Recovery.gov redesign contract will be published online

The General Services Administration plans to release a redacted copy of the contract for the redesign of Recovery.gov this week, Government Executive has learned.

GSA and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board have been waiting to learn if competing bidders would file a protest with the Government Accountability Office. No protests had been filed by Monday's deadline.

GSA and Recovery Board officials confirm that the contract, which was criticized by Republicans and some in the media for its cost, will be published on the Recovery.gov site later this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.

GSA announced on July 8 that Smartronix Inc., a Hollywood, Md., information technology firm, was awarded an $18 million contract to redesign Recovery.gov. The award was made through GSA's Alliant governmentwide acquisition contract.

Given that the Web site must be ready by early October -- and GAO protests can take several months to conclude -- it is unclear what the government's Plan B was if a protest was filed.

In an interview last week with Government Executive, Recovery Board Chairman Earl Devaney said he did not want reporters or public interest groups to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a copy of the agreement.

Government transparency advocates urged GSA and the board to publish the agreement.

"We are called the transparency board," Devaney said. "We will get the contract up. It just might not be instantaneous as some would want."

Two other firms, SRA International and Accenture, also submitted bids for the project. Smartronix is teaming with three subcontractors: Washington-based Synteractive Corp.; TMP Government of McLean, Va., and New York-based KPMG.

The contract has an initial value of $9.5 million through January 2010. If all options are exercised through January 2014, the total task order value could reach $18 million.

Smartronix also will be responsible for hosting and maintaining the site, which must be up and running by Oct. 10, the first deadline for recipients to file reports on the use of stimulus funds.

Aliya Sternstein of Nextgov.com contributed to this article.