Decision

Matter of: LLH & Associates, LLC

File: B-297804

Date: March 6, 2006

DIGEST

In a negotiated procurement which provided for award on the basis of a price/past performance tradeoff assessment, protest challenging the selection of the awardee on the basis of that firm's lower proposed priced is denied, where the protester's and awardee's past performance reasonably received equal ratings.

LLH & Associates, LLC protests the award of a contract to Alpha-Omega Change Engineering, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4890-05-R-0173, issued by the Department of the Air Force for services supporting the agency's foreign military sales programs.

We deny the protest.

The RFP, issued as a small business set-aside, provided for the award of a fixed-price contract for a base year with 4 option years for services supporting the agency's Air Combat Command, Security Assistance Branch. The RFP's statement of work (SOW) required the contractor to provide the following personnel in performance of the contract: an international fighter program manager, an exercises program manager, and an aircraft ferry support program manager. RFP, amend. 2, SOW, at 3. Required technical skills and qualifications were identified for each of these three managers. Id. at 7-8. The SOW further provided:

4.4.2 Contractor Employee Resume Requirements. Personnel provided under this SOW are critical to the mission of the Air Force program office. The contractor may not change the personnel performing under this order without prior notification and approval by the Government Contracting Officer. Any replacement personnel proposed must be at least as qualified as the individual they are replacing. A resume shall be submitted for initial cadre of personnel and any proposed replacement personnel at least 10 working days prior to the time the personnel change is expected to occur. There is no limitation on the number of pages for resumes and these do not count against the technical proposal limitation of pages. The Government will review the resume to ensure compliance with this requirement.

Id. at 10.

The RFP identified the following evaluation factors: technical proposal, past performance, and price. The RFP provided that offerors' technical proposals would be evaluated to determine whether the offeror was capable of fully providing the services identified in the SOW. In this regard, offerors were informed that the firms' technical proposals must –identify the management structure (to include quality program plan), technical capability, and appropriate manning and skill mix to fully meet all taskings under the resulting contract.—[1] Offerors were also informed that technical proposals would be evaluated as either acceptable, reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, or unacceptable. Offers that were found technically acceptable would then be qualitatively assessed under the past performance factor. The RFP stated that the source selection authority (SSA) would weigh offerors' evaluated past performance and proposed prices in making the award decision, although it did not state the relative importance of past performance vis- -vis price.[2]

Proposals were received from LLH (the incumbent contractor) and Alpha'Omega, and evaluated by the agency's source selection evaluation team (SSET) as follows:

Agency Report (AR), Tab 12, Performance Analysis Report, at 10. The SSET found that each firm's technical proposal demonstrated an acceptable management structure and technical capability, and were therefore technically acceptable. Id. at 5-6, 10.

The firms' past performance information was assessed by the agency's performance confidence assessment group (PCAG). The PCAG found that Alpha-Omega's identified past performance was relevant and that all four references identified by Alpha-Omega reported –high confidence— in the awardee. Id. at 8-9. The PCAG also found that LLH's identified past performance was relevant and that LLH's reference also reported –high confidence— in the protester.[4] The PCAG determined that –[e]ven though ratings for both offerors were considered 'high,' it was the SSET's decision to assess a more conservative assessment of 'significant.'— Id. at 10. Accordingly, both firms received an equal –significant confidence— rating for their past performance.

Given the firms' equal past performance ratings, the SSA concluded that award should be made to Alpha-Omega on the basis of that firm's lower proposed price. AR, Tab 11, Source Selection Decision, at 2. Award was made to Alpha-Omega, and this protest followed.

LLH first complains that the Air Force did not evaluate resumes as required by the RFP.[5] In this regard, LLH argues that it submitted resumes and that Alpha-Omega did not, and that Alpha-Omega's proposal should have been rejected because the firm failed to conform to the solicitation's requirements.

The Air Force acknowledges that it did not evaluate resumes for proposed personnel. Nevertheless, the record establishes that LLH was not prejudiced, even if the RFP required the evaluation of resumes.[6] Alpha-Omega proposed incumbent personnel for the three management positions specifically required by the SOW and another individual for an overall program management position. Although Alpha-Omega did not provide a separate resume for these individuals, the firm described each individual's relevant experience, which appears to satisfy the experience requirements stated in the SOW. See AR, Tab 10, Alpha-Omega Technical Proposal, at 3-6. Moreover, apart of the information provided by Alpha-Omega in its technical proposal for these individuals, the record also shows that Alpha-Omega and LLH proposed the same individuals for the international fighter program manager, exercises program manager, and aircraft ferry support program manager positions. Given that LLH provided resumes for these same individuals, the agency had close at hand the information necessary to evaluate the qualifications of these individuals. Both LLH's and Alpha-Omega's technical proposals were found by the agency to be acceptable under the technical proposal factor, under which the resumes would presumably be evaluated. Under these circumstances, where both firms proposed the same personnel for the required management positions, we fail to see any reasonable possibility of prejudice to LLH from the agency's failure to evaluate resumes.[7] See Consolidated Eng'g Servs., Inc., B-279565.2, B-279565.3, June 26, 1998, 99-1 CPD para. 75 at 6 (protester and awardee should have received same experience score for a proposed subcontractor where both proposed the same subcontractor).

LLH also complains that Alpha-Omega has –engaged in illegal or otherwise tortious collusive activities— by seeking to employ LLH's employees, where those employees allegedly have employment terms with LLH that would prohibit employment by Alpha-Omega. Protest at 3-4. LLH also suggests that two of its former employees provided LLH proprietary information to Alpha-Omega, which the Air Force has failed to investigate. Protester's Comments at 1-3.

LLH's unsupported allegations provide us with no basis to object to the agency's selection of Alpha-Omega's proposal for award. To the extent that LLH is complaining that its former employees violated terms of an employment contract between LLH and the employees, this concerns a dispute between private parties, which is not for our review; likewise, LLH's unsupported supposition that Alpha-Omega may have received LLH proprietary data from LLH's former employees also concerns a private dispute between the parties, where there is no credible allegation of government involvement. See Applied Comms. Research, Inc., B-270519, Mar. 11, 1996, 96-1 CPD para. 145 at 2-3; Olin Corp.--Recon., B-252154.2, June 3, 1993, 93'1 CPD para. 428 at 2-3.

LLH also challenges the agency's evaluation of the firms' past performance, arguing the PCAG improperly reduced LLH's –high confidence— rating to –significant confidence.— As noted above, both LLH and Alpha-Omega received only –high confidence— ratings from its references. Although the agency reduced the firms' –high confidence— ratings to –significant confidence,— LLH was not prejudiced thereby because Alpha-Omega's rating was reduced for the same reasons. From our review of the record, we find no basis to conclude that the firms' past performance ratings should not be considered essentially equal. That is, the record supports equal ratings for the firms and does not indicate any discriminators in the firms' respective past performance.

In sum, the record supports the agency's selection of Alpha-Omega's proposal on the basis of that firm's lower proposed price, where Alpha-Omega's and LLH's acceptable proposals received equal past performance ratings.[8]

We deny the protest.

Anthony H. Gamboa

General Counsel