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![handle is hein.gao/gaocrptagek0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
oComptroller General
of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20548
Decision
Matter of: Molly Maguires
File: B-278056
Date: December 22, 1997
Beverly Yablin for the protester.
Thomas Kelly, Esq., Government Printing Office, for the agency.
Jacqueline Maeder, Esq., and Paul Lieberman, Esq., Office of the General Counsel,
GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST
Protest against Government Printing Office's nonresponsibility determination is
denied where it was based on the protester's unsatisfactory technical capability, the
fact that most of the work samples provided by the protester were illustrations
rather than published design work as required under the solicitation, and that the
agency was unable to verify the protester's claimed experience.
DECISION
Molly Maguires protests its rejection as nonresponsible under an invitation for bids
(IFB) designated as Program 3216-M, issued by the Government Printing Office
(GPO) for graphic design services. Molly Maguires contends that the
nonresponsibility determination lacked a reasonable basis and was made in bad
faith.
We deny the protest.
Program 3216-M contemplated the award of multiple 1-year contracts for the
procurement of graphic design services for the Defense Automated Printing Service.
Section 1, the general terms and conditions of the solicitation, stated that, because
of the creative nature of the work required under Program 3216-M, firms selected to
perform the contract must have, among other things, [e]xperience, including
references, reputation, and record of accomplishment in designing and illustrating
projects of a similar size, scope, and complexity. The solicitation also advised that,
in order to determine bidder responsibility, the agency may conduct a pre-award
survey or require the submission of other evidence of artistic, technical, production,
managerial, financial, and similar abilities.
When bids were opened on July 31, Molly Maguires was the apparent low bidder.
During the ensuing pre-award survey, Molly Maguires provided the agency
representative with a Capabilities Statement outlining, among other things, the](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaocrptagek0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)