[Complaint Regarding the Award of Cooperative Agreement]

A firm protested a cooperative agreement award for a rural development project by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). The protester contended that MBDA evaluated applicants in an unfair and discriminatory manner and failed to abide by the agency's grant administration procedures for selecting the recipients of a cooperative agreement. The protester further contended that the agency violated its own procedures by not providing notice of award to all applicants at the same time. GAO stated that it does not interfere with the functions and responsibilities of grantor agencies in the actual award of grants and that, for the purposes of its review, cooperative agreements and grants are treated in the same manner. GAO further stated that, if the complainant has not made some showing that a contract, rather than a cooperative agreement, should have been used or that a conflict of interest was involved, the complaint will not be considered. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.