CALIBRE Systems, Inc.

B-414301.3 Sep 20, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Calibre Systems, Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (BAH), of McLean, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. VA119A-16-R-0159, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for support services to continue administration and program management for the VA's Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Calibre, the incumbent contractor, challenges the agency's evaluation of its own proposal and the award decision. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision 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:  CALIBRE Systems, Inc. File:  B-414301.3 Date:  September 20, 2017 Brian A. Darst, Esq., and Matthew Keller, Esq., Odin Feldman Pittleman PC, for the protester. Mark D. Colley, Esq., Dominique L. Casimir, Esq., Dana E. Koffman, Esq., and Michael E. Samuels, Esq., Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, for Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., an intervenor. Frank V. DiNicola, Esq., Jason M. Fragoso, Esq., and Benjamin M. Diliberto, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Gabriel D. Soll, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the evaluation of a protester's proposal is denied where the record shows that the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation's stated evaluation criteria. DECISION Calibre Systems, Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (BAH), of McLean, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. VA119A-16-R-0159, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for support services to continue administration and program management for the VA's Transition Assistance Program (TAP).  Calibre, the incumbent contractor, challenges the agency's evaluation of its own proposal and the award decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The VA administers the TAP program in coordination with several military and civilian agencies to ensure service members who are transitioning to civilian life are "career ready."  RFP at 7.[1]  The program provides a variety of services including pre-separation counselling, benefits briefings, and job market skills seminars.  Id. The agency issued the RFP on September 9, 2016, as a commercial item solicitation under the procedures in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) parts 12 and 15, seeking proposals to provide governance, operations, curriculum development and revision, training, plans, and analysis services to support TAP world-wide.  Id. at 8.  The RFP contemplated the award a single hybrid fixed-price and time-and-materials contract for a 9-month base period and four option years.  Id.  The solicitation provided that award would be made to a responsible offeror whose proposal was found to be most advantageous to the government based on the agency's evaluation of the following five factors in descending order of importance:  technical capability, project management plan, past performance, small business subcontracting plan, and price.  Id. at 97.  The non-price factors, when combined, were to be significantly more important than price.  Id. The VA received multiple proposals, including those from Calibre and BAH by the October 17, 2016, closing date.  Contracting Officer's Statement of Facts (COSF) at 1.  After an initial evaluation, the contracting officer established a competitive range that included only Calibre and BAH.  Id.  Both offerors received written discussion letters that detailed all evaluated weaknesses, significant weaknesses, and various other issues identified in the proposals.  Id. at 2.  The offerors were also provided an opportunity to engage in an in-person discussion.  Id. at 2; AR, Tab 8, Calibre Discussion Information, at 9-15.  At the conclusion of discussions, the contracting officer requested final proposal revisions.  AR, Tab 8, Calibre Discussion Information, at 33. The final proposal revisions (FPRs) were evaluated as follows:   Calibre Booz Allen Hamilton Technical Approach Satisfactory Excellent Project Management Plan Marginal Excellent Past Performance Low Risk Low Risk Small Business Participation Plan Acceptable Acceptable Price $217,672,796 $230,963,330 AR, Tab 12, Best Value Determination, at 26.  The contracting officer, acting as the source selection authority, performed a best-value tradeoff and concluded that the benefits of BAH's higher-rated proposal merited paying the associated price premium.  Id.