Decision Released Denying Reimbursement Request for USAF SBIR Program

File No. B-422453.2

Digest

Request for recommendation that the procuring agency reimburse the requester’s costs of filing and pursuing its protest is denied where the agency took corrective action prior to the due date for the agency report.

Discussion

RAEKOR argues that its protest costs should be reimbursed because its protest was clearly meritorious. Req. for Reimbursement at 2. Though the requester acknowledges that “GAO has normally not awarded protest costs if the [a]gency takes timely corrective action, as the Air Force has done here,” the requester argues that our Office should nonetheless recommend protest costs be reimbursed. Id. at 1-2. In this regard, RAEKOR reasserts that its protest was clearly meritorious, and additionally contends that the financial burden of pursuing the protest should be placed on the agency. RAEKOR explains that it had attempted to resolve the matter with the Air Force prior to filing its protest, but the agency failed to respond or otherwise provide feedback regarding its determination that RAEKOR’s proposal was non-awardable. Resp. to Req. for Dismissal at 4-5, 7.

RAEKOR further argues that because the SBIR program’s goal is to help the government meet its needs through the development and use of small business research, development, test, and evaluation solutions, it would be improper to place the financial burden of pursuing a meritorious protest on a small business protester …

Decision

Rex Eiserer, doing business as RAEKOR, a small business of Austin, Texas, requests that our Office recommend that the Department of the Air Force reimburse the firm the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest with respect to commercial solutions opening (CSO) topic No. AFX244-DPCS01. The procurement at issue involved a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We dismissed the protest as academic on April 9, 2024, based upon the agency’s notice of corrective action, wherein the agency pledged to rescind the non-awardable notification sent to the requester, and make a new award decision consistent with the terms of the CSO.   We deny the request.

Read the decision here.

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