Candor Solutions, LLC (1605DC-20-R-00021)

B-418682.2 Sep 15, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Candor Solutions, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. 1605DC-20-R-00021, which was issued by the Department of Labor (DOL), for the issuance of a task order to operate, maintain, and manage the Job Corps Data Center in Austin, Texas. Candor alleges that the cancellation of the solicitation, which it contends was set-aside for small business concerns, was improper because the agency failed to comply with the requirements in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-9 for withdrawing or modifying a small business set-aside procurement. The protester also contends that the agency's decision to cancel the small business set-aside procurement, and decision to procure the required services on an unrestricted basis, violated the agency's obligation to give priority to small business set-asides pursuant to FAR 19.203, and circumvented the agency's own market research and "rule of two" analysis pursuant to FAR 19.502-2(b). We dismiss the protest because the protester's allegations are untimely. 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:  Candor Solutions, LLC File:  B-418682.2 Date:  September 15, 2020 Daniel J. Strouse, Esq., David S. Cohen, Esq., Laurel A. Hockey, Esq., Joshua D. Schnell, Esq., and John J. O’Brien, Esq., Cordatis LLP, for the protester. Jose Otero, Esq., and Virginia Ackerman, Esq., Department of Labor, for the agency. Evan D. Wesser, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency’s cancellation of a small business set-aside procurement in favor of an unrestricted competition is dismissed as untimely because a solicitation amendment put the protester on notice that any set-aside had been dissolved, and the protester did not timely challenge the agency’s decision to cancel the set-aside for small businesses. DECISION   Candor Solutions, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. 1605DC-20-R-00021, which was issued by the Department of Labor (DOL), for the issuance of a task order to operate, maintain, and manage the Job Corps Data Center in Austin, Texas.  Candor alleges that the cancellation of the solicitation, which it contends was set-aside for small business concerns, was improper because the agency failed to comply with the requirements in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502‑9 for withdrawing or modifying a small business set-aside procurement.  The protester also contends that the agency’s decision to cancel the small business set-aside procurement, and decision to procure the required services on an unrestricted basis, violated the agency’s obligation to give priority to small business set-asides pursuant to FAR 19.203, and circumvented the agency’s own market research and “rule of two” analysis pursuant to FAR 19.502-2(b). We dismiss the protest because the protester’s allegations are untimely. BACKGROUND The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), an office housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), is authorized by the Office of Management and Budget to administer governmentwide acquisition contracts for information technology and supplies.  Relevant here, NIH administers the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) and CIO-SP3-Small Business (CIO-SP3-SB) contracts.  The primary distinctions between the two contracts are the initial small business eligibility criteria for the CIO-SP3-SB contract, as well as the associated eligibility requirements and subcontracting limitations for orders set-aside for small businesses under the CIO-SP3-SB contract.[1]  Currently, there are 335 contract holders (including 39 firms that have graduated as small business concerns) of the CIO-SP3-SB contract, and 52 contract holders (including 2 small businesses) of the CIO-SP3 contract.  See NIH Brief in B‑418682 at 1-2. On March 25, 2020, DOL simultaneously issued two nearly identical solicitations in this procurement.  Both RFPs shared the same DOL-issued solicitation number, as well as identical solicitation sections B, C, F, G, and J-M (and neither solicitation had sections D or E).  The differences, therefore, were limited to solicitation sections A and I. One solicitation was issued to holders of the CIO-SP3 contract (hereinafter, the “CIO-SP3 RFP”).  The CIO-SP3 RFP’s section A cover page indicated that the procurement was unrestricted, and the clauses incorporated into section I did not indicate that any small business set-aside or preferences were applicab...