Tunica-Biloxi Services, LLC (W912ES24B0004)

B-422571 Jul 26, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Tunica-Biloxi Services, LLC (TBS), a small business of Mansura, Louisiana, protests the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) decision to close without action a certificate of competency (COC) review file for TBS under invitation for bids (IFB) No. W912ES24B0004, issued by the Department of the Army, United States Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps" or "USACE") for forest habitat management services. The protester argues that the Corps's COC referral letter improperly included incorrect contact information for TBS, resulting in SBA unreasonably closing its COC review file based on the erroneous belief that TBS declined to apply for a COC. We deny the protest. View Decision 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. Matter of: Tunica-Biloxi Services, LLC File: B-422571 Date: July 26, 2024 Shane J. McCall, Esq., Nicole D. Pottroff, Esq., John L. Holtz, Esq., Stephaine L. Ellis, Esq., and Gregory P. Weber, Esq., Koprince McCall Potroff LLC, for the protester. Matthew R. Keiser, Esq., Department of the Army; and Meagan K. Guerzon, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Heather Self, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging firm's elimination from competition because agency submitted erroneous information to Small Business Administration for certificate of competency (COC) review is denied, because protester's own error caused agency to include incorrect contact information in COC referral letter. DECISION Tunica-Biloxi Services, LLC (TBS), a small business of Mansura, Louisiana, protests the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) decision to close without action a certificate of competency (COC) review file for TBS under invitation for bids (IFB) No. W912ES24B0004, issued by the Department of the Army, United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps” or “USACE”) for forest habitat management services.[1] The protester argues that the Corps's COC referral letter improperly included incorrect contact information for TBS, resulting in SBA unreasonably closing its COC review file based on the erroneous belief that TBS declined to apply for a COC. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On January 18, 2024, using the procedures of FAR part 14, the Corps issued the IFB seeking bids for “a 5-year service contract to plant, monitor, and maintain native forest habitat in the Fargo-Moorehead area,” which is located in Cass County, North Dakota. Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, IFB at 15.[2] The base requirement is for 247.8 acres with an additional 5.4 acres of optional work. Both work sites are intended to “serve as environmental mitigation for impacts associated with the Fargo-Moorehead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project.” Id. The IFB, issued as a small business set-aside, closed on February 28. IFB at 1; AR, Tab 9, Bid Abstract at 1. The agency received three bids, and, at bid opening, TBS had submitted the lowest-priced bid of $3,996,724. AR, Tab 9, Bid Abstract at 1. On February 29, the Corps emailed TBS to request information needed for a pre-award responsibility determination, including a request for TBS to complete a preaward questionnaire. COS at 2 ¶ 8; AR, Tab 23, Series of Emails between USACE and TBS at 5. Because TBS's bid did not include an email address, the contract specialist sent the request to an email address obtained from TBS's registration in the system for award management (SAM). AR, Tab 23, Series of Emails between USACE and TBS at 5; Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 3; see AR, Tab 7, TBS Bid at 1 (providing physical address, phone number, and name of bidder, and name of bidder's authorized representative, but no email address). Relevant here, the email address found in SAM--i.e., [name]@tbeda.org--ended with a “.org” suffix. On March 6, TBS responded to the request for responsibility information. AR, Tab 23, Series of Emails between USACE and TBS at 4-5. In its response, TBS provided a transmittal email which attached a completed pre-award questionnaire in which the firm listed the name, phone number, and email address of the president of TBS, the individual who prepared the form. AR, Tab 12a, Pre-Award Questionnaire at 1. In the questionnaire, TBS listed the email address ending in “.org,” which is the same address from which the firm sent its email response to the agency. Id.; AR, Tab 23, Series of Emails between USACE and TBS at 4. The bottom of the email message included a signature block of TBS's president, the person who completed the form and sent the email. Id. at 4-5. The signature block on the transmittal email, however, included a different email address than the questionnaire.