The GSA MOBIS team is torching nearly every proposal that comes their/her way, including those from SDVOSB’s, resulting in small businesses and SDVOSB’s losing millions of dollars of government contracts.

Here is how vets, and other small businesses, are being hurt:

• A Govt agency tells the owner of a SDVOSB that he has to have a MOBIS schedule in order to do program management/business improvement work with that agency.
• The SDVOSB owner either prepares the proposal himself or approaches my company (a veteran-owned small business) or other GSA prep companies;
• We write what normally would be an air-tight proposal with a technical section that is clearly business-improvement oriented and submit it;
• The MOBIS team finds any kangaroo-court way they can to reject the proposal. Their tactics include:
• Sand-bagging the tech proposal references with surprise calls and queries based on questions that are couched in such a way to guarantee the “wrong” answers that the MOBIS team wants to hear;
• Using the most far-out, twisted “logic” to summarily reject the past performance as not MOBIS-based, almost always without the offeror’s ability to rewrite or have MOBIS give tips on tweaking (which they used to do) the tech proposal to make it pass on a re-review.

An example of this bizarre logic goes something like this:

• Company A, a SDVOSB, is hired by a client to take a look at its business processes to offer a final report on how to improve the client’s business processes.
• Company A does its MOBIS-like work and issues a report, one component of which is to recommend the addition of an updated network server.
• The MOBIS PCO takes a look at this proposal past performance write-up and declares that “this is IT work. The proposal is rejected”, completely ignoring the foundation/core of the work which was to improve the client’s business processes, one component of which was to update a network server. She appears to be missing the point, on purpose.

SDVOSB’s everywhere are now check-mated. They can’t get Govt work because they can’t get a MOBIS schedule, and they can’t get that MOBIS schedule because the MOBIS team is misusing its charter and authority. This work will then often go to some giant such as SAIC or Northrop-Grumman, doing further disservice to countless business owners who served their country and suffered life-long problems.

The MOBIS team are not “doing their jobs”. They are acting in a collective arbitrary and capricious manner, clearly against not only business common sense but also against their charters as contracting officers. And hundreds of small businesses, including SDVOSB’s, have been sacrificed in this bizarre and reckless campaign.

Whether it’s one person or being directed by senior MOBIS management, this has gotten totally out of hand and it must stop immediately. If it’s one person, then senior MOBIS management must redirect that person’s methodologies. If it’s an organized campaign, then GSA leadership must tell them that they are abusing their charter on behalf of the American people by violating the FAR by acting in such a collective arbitrary and capricious manner.

A very aggressive strategy is required to stop this campaign. It would have to be more than a simple letter that gets a rote reply (“We’re just doing our jobs”) from GSA MOBIS. This would have to be relentless, persistent GSA-based and Congressional intimidation on behalf of the representatives’ constituents and, especially, SDVOSB’s who, I repeat, are now getting shut out of Govt work.

About the author: 

Pat Suarez has been involved in government and commercial acquisition for more than 30 years with the Air Force Systems Command, Department of Energy, Defense Logistics Agency, Northrop Corporation, Monsanto and EG&G as a senior acquisition specialist and manager.

The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of FedContracts, the Federal Contracts Resource Center, their management, publishers, editors or members.  Alternative views are welcome, and may be submitted by joining FedContracts, or by email to letters@FedContracts.org.