Patrona Corporation (B-423282)

You should not care.

Category: Technical evaluation, nonkey personnel, past performance, cost or price evaluation

Date: 18 April 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423282

Patrona Corporation protested the Navy’s award of a cost-plus-fixed-fee task order to KMS Solutions under RFP No. N6660424R3003, issued for nuclear submarine maintenance support services under the SeaPort-NxG multiple-award IDIQ. Patrona, the incumbent, argued the agency unreasonably evaluated its technical and past performance submissions and conducted a flawed best value determination.

Technical evaluation discretion upheld: GAO rejected Patrona’s claim that the Navy failed to credit numerous strengths in its technical approach. The solicitation required responses to sample problems rather than general capability descriptions, and the agency reasonably found Patrona’s answers adequate but unexceptional, noting overreliance on incumbent experience without demonstrating added value. Similar discretion was affirmed regarding Patrona’s management and personnel approach.

No credit for nonkey personnel resumes: GAO dismissed Patrona’s assertion that the Navy should have considered the qualifications of nearly 100 nonkey personnel whose information was voluntarily included in the “notes” column of the staffing matrix. The RFP explicitly stated that resumes for nonkey personnel would not be evaluated, and GAO upheld the Navy’s reading as consistent with the solicitation’s structure.

Past performance weighed reasonably: Patrona argued the Navy gave undue weight to performance issues on the incumbent contract and ignored its subcontractor’s record. GAO found the Navy’s consideration of billing discrepancies and staffing shortfalls reasonable. It also upheld the Navy’s decision not to double-count the same performance record submitted for both prime and subcontractor.

The protest was denied. GAO concluded that the Navy’s evaluation and tradeoff were reasonable, documented, and consistent with the solicitation.

Digest

Protest alleging that agency unreasonably evaluated protester’s technical proposal and past performance is denied where the record demonstrates that the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation.