates, Inc. (ISSA) under request for proposals (RFP) No. M00264-04-R-0012, issued by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for program management and engineering support services for the USMC headquarter's installation and logistics program. We deny the protest. View Decision B-295471, STEM International, Inc., January 24, 2005 Decision Matter of: STEM International, Inc. File: B-295471 Date: January 24, 2005 C.S. Prakash, Ph.D., for the protester. Kenneth A. Martin, Esq., Martin & Associates, for Integrated Systems Support Associates, Inc., the intevenor. Edward N. Ramras, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency. Sharon L. Larkin, Esq., and Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq. Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging evaluation of proposals for program management and engineering support services is denied, where record shows that the agency reasonably evaluated offerors capability, experience, and price consistent with the solicitations evaluation criteria, and reasonably determined that the awardees technical superiority was worth the additional cost. DECISION STEM International, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Integrated Systems Support Associates, Inc. (ISSA) under request for proposals (RFP) No. M00264-04-R-0012, issued by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for program management and engineering support services for the USMC headquarters installation and logistics program. We deny the protest. The RFP, issued as a section 8(a) set-aside, provided for the award of a time and materials, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for a base year and four option years. [2] Award was to be made on a bestvalue basis, considering the following factors: (1) management capabilities and experience, (2) personnel qualifications and technical expertise, (3) knowledge of Department of Defense and USMC organization and installations and logistics programs, (4) past performance, and (5) price. Offerors were informed that the technical evaluation factors, when combined, were significantly more important than price, and that the technical evaluation factors were listed in descending order of importance. RFP M.1. The solicitations statement of work described the services to be performed and personnel to be provided. In this regard, the RFP identified the positions of project manager, senior program analysts, and program analysts as core team/key personnel. RFP C.5.1. Resumes for these core team/key personnel were required for evaluation, see id. M.1, and offerors were informed that during the first 120 days of the contract performance period, no personnel substitutions [of core team/key personnel] shall be permitted unless such substitutions are necessitated by an individuals sudden illness, death, termination of employment or to meet specific personnel requirements described for individual task orders. Id. H.1. STEM and ISSA were among the seven offerors that responded to the RFP. Each proposal was evaluated by the agencys source selection board (SSB), which rated proposals as outstanding, acceptable, or unacceptable under the technical evaluation factors. In this regard, ISSA received a total of 4 outstanding ratings and 8acceptable ratings; STEM received 2 outstanding ratings and 10 acceptable ratings. Neither offeror received any unacceptable ratings. AR, Tab 10, SSB Report, at 3. The SSB found advantageous ISSAs proposed partnership with other companies to perform the requirements of the RFP. This, the SSB found, allowed ISSA to draw on resources of 1500 people from one of its team members, and added capability and experience in environmental, scientific, and technical services, as well as logistics support. The SSB found that, overall, the proposal displayed a significantly deeper understanding of our work in the context of the [USMCs] logistics modernization efforts, and provided a significant reach back [3] capability to tap that experience, relationships, and personnel. The SSB also noted that the firm offered to recruit incumbent employees. Id. at 8. In contrast, the SSB noted that STEM did not offer to partner with other firms to bring a full range of capability to the contract. Although the SSB regarded STEMs proposed contingent hire commitments from various personnel of the incumbent contractor to be a proposal strength, the SSB found that STEM itself lacked any experience with USMC, and further noted that a majority of the firms experience related to United States Army and chemical munitions management and oversight.