Protest of Army Contract Award for Hydraulic Actuators

A firm protested an Army contract award for hydraulic actuators, contending that the Army improperly evaluated proposals in the areas of past performance, experience, and small business utilization. GAO held that the Army reasonably (1) credited the protester for the favorable past performance of its key employees (achieved while they were employed by the awardee), but nonetheless recognized that the protester, as a company, had not previously manufactured this item, and did not have production employees with this experience and (2) considered downgrading the awardee's excellent past performance rating due to the loss of its key personnel, but left the rating intact based on a recognition that the company had continued to successfully perform despite the loss of its former key employees. Accordingly, the protest was denied.