Nolij Consulting, LLC (HT001521Q0003)

B-421563 Jul 03, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Nolij Consulting, LLC, a small business of Tysons, Virginia, protests the proposed modification of a task order issued by the Department of Defense (DOD), Defense Health Agency (DHA), to BCG Federal Corporation, of Bethesda, Maryland, to add testing and evaluation services that are being performed by an 8(a) small business. Nolij argues that the agency improperly removed the requirement from the 8(a) business development program in order to place it with a large business concern. We dismiss 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: Nolij Consulting, LLC File: B-421563 Date: July 3, 2023 Thomas K. David, Esq., Kenneth D. Brody, Esq., and Katherine A. David, Esq., Reston Law Group, LLP, for the protester. Jennifer S. Zucker, Esq., and Christopher M. O’Brien, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP, for BCG Federal Corporation, the intervenor. Timothy J. Haight, Esq., Michael C. Ahl, Esq., and Bradley E. Richardson, Esq., Department of Defense, and John W. Klein, Esq., and Mark Hagedorn, Esq., Small Business Admnistration, for the agencies. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protester is not an interested party to challenge the removal of a requirement from the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program where the protester is not an 8(a) small business and would not be eligible to compete for the contract even if the protest was sustained. DECISION Nolij Consulting, LLC, a small business of Tysons, Virginia, protests the proposed modification of a task order issued by the Department of Defense (DOD), Defense Health Agency (DHA), to BCG Federal Corporation, of Bethesda, Maryland, to add testing and evaluation services that are being performed by an 8(a) small business.[1] Nolij argues that the agency improperly removed the requirement from the 8(a) business development program in order to place it with a large business concern. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS) is responsible for the day-to-day execution of several acquisition programs established to support the modernization of DOD healthcare management systems. The PEO DHMS is “chartered to deliver the single Electronic Health Record” and other health-related information technology to the DOD, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States Coast Guard. Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, WF3 Sol., attach. 1, Scope and Ordering Guide at 2. On September 2016, the Department of the Interior issued a task order for test and evaluation support services (TESS) on behalf of PEO DHMS.[2] AR, Tab 71, Dept. of Interior Task Order; Contracting Officer Statement (COS) at 7. The task order was issued to SDB Alliant, LLC, a small business joint venture, of which Nolij was a member, under a workforce support contract known as PEO 2.0. Id. In September of 2020, DHA began drafting a solicitation, referred to as the workforce 3.0 (WF3) solicitation, that would be a fully “managed solution” intended to deliver a “full breadth of digital workforce capabilities,” including testing and evaluation services across the agency. AR, Tab 9, RFP, at 76-77. To this end, the agency issued various drafts of the request for proposals (RFP) and posted questions posed by potential vendors, including Nolij, along with the agency’s responses. For example, several of Nolij’s questions expressly asked whether the Department of the Interior contract for testing evaluation support services would continue through a contracting solution outside of WF3. Req. for Dismissal at 3-7; COS 8-12; Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 3; AR, Tabs 14-21, Eight Question and Answer Rounds. The agency provided answers that put Nolij on notice that the WF3 solicitation would include testing management, and that the agency would “sunset” existing contracts involving testing and evaluation services, such as the Department of the Interior contract. Req. for Summary Dismissal, Attach 4, WF3 Questions and Answers (Q&A) (Nov. 2, 2020) No. 105; Req. for Summary Dismissal, attach. 4, WF3 Q&A (Nov. 23, 2020) No. 53; MOL at 3. The agency then conducted extensive market research and coordinated with DHA’s Office of Small Business Participation and the SBA. AR, Tab 26, Small Business Coordination Record. Based on the results of its market research, the agency concluded that the WF3 effort is a new requirement. COS at 28. The SBA concurred with the agency’s conclusion, which meant that the SBA did not consider whether the requirement had previously been set aside.