The Navy has reopened the bidding process for a contract to print, distribute and sell advertising for the Hawaii Navy News, a month after awarding the job to the Honolulu Advertiser. Navy News reopens
contract bids after
protest by MidWeekBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comThe Navy terminated its new contract with the Advertiser last week after MidWeek Printing Inc. formally protested the deal.
The new deadline for bids on the two-year contract is March 11.
The Navy, meanwhile, entered into an interim contract with the Advertiser to print the 15,000-circulation weekly newspaper until the new contract is awarded.
Don Kendall, president of MidWeek Printing, said MidWeek will submit a new bid. MidWeek Printing publishes MidWeek magazine and is an affiliate of the Star-Bulletin's owner, Oahu Publications Inc.
Mike Fisch, Advertiser president and publisher, said the Advertiser also will submit a bid.
The Advertiser initially was awarded the Hawaii Navy News contract on Jan. 25.
In a formal bid protest filed with the Navy and the General Accounting Office in Washington, D.C., MidWeek Printing said the Navy amended the selection criteria for the two-year contract three days after a Dec. 4 deadline to submit bids.
MidWeek Printing also claimed that local Navy personnel gave the Gannett Co.-owned Advertiser an unfair advantage by meeting with the newspaper's executives on Aug. 10 to examine the Advertiser's South Street printing plant.
Navy officials did not inspect MidWeek's printing plant in Kaneohe.
The Navy agreed to reopen the bidding process after MidWeek Printing agreed to drop its protest.
The Hawaii Navy News is distributed to Navy personnel and their dependents at Pearl Harbor and other local Navy facilities. MidWeek Printing had the contract to print, distribute and sell advertising for the weekly since the late 1980s. The contract generated about $500,000 in revenue last year.
MidWeek Printing also prints and distributes the local weekly newspapers for the Army, Air Force and Marines.