Advanced Management Strategies Group, Inc. (89233124QNA000363)

B-423290,B-423290.2 Apr 16, 2025 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Advanced Management Strategies Group, Inc. (AMSG), a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Dumfries, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Harkcon, Inc., an SDVOSB of Fredericksburg, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 89233122QNA000226, issued by the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the agency's technical, engineering, and programmatic services (TEPS III) blanket purchase agreement (BPA). The RFQ sought administrative support services for the Office of Secure Transportation (OST). The protester challenges various aspects of the agency's evaluation of vendors' quotations, as well as the best-value tradeoff 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: Advanced Management Strategies Group, Inc. File: B-423290; B-423290.2 Date: April 16, 2025 Craig A. Holman, Esq., and Thomas A. Pettit, Esq., Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, for the protester. Thomas David, Esq., and Lewis Rhodes, Esq., Reston Law Group, LLP, for Harkcon, Inc., the intervenor. Matthew VanWormer, Esq., and William Mayers, Esq., Department of Energy, for the agency. Michelle Litteken, Esq., and Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging various aspects of the agency’s evaluation of vendors’ quotations is denied where the protester has not demonstrated that the evaluation was unreasonable or inconsistent with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest that the agency failed to perform a meaningful best-value tradeoff is denied where the record shows that the agency’s tradeoff decision was reasonable and adequately documented. DECISION Advanced Management Strategies Group, Inc. (AMSG), a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Dumfries, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Harkcon, Inc., an SDVOSB of Fredericksburg, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 89233122QNA000226, issued by the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the agency’s technical, engineering, and programmatic services (TEPS III) blanket purchase agreement (BPA). The RFQ sought administrative support services for the Office of Secure Transportation (OST). The protester challenges various aspects of the agency’s evaluation of vendors’ quotations, as well as the best-value tradeoff decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On September 4, 2024, using the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4, NNSA issued the RFQ to holders of the agency’s TEPS III BPA. Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, RFQ[1]; Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 3. The RFQ sought a contractor to provide administrative support, including project and budget analysis, document controls, payroll data entry, travel voucher processing, invoice tracking, purchase request processing, and technical editing and writing. COS/MOL at 3. The RFQ anticipated the issuance of a task order with a 1-year base period, four 1-year option periods, and a 6-month option to extend services on a primarily fixed-price basis with a time-and-materials component for travel. RFQ at 13; COS/MOL at 4. The RFQ provided that the agency intended to issue a task order to the vendor whose quotation represented the best value, considering the following factors, listed in descending order of importance: technical narrative/approach, staffing approach, key personnel resume, past performance, and price. RFQ at 61-68. The nonprice factors, when combined, were significantly more important than price. Id. at 61. The RFQ advised vendors that the agency would not issue a task order “at a price premium it considers disproportionate to the benefits associated with the evaluated non-price superiority,” and to the extent quotations were found to be close or similar in merit under the nonprice factors, price was more likely to be determinative. Id. at 68. Relevant here, for the key personnel resume factor, vendors were required to provide a resume for the proposed program manager. RFQ at 63. The RFQ provided that the agency would evaluate the resume to assess whether the individual’s education, experience, and security clearance level demonstrated the individual’s expertise and ability to successfully perform the role in executing the relevant PWS tasks. Id.