TCG Consulting, Inc. (W9133L-17-R-0042)

B-415521.5 Jul 17, 2020 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights TCG Consulting, Inc., an 8(a) small business of Atlanta, Georgia, requests that our Office recommend that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs associated with filing and pursuing its protests against the issuance of an order to Red Carrot, Inc., of Miami, Florida, pursuant to solicitation No. W9133L-17-R-0042, issued by the Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau (NGB) to provide an action events program. We deny the request. 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:  TCG Consulting, Inc.--Costs File:  B-415521.5 Date:  July 17, 2020 Jonathan T. Williams, Esq., Jacqueline K. Unger, Esq., Matthew E. Feinberg, Esq., and Timothy F. Valley, Esq., Piliero Mazza PLLC, for the protester. Major Sean B. Zehtab, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Amy B. Pereira, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protester’s request that our Office recommend it be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing its protest and supplemental protest is denied where the protest grounds were not clearly meritorious. DECISION   TCG Consulting, Inc., an 8(a) small business of Atlanta, Georgia, requests that our Office recommend that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs associated with filing and pursuing its protests against the issuance of an order to Red Carrot, Inc., of Miami, Florida, pursuant to solicitation No. W9133L-17-R-0042, issued by the Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau (NGB) to provide an action events program.  We deny the request. The NGB issued the solicitation on June 1, 2017, via the General Services Administration’s (GSA) e-Buy portal, as a set-aside for companies participating in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business Program to vendors holding Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts under GSA Schedules 541 1 (advertising services) and 541 5 (integrated marketing services).  Agency Report (AR), (B-415521.3), Tab 9, Solicitation at 1, 31.[1]  The solicitation sought a contractor to provide a minimum of 500 event-based marketing activities at high schools, colleges, and community events in order to generate leads from the audience for Army National Guard recruiting purposes.  Id. at 5-6.  The events were to be “athletic in nature, using active, extreme, and/or adrenaline-pumping demonstrations,” and were required to generate no less than 50,000 recruitment leads.  Id. at 6, 16. The solicitation required coordination between the offeror and that state’s National Guard marketing non‑commissioned officers (NCOs) for a particular school within two business days following the scheduling of an event at the school.  Solicitation Performance Work Statement (PWS) 5.16 at 19.  The solicitation contemplated the issuance of a 1-year, fixed-price order, with a 1-year option period.  Id. at 6, 42.  Award was to be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering the following factors, in descending order of importance:  technical approach, management approach, past performance, and price.  Id. at 37.  In order to receive award, an offeror’s proposal was required to receive a rating of acceptable or higher under the technical approach and management approach factors, and a rating of satisfactory confidence or higher under the past performance factor.[2]  Id. The agency received five proposals by the due date for receipt of proposals.  AR, Tab 2, Contracting Officer Statement (COS) at 9.  The agency established a competitive range, and held discussions with three offerors, including TCG and Red Carrot.  The source selection authority (SSA) concluded that Red Carrot offered the best value to the government and issued Red Carrot an order with a value of $9,337,987.  Id.  On October 10, 2017, TCG filed a protest with our Office contesting the issuance of the order to Red Carrot.  TCG Protest (B-415521).  Prior to the due date for the agency report, the agency notified our Office that it intended to take corrective action by canceling the award, reopening discussions with the three offerors in the competitive range, receiving and evaluating revised proposals, and issuing a new award decision.  Agency Corrective Action Notice, Nov. 1, 2017.  As a result, our Office dismissed TCG’s protest as academic.  TCG Consulting, Inc., B-415521, Nov.