Kentucky-based Swift & Staley has appealed a finding by the Small Business Administration deeming it too big to be awarded the new $160-million Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract from the Department of Energy.
A Small Business Administration (SBA) spokesperson said Friday morning Swift & Staley has filed its action with the agency’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. Barring supplemental appeals, the SBA appeals panel could render a decision in April, the spokesperson said.
The timeline would seem to dictate that Swift & Staley, as the incumbent, will stay on the job at Paducah a few months longer.
Last week the SBA said Swift & Staley does not meet the size standard for the award announced by DOE in December.
One industry contractor source said Friday he suspects the SBA might have questioned if Swift & Staley meets the 750-employee size cap for the Paducah landlord services contract. There are a couple of different ways SBA can measure that, one of which is a simple count of employee heads, the source said.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management has declined comment on the SBA finding, saying it does not comment on ongoing procurements.
Swift & Staley is the incumbent provider of services at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The work includes a range of tasks from security to upkeep of grounds, roadways and parking lots to pest control and records management. The current contract, which is valued at $224 million, began in December 2015 and is now set to expire by March. The new pact is a potential five-year deal with a 60-day transition period, a 34-month base period and a 24-month option period, DOE has said.
