OPM investigation contract mired in protests

When U.S. Investigative Services collapse in scandal and cancelled contracts, NT Concepts was one of the companies that stepped up to help the Office of Personnel Management complete background investigations on federal employees needing security clearances.

In late 2014, NT Concepts won a $162 million bridge contract from OPM to cover the investigation work. Earlier, they were a partner to USIS and hired many USIS employees when the company shutdown.

You would think that this would have given NT Concepts a competitive edge when OPM competed the new Federal Background Investigation Support Services contract.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. In late January, OPM awarded the $117.4 million contract to a challenger, Primus Solutions, a subsidiary of ASRC Federal.

NT Concepts filed a protest Feb. 3. They’ve been joined by another unhappy bidder Maximus Inc., who filed their protest Feb. 13. A decision from the Government Accountability Office is expected in late May.

Given Maximus’ capabilities, the contract also is a good fit for them in that it requires call center support for agencies using OPM for background investigations, case file management, and post-closing support.

The contract also calls for screening and scheduling of investigations, and imaging and microfilm.

For its Primus was ready to go and has a meet and greet for managers on the project scheduled for Thursday.

The company declined to comment on the contract or the protests but from its website it appears to be looking to hire other contractor employees currently supporting OPM. Presumably these would be NT Concept employees.

At the meet and greet it is asking for current site managers and leaders to attend. The goal is to introduce them to ASRC’s federal companies, discuss the transition process and explain the role of managers and leaders and how employees will be on-boarded.

Once the protest is over – and assuming Primus prevails – the company will hold several open houses to introduce the management team and help employees with the on-boarding process.