Amaze Technologies, LLC (ID08200019)

B-418949,B-418949.2,B-418949.3 Oct 16, 2020 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Amaze Technologies, LLC, a small business joint venture of Fairfax, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Karthik Consulting, LLC, of Reston, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RTOP) No. ID08200019, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for support services for the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. Amaze asserts that GSA unreasonably evaluated its offer under the experience and past performance factors, and treated it disparately in the evaluation. Amaze also complains that the contracting officer improperly changed the rating assigned by the technical evaluation team (TET) to Amaze's proposal under the experience factor without justification. 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:  Amaze Technologies, LLC File:  B-418949; B-418949.2; B-418949.3 Date:  October 16, 2020 Shane M. McCall, Esq., Koprince Law, LLC, for the protester. Thomas Craig, Emily Spence, Esq., Marlena Ewald, FH+H, PLLC, for the intervenor. Leigh Ann Bunetta, Esq., Federal Acquisition Service, for the agency. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Challenge to the agency’s evaluation of experience and past performance of the awardee, a joint venture, is denied where the evaluation was consistent with the terms of the solicitation and applicable small business regulations. DECISION   Amaze Technologies, LLC, a small business joint venture of Fairfax, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Karthik Consulting, LLC, of Reston, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RTOP) No. ID08200019, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for support services for the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.  Amaze asserts that GSA unreasonably evaluated its offer under the experience and past performance factors, and treated it disparately in the evaluation.  Amaze also complains that the contracting officer improperly changed the rating assigned by the technical evaluation team (TET) to Amaze’s proposal under the experience factor without justification.  We deny the protest. BACKGROUND GSA issued the solicitation for task order proposals to provide defensive cyber operations for space agile release teams to the Air Force.  Agency Report (AR), Exh. 1, RTOP at 19.[1]  Specifically, the Air Force was seeking a broad range of acquisition support capabilities to execute effective and responsive integrated program management of space-related research, development, production, and lifecycle acquisition activities for the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.  Id. at 20. The competition was limited to firms holding a One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business Pool 1 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, which are multiple award contracts awarded by GSA to small business concerns.  Id. at 1.  The procurement was conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the OASIS contract, and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505.  Id. at 16.  The solicitation provided that the task order would be issued on a best-value tradeoff basis considering the following factors:  relevant experience, past performance, and price.  Id.  For purposes of award, the relevant experience factor was more important than the past performance factor, and the two non-price factors when combined, were significantly more important than price.  Id. GSA received ten proposals, including one from Karthik and one from Amaze.  Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 4.  Amaze is a joint venture comprised of AttainX, Inc., a small business protégé and the managing member of the joint venture, and 22nd Century Technologies, Inc., the large business mentor and team member.  See AR, Exh. 4, Amaze Technical Proposal at 2; Supp. Comments at 6.  Following the evaluation of proposals by the TET, and review of the evaluation by the contracting officer who was also the source selection authority, Amaze and Karthik were rated as follows:[2]   AMAZE KARTHIK Relevant Experience Marginal[3] Satisfactory Past Performance Satisfactory Excellent Price $ 13,152,986 $ 15,707,866   AR, Exh. 10, Award Decision at 3, 9, 25. The source selection authority, determined that Karthik’s proposal offered the best value to the government, and issued the task order to Karthik.  Id.