B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5, Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc., April 15, 2008

B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5, Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc., April 15, 2008 TITLE: B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5, Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc., April 15, 2008 BNUMBER: B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5 DATE: April 15, 2008 ************************************************************************************************* B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5, Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc., April 15, 2008 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc. File: B-310737.3; B-310737.4; B-310737.5 Date: April 15, 2008 Lee P. Curtis, Esq., Anthony L. Steadman, Esq., and Troy E. Hughes, Esq., Perkins Coie LLP, for the protester. James L. Weiner, Esq., Department of the Interior, for the agency. William K. Walker, Esq., Walker Reausaw, for Chenega Federal Systems, LLC, an intervenor. Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Ralph O. White, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency unreasonably made award of a contract under a Buy Indian Act set-aside because there are no American Indians holding management positions in the company is denied where the solicitation did not impose a specific test for eligibility for award, and the agency reasonably interpreted the Buy Indian Act as allowing the company to qualify for award, since the company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of an Alaska Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. 2. Protest that agency improperly selected for award proposal that failed to provide letters of commitment for key personnel is sustained where solicitation specifically required offerors to submit letters of commitment for all key personnel. DECISION Native American Industrial Distributors, Inc. (NAID), a small business, protests the award of a contract to Chenega Federal Systems, LLC, by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), under request for proposals (RFP) No. RBK00070010 for information technology infrastructure services. NAID objects that the contract award was improperly made to a firm that does not meet the requirements of the Buy Indian Act, 25 U.S.C. sect. 47, and that the agency overlooked the omission of required letters of commitment from the Chenega proposal that should have rendered the proposal unacceptable. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The BIA issued the RFP on July 3, 2007, seeking fixed-price proposals to provide information technology support services in twelve functional areas, ranging from applications and database support to private branch exchange (telephone), video teleconferencing, and network support services. Performance Work Statement at 5-33. The RFP provided for a base period of 12 months, followed by four optional 12-month extensions. The RFP provided that award of the contract[1] would be based on evaluation of five factors, which were listed in descending order of importance: technical approach, past performance, personnel resources, corporate experience, and "price/cost." RFP attach. 3, Evaluation Factors, at 1.[2] With respect to the personnel resources factor, the RFP specified that the evaluation would consider The degree to which the staffing approach satisfies the requirements defined in this document. Include the following: 1. a staffing plan which addresses capabilities and experience relating to the attached Statement of Work; 2. resumes for key personnel with letters of commitment. Id. at 2. The RFP also indicated that all contractor personnel (whether key or not) would be required to submit a signed nondisclosure agreement, and provided a nondisclosure agreement form. RFP attach. 1, Performance Based Statement of Work, at 49 ("The Government will provide a Non-Disclosure Statement to be signed by each Contractor personnel"). The employee nondisclosure agreement form provided, in relevant part, as follows: I, _________, am an employee of or a subcontractor to [Contractor Name] , a contractor acting under contract to the __________ under Prime Contract No. ____, through Task Order ___. I understand that in the performance of this task, I may have access to sensitive or proprietary business, technical, financial, and/or source selection information belonging to the Government or other contractors. . . . I agree not to discuss, divulge, or disclose any such information or data to any person or entity except those persons directly concerned with the performance of this task order. . .