Heartland Consulting (HT001419R0021)

B-419228.4 Jul 08, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Heartland Consulting, of McLean, Virginia, protests the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to RWD Consulting, LLC, of Washington, D.C., under request for proposals (RFP) No. HT001419R0021, issued by the Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency (DHA), for hospitality services. Heartland argues that the agency unreasonably made the source selection decision. 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:  Heartland Consulting File:  B-419228.4 Date:  July 8, 2021 William Shook, Esq., The Law Offices of William A. Shook PLLC, for the protester. James A. Douglas, Esq., Defense Health Agency, for the agency. William Stupski, Todd C. Culliton, Esq.,and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the agency unreasonably made the source selection decision is denied where the record shows that the tradeoff analysis was consistent with the terms of the solicitation.  DECISION Heartland Consulting, of McLean, Virginia, protests the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to RWD Consulting, LLC, of Washington, D.C., under request for proposals (RFP) No. HT001419R0021, issued by the Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency (DHA), for hospitality services.  Heartland argues that the agency unreasonably made the source selection decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On April 21, 2020, DHA issued the RFP to procure hospitality and concierge services at multiple military treatment facilities including Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and Joint Base Andrews.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 10, RFP at 93; see also Contracting Officer’s Statement at 1.  The RFP anticipated the award of an IDIQ contract to be performed on a fixed-price basis over a 1-year base period and four 1-year option periods.  RFP at 48, 93-94.  The award would be made on a best-value tradeoff basis considering the following four factors:  price, past performance, compensation, and letter of credit.[1]  AR, Tab 14, RFP amend. 2 at 16. The RFP identified past performance as the most important factor.  RFP amend. 2  at 10.  For past performance, the RFP required offerors to submit at least one but no more than three relevant federal government contracts that were performed for at least six months, and that ended no earlier than six years before the date of the RFP.  RFP at 86.  The contracts and subcontracts listed were to include previous contracts similar in scope and complexity to the RFP.  Id.  The agency planned to evaluate past performance for recency, relevancy, and quality.  Id. at 91.  To rate the offerors’ past performance, the agency anticipated using the following five confidence ratings:  substantial confidence, satisfactory confidence, neutral confidence, limited confidence, and no confidence.  Id. at 92.  The RFP advised that offerors with no relevant past performance history would be evaluated neither favorably nor unfavorably.  Id. at 87. Ten offerors, including Heartland and RWD, submitted proposals prior to the June 4, 2020, close of the solicitation period.  The agency’s evaluation produced the following results:   Heartland RWD Price $32,013,376 $35,152,527 Past Performance Neutral Confidence Satisfactory Confidence Compensation Go Go Letter of Credit Go Go AR, Tab 17, SSDD at 16. Based on the evaluation, the source selection authority (SSA) identified RWD’s proposal as offering the best value.  AR, Tab 17, SSDD at 20-21.  The SSA determined that because RWD’s record of past performance demonstrated a high likelihood of success in performing the instant acquisition, RWD’s proposal was worth the associated premium.  Id.