Knowledge Connections, Inc. v. United States

Under an executive-agent designation from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversaw all federal information technology procurement operations, the General Services Administration (GSA) (defendant) implemented the Veterans Technology Services Government-wide Acquisition Contract (VETS-GWAC). VETS-GWAC was created to implement Executive Order 13360, which (1) sought to effectuate the Small Business Act’s government-wide goal to have at least 3 percent of all federal procurement contracts go to service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; and (2) ordered the establishment of a government-wide acquisition contract specifically set aside for small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. VETS-GWAC was a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract that would be awarded to businesses meeting GSA criteria. VETS-GWAC awardees would then be eligible to bid for task orders in competitive procurements limited to VETS-GWAC awardees. Bids from service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses seeking an award under the VETS-GWAC contract, referred to as offerors, were evaluated based on technical merit and price. To pass the technical-merit factor, offerors had to submit a contract performance plan explaining the offeror’s past experience with a wide range of work-scope elements. Offerors received credit for both government and commercial experience. Under the executive-agent designation from OMB, GSA was directed to select the most highly qualified offerors. Knowledge Connections, Inc. (KCI) (plaintiff) submitted a proposal and was rejected. KCI filed a complaint, arguing that (a) GSA improperly rejected KCI’s bid for lacking prior government contracting experience; and (b) the GSA’s proposal evaluation criteria improperly weighted breadth of experience over depth of experience.