A firm requested reconsideration of its dismissed protest of a Department of Energy (DOE) subcontract award. GAO had held that it did not have the jurisdiction to review the awardee's small business status. In its request for reconsideration, the protester contended that the prime contractor's determination that the subcontractor was both a public and private firm was erroneous. GAO held that it w...

Challenge to a firm's status as a small business on the basis of its publicly held status was properly held to be a matter for the Small Business Administration. Which is responsible for taking into account all small business criteria. Including whether the firm is independently owned and operated. Blue Tee alleged that Mobile did not qualify as a small business because Mobile is a publicly held c...