UpSlope Advisors, Inc. (HTC711-20-R-D006)

B-419036,B-419036.2 Nov 25, 2020 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights UpSlope Advisors, Inc. (UpSlope), a small business of Denver, Colorado, protests the decision of the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) to award a sole-source contract for enterprise information technology (IT) services to Eagle TG, LLC (Eagle), a tribally-owned concern of New Braunfels, Texas, under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) section 8(a) program. UpSlope asserts that the award of the contract on a sole-source basis is improper because it violates the SBA's regulations. We sustain 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:  UpSlope Advisors, Inc. File:  B-419036; B-419036.2 Date:  November 25, 2020 James Y. Boland, Esq., Caleb E. McCallum, Esq., and Chelsea B. Knudson, Esq., Venable LLP, for the protester. Colonel Patricia S. Weigman-Lenz, Major Laura Bauza, Captain Seiji Ohashi, Kenneth M. Roth, Esq., and Alexis J. Bernstein, Esq., Department of the Air Force; and Mark Hagedorn, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Christopher Alwood, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest alleging that the agency failed to comply with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) regulations when it announced its intention to award a sole-source contract to a tribally owned concern is sustained where the record reflects that the contract is for the same requirement as one previously competed within the SBA’s section 8(a) program. DECISION   UpSlope Advisors, Inc. (UpSlope), a small business of Denver, Colorado, protests the decision of the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) to award a sole-source contract for enterprise information technology (IT) services to Eagle TG, LLC (Eagle), a tribally-owned concern of New Braunfels, Texas, under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) section 8(a) program.  UpSlope asserts that the award of the contract on a sole-source basis is improper because it violates the SBA’s regulations.  We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND This protest is the latest challenge to a series of actions taken by USTRANSCOM related to USTRANSCOM’s requirement to provide enterprise IT services support for the military surface deployment and distribution command (SDDC), a requirement the agency refers to as the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Enterprise Information Technology Services Support (SEITS).  Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 1‑3.  Two USTRANSCOM SEITS procurements are relevant here:  (1) the procurement that is the subject of this protest, i.e., the proposed award of a sole-source contract to Eagle pursuant to the SBA’s section 8(a) program (the SEITS 8(a) sole-source); and (2) the procurement conducted under request for quotations (RFQ) No. HTC711-19-Q-D005, which was a task order procurement previously offered to the SBA and accepted for competition in the section 8(a) program (the SEITS RFQ).  Id. at 1-3, 6.  On June 14, 2019, USTRANSCOM issued the SEITS RFQ under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) II governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC).  MOL at 1.  In September 2019, following the evaluation of quotations, USTRANSCOM issued a task order under the RFQ to TekSynap.  Protest at 4; CEdge Software Consultants, LLC, B-418128.2, et al., March 19, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 127 at 3-4.  On October 7, 2019, a disappointed offeror, CEdge Software Consultants, LLC (CEdge), filed a protest with our Office challenging USTRANSCOM’s evaluation and source selection decision.  CEdge Software Consultants, LLC, B-418128.1, October 29, 2019 (unpublished decision).  After USTRANSCOM notified our Office it intended to take corrective action in response to CEdge’s protest, we dismissed that protest as academic.  Id.  After the agency completed its corrective action and reissued the task order to TekSynap, CEdge filed another protest with our Office on December 11, again challenging various aspects of the agency’s evaluation of quotations and source selection decision.  During the course of this protest, CEdge discovered a potential violation of the Procurement Integrity Act[1] (PIA), in documents submitted by the agency as part of the agency report.  Prior Protest Pleading, B-418128.6, April 29, 2020 at 2.  On February 19, 2020, CEdge notified the agency of the potential PIA violation and requested an investigation as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.104-7.  B‑418128.6, Protest, Exh. A, CEdge PIA Letter.  On March 12, the agency concluded its PIA investigation, finding no violation, but did not inform CEdge until March 31.  See B‑418128.6, Protest, Exh.