Goodwill Industries of the Valleys

B-415137 Nov 29, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, of Roanoke, Virginia, and SourceAmerica, of Vienna Virginia, protest the General Services Administration's (GSA) actions in connection with the award of a "full service" lease (No. GS-03P-LVA00172) to VVP, LLC, of Charlottesville, Virginia, for office space and custodial services in a building that houses the Charlottesville courthouse; the protesters maintain that GSA's actions violate the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD Act) and that Act's implementation under the AbilityOne program. More specifically, Goodwill and SourceAmerica note that, pursuant to the JWOD Act and its implementing regulations, Goodwill is the mandatory source for the custodial service requirements at the Charlottesville courthouse, and assert that GSA's "failure either to carve out the custodial services from the VVP full service lease contract for award to Goodwill, or to direct VVP to contract for those services from Goodwill, violates procurement law and renders the lease unlawful." Protest at 2. We sustain the protest. We sustain the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. The entire decision has now been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Goodwill Industries of the Valleys; SourceAmerica File:  B-415137 Date:  November 29, 2017 Craig A. Holman, Esq., and Craig A. Schwartz, Esq., Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, for the protester. Robert J. McCall, Esq., and Julie A. Holvik, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Timi Nickerson Kenealy, Esq., and Kasia Dourney, Esq., U.S. AbilityOne Commission. Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is sustained where the General Services Administration’s acquisition of custodial services in connection with award of a lease fails to comply with the applicable requirements of the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act, under which protester is the mandatory source for the custodial services. DECISION Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, of Roanoke, Virginia, and SourceAmerica, of Vienna Virginia, protest the General Services Administration’s (GSA) actions in connection with the award of a “full service” lease (No. GS-03P-LVA00172) to VVP, LLC, of Charlottesville, Virginia, for office space and custodial services in a building that houses the Charlottesville courthouse; the protesters maintain that GSA’s actions violate the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (JWOD Act) and that Act’s implementation under the AbilityOne program.[1] More specifically, Goodwill[2] and SourceAmerica[3] note that, pursuant to the JWOD Act and its implementing regulations, Goodwill is the mandatory source for the custodial service requirements at the Charlottesville courthouse,[4] and assert that GSA’s “failure either to carve out the custodial services from the VVP full service lease contract for award to Goodwill, or to direct VVP to contract for those services from Goodwill, violates procurement law and renders the lease unlawful.”  Protest at 2.  We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND Summary of the JWOD Act and Implementing Regulations The JWOD Act and its implementing regulations are intended to “increase employment and training opportunities for persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities” through authorization of the noncompetitive acquisition of specified products and services from qualified nonprofit agencies (NPAs) that employ persons with such disabilities.  41 U.S.C. §§ 8501-8506; 41 C.F.R Chapter 51.  The Act established a “Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled” (now the U.S. AbilityOne Commission) and granted exclusive authority to the Commission to establish and maintain a procurement list of products and services that must be purchased from qualified NPAs.[5]    Specifically, the JWOD Act states:    An entity of the Federal Government intending to procure a product or service on the procurement list . . . shall procure the product or service from a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or a qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled in accordance with regulations of the [AbilityOne Commission] . . .[[6]]  41 U.S.C. § 8504(a) (underlining added).  The implementing regulations further provide that: Contracting activities procuring services which have included within them services on the Procurement List shall require their contractors for the larger service requirement to procure the included Procurement List services from nonprofit agencies designated by the [AbilityOne Commission]. 41 C.F.R. § 51-5.2(e) (underlining added). Chronology of Relevant Events In 2004, custodial services at the Charlottesville Courthouse were added to the AbilityOne procurement list.  See 68 Fed. Reg. 68,024 (Dec.