Cost Evaluation Failed to Consider Market or Incumbent Compensation Rates, Though Awardee Planned to Rely on New Hires and Incumbent Employees; B-412468.6 Target Media Mid Atlantic Inc.

Protest challenging the agency’s cost evaluation is sustained, where the agency did not evaluate current market rates or incumbent pay rates, even though the awardee’s proposed staffing plan relied largely on recruiting new hires and incumbent staff, and did not evaluate the awardee’s proposed professional compensation plan in relation to its management approach and understanding of the requirements; and protest that awardee engaged in impermissible bait and switch is denied, where job postings listed after award were intended to allow the government to request the hiring of incumbent personnel, and where the record contains no evidence that the awardee did not intend to staff the task order with the proposed key personnel; and protest challenging the agency’s past performance evaluation is denied where the agency reasonably took into consideration unfavorable past performance information regarding the awardee’s proposed subcontractor and downgraded the awardee’s overall rating to satisfactory; and protest challenging the agency’s technical evaluation is denied where agency reasonably found the protester’s proposal met, but did not exceed, the solicitation’s requirements, even though the technical proposal was assigned several strengths, but no weaknesses.