Dayton-area defense firm fights to regain $40M VA deal

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Joe Cogliano

Monterey Consultants Inc. (Left to right) Bill Pollard Jr., Gary Munoz and Mike Knipper.

Joe Cogliano

Senior Reporter- Dayton Business Journal

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Monterey Consultants Inc. is going to court to get back its $40 million VA contract.

The Washington Township-based company won the work — managing the process of getting veteran-owned small businesses verified — a few months ago. However, the contract was yanked away and given to Virginia-based Loch Harbour, which protested the decision. ( Click here for more detail.)

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, Monterey officials said the protest decision was based on a faulty determination that it failed to mitigate potential conflicts of interest.

"The basis of our protest is that the contracting officer's decision was arbitrary and capricious, based on false allegations and assumptions, taken without adequate investigation of the facts, contradicted by the facts that were known or should have been known, and was in direct violation of the Federal Acquisition Regulations," the statement said. "We believe the substantial evidence supporting our beliefs which has been provided under seal to the court, coupled with a complete and unbiased analysis of all the facts in this case, will uphold our protest and result in a complete reversal of actions taken against us."

Monterey also contends that the contract changed hands without a fair and reasonable technical evaluation by the VA program office.

The company — which is banking on this contract as a big part of its growth plans — provides management consulting and in support of highly visible government programs. It has about 80 employees, including 10 locally.