[Protest of ARS Contract Award for Operation and Maintenance Support Services]

A firm protested an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) contract award for operations and maintenance support services, contending that ARS: (1) misevaluated its proposal; and (2) misled it during discussions. GAO held that ARS: (1) reasonably evaluated the protester's proposal in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria; and (2) conducted meaningful discussions with the protester, since it led the protester into the area of its proposal that required revision. Accordingly, the protest was denied.