OBX-MCR Alliance, LLC (47QFPA23R0002)

B-422266.4 Feb 18, 2025 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights OBX-MCR Alliance, LLC, a small business of McLean, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Tecolote Research, Inc., a small business of Goleta, California, pursuant to Task Order Request (TOR) No. 47QFPA23R0002 issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) under GSA's One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business Pool multiple award contract for financial support services for the United States Space Force. The protester alleges that the agency's price analysis and best-value tradeoff were unreasonable. 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 version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: OBX-MCR Alliance, LLC File: B-422266.4 Date: February 18, 2025 Damien C. Specht, Esq., James A. Tucker, Esq., Alissandra Y. McCann, Esq., and Brian E. Doll, Jr., Esq., Morrison & Foerster LLP, for the protester. Richard B. Oliver, Esq., J. Matthew Carter, Esq., and Aleksey R. Dabbs, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, for Tecolote Research, Inc., the intervenor. Karen L. Douglas, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Michael Willems, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that the agency’s determination of price reasonableness was unreasonable is denied where the agency reasonably compared the protester’s price to comparable historical pricing from various sources. 2. Protest that the agency’s best-value tradeoff was unreasonable and inadequately documented is denied where the redacted source selection decision produced by the agency in response to the protest sufficiently demonstrated that the agency reasonably concluded that the awardee’s higher-rated proposal was worth the associated price premium. DECISION OBX-MCR Alliance, LLC, a small business of McLean, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Tecolote Research, Inc., a small business of Goleta, California, pursuant to Task Order Request (TOR) No. 47QFPA23R0002 issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) under GSA’s One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business Pool multiple award contract for financial support services for the United States Space Force. The protester alleges that the agency’s price analysis and best-value tradeoff were unreasonable. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On April 20, 2023, the agency issued the TOR seeking to issue a single task order for a broad range of financial management services to replace two existing competitively awarded task orders for similar services that were both slated to expire in 2024. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1-2. These two incumbent contracts were held by MCR Federal, LLC (one of the protester’s joint venture members) and Tecolote, respectively. Id. The TOR contemplated award on the basis of a best-value tradeoff between two factors: (1) technical capability; and (2) price. Agency Report (AR), exh. 2, Tab 1, TOR at 63. Additionally, the solicitation contemplated a pass/fail evaluation of each offeror’s quality control plan. Id. The solicitation explained that the non-price factors were more important than price, and that the agency may make award to a proposal other than the lowest-priced proposal. Id. at 63-64. Relevant to this protest, the solicitation provided that price proposals would be evaluated for price reasonableness and fairness, and that the agency may reject any proposal with an unreasonably high price. Id. at 68. The solicitation did not identify how the agency would assess price reasonableness. Id. On November 3, 2023, the agency received two offers, one from OBX-MCR and one from Tecolote. COS at 3. The agency initially made award to Tecolote, and OBX-MCR subsequently filed a protest with our Office. Id. OBX-MCR’s protest alleged, among other things, that the agency had conducted an impermissible price realism assessment, and that the agency’s conclusion that Tecolote’s price was fair and reasonable was unreasonable and inadequately documented. See B-422266.1, Protest generally. Following development of the record, the GAO attorney assigned to the protest conducted an outcome prediction alternative dispute resolution (ADR) teleconference. During the teleconference, the GAO attorney informed the parties that only two of the protester’s arguments appeared meritorious. First, the attorney explained that the agency conducted an impermissible and unreasonable price realism analysis because the solicitation contemplated a primarily fixed-price task order but did not announce to the parties that a price realism analysis would be performed.