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B-409520 1 (2014-05-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadqhz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SG A O Comptroller General Accountability * Integrity * Reliability of the United States United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 Decision Matter of: BGI-Fiore JV, LLC File: B-409520 Date: May 29, 2014 Pamela J. Mazza, Esq., Isaias Alba IV, Esq., Peter B. Ford, Esq., and Kelly A. DiGrado, Esq., Piliero Mazza PLLC, for the protester. Richard J. McCarthy, Esq., and Dacia K. Bruns, Esq., National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and Laura M. Eyester, Esq., Small Business Adminstration, for the agencies. Eric M. Ransom, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest of agency's determination that 8(a) joint venture protester was ineligible to compete for 8(a) set-aside because protester's 8(a) joint venture agreement had not been approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) prior to submission of proposals is sustained where SBA's regulations do not require 8(a) joint venture agreements to be approved until the time of award. DECISION BGI-Fiore JV, LLC, of Chandler, Arizona, protests the rejection of its proposal under solicitation No. NNL14493618R issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for facility services at NASA's Langley Research Center. The solicitation was issued as a set-aside under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program. The protester argues that the agency improperly rejected its proposal on the basis that the protester's 8(a) joint venture agreement had not been certified by the SBA prior to submission of proposals. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND NASA issued the solicitation on December 19, 2013, with a due date for proposals of January 21, 2014, later extended to January 28. As relevant, the solicitation