Colonial Press Int'l, Inc. v. United States, No. 14-5036 (Fed. Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseThe Government Printing Office (GPO) received nine bids for a printing order. Colonial was the lowest bidder ($2,418,443.54); Fry was the second lowest ($2,502,545.05). Colonial was a small business. Under its Printing Procurement Regulation, GPO can award contracts only to “responsible” bidders. The contracting officer found Colonial non-responsible, considering previous late deliveries, and recommended an award to Fry. A purchase order issued to Fry. Colonial filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, arguing that the responsibility determination should have been referred to the Small Business Administration (SBA) Certificate of Competency Program, 15 U.S.C. 637(b)(7), under which a “Government procurement officer” may not preclude a small business from being awarded a government contract due to non-responsibility without referring the matter to the SBA, which responded that “requirements of the COC program could, arguably, apply to GPO and other nonexecutive agencies.” The GAO found that GPO was not subject to the program and that the contracting officer had a reasonable basis for her determination of non-responsibility. The Claims Court held that GPO did not violate the referral requirements and that the GPO’s responsibility determination was not arbitrary. The Federal Circuit affirmed, holding that GPO is not required to refer responsibility determinations to the SBA.
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