American Electronics, Inc. (N0042122R0092)

B-421306,B-421306.2 Feb 15, 2023 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights American Electronics, Inc., a small business of California, Maryland, protests the issuance of a task order to StraCon Services Group, LLC, of Fort Worth, Texas, also a small business, under task order request/fair opportunity notice (TOR/FON) No. N00421-22-R-0092. The Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, issued the task order for equipment and services to support foreign military sales customers and new customer development efforts, primarily at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland. Contracting Officer's Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 3. American, the incumbent contractor, argues that its task order proposal was misevaluated and that the Navy failed to conduct a reasonable cost-technical tradeoff in selecting StraCon's higher-priced proposal. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. No party requested redactions; we are therefore releasing the decision in its entirety. Decision Matter of: American Electronics, Inc. File: B-421306; B-421306.2 Date: February 15, 2023 Edward J. Tolchin, Esq., Offit Kurman, P.A., for the protester. Matthew Schoonover, Esq., Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq., John M. Mattox II, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., and Timothy J. Laughlin, Esq., Schoonover & Moriarty LLC, for StraCon Services Group, LLC, the intervenor. Brian Ritter, Esq., and Aldo Perez, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency evaluated task order proposals contrary to the terms of the solicitation by weighting and rating three elements under the technical factor, and failed to make a proper best-value tradeoff is denied where the record demonstrates that the evaluation and tradeoff were reasonable and consistent with the solicitation. DECISION American Electronics, Inc., a small business of California, Maryland, protests the issuance of a task order to StraCon Services Group, LLC, of Fort Worth, Texas, also a small business, under task order request/fair opportunity notice (TOR/FON) No. N00421-22-R-0092. The Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, issued the task order for equipment and services to support foreign military sales customers and new customer development efforts, primarily at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland. Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 3. American, the incumbent contractor, argues that its task order proposal was misevaluated and that the Navy failed to conduct a reasonable cost-technical tradeoff in selecting StraCon’s higher-priced proposal. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The TOR/FON, issued July 6, 2022, sought task order proposals from woman-owned small business contractors that hold NAVAIR program management contractor support services multiple award contracts. The TOR/FON anticipated the issuance of a level of effort task order to the vendor whose task order proposal provided the best value to the Navy under two factors, technical and cost/price. In assessing best-value, the technical factor was significantly more important than cost/price. Supp. Agency Report (AR), Tab 4, TOR/FON at 81.[1] The TOR/FON indicated that there were three discrete technical elements under the technical factor (understanding and approach, workforce, and management approach), and those elements would not be separately rated or weighted. TOR/FON at 82. The Navy was to assign an adjectival rating of good, acceptable, or unacceptable based on the overall technical factor evaluation. The technical evaluation also identified “positive findings” (aspects that would provide merit, benefit, or have a favorable impact on the offeror’s performance or risk) and “negative findings” (aspects that would have an unfavorable impact on the offeror’s performance or risk) under each of the three technical elements. Id. The Navy received task order proposals from three vendors, including both American and StraCon.[2] For American, the evaluation identified four positive findings under the understanding and approach element, 12 under the workforce element, and two under the management approach element. For StraCon, the evaluation identified 12 positive findings under the understanding and approach elements, 11 under workforce, and four under management approach. Supp. AR, Tab 2, Source Selection Decision Memorandum at 5-6.[3] Neither American nor StraCon received any negative findings. Each finding was supported by a narrative describing the aspect of the proposal that justified the finding.