When it comes to calculating a company’s receipts for size purposes, the procedure for is (or at least was) pretty simple: Look at the company’s tax returns. Indeed, it has long been SBA’s position that they can only consider tax returns, as noted in Nordstrom Contracting & Consulting Corp., SBA No. SIZ-5891 (Mar. 7, 2018) (“[T]here is no authority for an area office to consider any evidence apart from tax returns…when calculating a firm’s average annual receipts.”) among other cases. In ot
Happy Friday everyone! Here in the Midwest we are enjoying some nice spring weather. But along with the beautiful flowers comes the allergies for some folks. In contracting news this week legislators in Washington have been working on bills in an attempt to make it easier for small businesses to work with the government and there is continued movement on cybersecurity for federal contractors. You can read more about that in the articles below as well as other contracting news.
Have a great w
Please join us for an in-depth exploration of past performance management in government contracting. Gain valuable knowledge to leverage your past successes for future growth and competitive advantage.
Past performance management holds significant weight in the success of government contractors. Government agencies now place a premium on a contractor’s ability to deliver on promises, emphasizing the adage that “actions speak louder than words.” Contractors with a strong track record of past
The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that could do the work for a fair price. But that rule does have some exceptions. These exceptions can make it difficult to know the situations that would justify filing a Rule of Two protest. Read on to find out.
First, a primer on SBA’s Rule of Two.
Note that this particular post relates solely to t
Happy Friday, readers. Around these parts, we’ve been enjoying some nice spring weather as we try to fill the void left by the end of March Madness. But it will be heating up soon, so enjoy the spring weather while you can and have a great weekend! Here are some recent updates from the world of federal contracting, including some new congressional initiatives to streamline federal contracting processes, as well as create new cyber standards for federal procurement.
SBA Recognizes 2024 G
SBA’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) rules include one particular component dealing with the working hours of a service-disabled veteran owner of an SDVOSB business, often called the full-time devotion rule. SBA has recently reviewed its full-time devotion requirement in an SDVOSB protest, and found that the company in question did not establish that a service-disabled veteran met the requirement.
In Marathon Indus. Equip., LLC, SBA No. VSBC-342-P (Mar. 14, 2024),
Happy April! We hope everyone had a great week. Yet another beautiful spring Friday for us at SmallGovCon! And you guessed it, it’s time for your week in review.
We’ve included some fascinating articles on what’s happening in the federal government contracting world we think you will enjoy. These included how contractors may be impacted in an election year, as well as a bill to reduce red tape in procurement. Have a wonderful weekend!
Small Business Research Programs: Increased Per
If federal contracting had a proverbial town square, it would be SAM.gov. So much federal contracting activity flows through or starts there. A large portion of SAM is contractor information. Contractors are required to be on SAM and are expected to keep their profiles on SAM updated. A “hot off the presses” GAO ruling has confirmed that the timing of SAM registration can make or break a contractor’s winning bid.
In TLS Joint Venture, LLC, B-422275 (Comp. Gen. Apr. 1, 2024) GAO heard a
In this webinar, John Holtz and I will discuss the most important legal developments for federal contractors in 2023 and the first part of 2024.
Specifically, we will discuss important new small business rules, updates to the 8(a) rules and application procedures, joint venture changes, updated SDVOSB certification requirements, key provisions of the recent National Defense Authorization Act, recent cases pertinent to federal contractors, and more. Register here!
The post Free Webinar! R
We hope you had a great week and are enjoying some nice spring weather. Here are some happenings from the federal government contracting world this week, including more updates on the funding package, upcoming information on complying with labor regulations, and new policies on AI. Enjoy your weekend!
DoD’s approach to fix its computers is function over form
Biden signs $1.2 trillion funding package after Senate’s early-morning passage ended government shutdown threat
Contracto
If you are a small business government contractor who ever utilizes subcontractors to complete federal set-aside contracts, knowing what a “similarly situated entity” is for a given contract is vital to your success. So, let’s take it back to the basics of “similarly situated entities.”
Even if you are not sure where this term comes from, don’t fret, a great place to start is this other Back to Basics blog on limitations on subcontracting. Because as you guessed it, the term comes from t
Please check out the new release from my friend, federal contracting expert Michael LeJeune.
Bestselling author and GovCon expert, Michael LeJeune is releasing his new book, “I’m New to Government Contracting – Where Should I Start?” on March 26th. Michael’s new book has all that a growing federal contractor needs to get started on a path to success. I was especially struck by the emphasis on avoiding shortcuts. As a GovCon attorney, we sometimes hear about get-rich-quick schemes involving
As we often tell people, language in a teaming agreement is important for a federal contract. But so is complying with the terms of a solicitation. A recent GAO decision hinged on a very specific portion of the language in a teaming agreement that was required as part of a solicitation. Because the contractor did not include the required language in a teaming agreement, it lost out on an award.
In Global Patent Solutions, LLC, B-421602.2 (Feb. 23, 2024), GAO looked at a solicitation fro
If you are a government contractor, odds are you have faced a situation where some aspect of the contract you were performing changed outside of your control, or you ran into something that neither you nor the government expected. As a result, your work requirements likely changed, and with that, your costs likely changed as well. When this happens, there are multiple paths to getting reimbursements for those new costs, and one of the most common ones is a request for equitable adjustment. Today
Hope you are having a good week readers, and enjoying some March Madness. While it looks like spring in our neck of the woods, in this part of the country the weather can change quickly. We joke around that we must always have every type of coat or jacket at the ready on any given day. Never a dull moment! Speaking of never a dull moment, the NCAA tournament has started and there certainly have been some great games in the first round! How’s your bracket doing?
We hope you had a great week
Have you ever wanted to learn more about the advantages of the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program? Join Allisa Young, CT APEX – Procurement Specialist, along with the subject-matter experts from Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC to learn how the SBA Mentor-Protégé program can help leverage your business in regards to government contracting opportunities. We will discuss the eligibility criteria for both the “Mentors” & “Proteges”, along with information about how to apply. Stephanie Ellis, Attorney for
Steven Koprince, Govology Legal Analyst and retired founder of Koprince McCall Pottroff will be presenting this webinar to help you understand the applicable rules and regulations in government contracts and the Federal Acquisition Regulation. These rules can be lengthy and complex–and contractors may also need to follow rules outside the FAR, such as those found in FAR supplements and the regulations of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Please join Steve as he walks you through the proces
This post was written by our friend and colleague, Nick Bernardo, president of MyGovWatch, a bid notification and intelligence website offering a free trial to government contractors in more than 200 industries.
Over the years, MyGovWatch has accumulated tens of thousands of buyer email addresses, from Federal government buyers in the DC Beltway all the way down to the tiniest school districts in the remote American hinterlands. In January, we decided to conduct our first-ever survey am
Please join federal government contracts attorneys Nicole Pottroff & Greg Weber for this informative webinar on SBA certifications hosted by Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship. Participants will get an overview about the Small Business Certifications including:
Woman Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Business
8(a) Business Development Program
HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone)
Service Disabled Veteran Own
Happy Friday and happy, early Saint Patrick’s Day. We hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend. Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, preparations are underway for the annual St. Patty’s Day parade. It seems the whole town comes out to celebrate and it’s a very fun and festive spectacle. I think more than anything, people are just ready to get outside to enjoy the warmer temperatures.
Before you head into your weekend activities, here are a few articles on what’s happening in the federal g
Contractors will often enter into mentor protégé relationships and joint ventures to leverage the experience and skills of multiple parties for various reasons. SBA regulations dictate how the capabilities, past performance, and experience of a mentor-protégé joint venture will be evaluated. But at the end of the day, what matters is, whether agencies will follow those regulations in their small business set-aside solicitations and evaluations thereunder. A recent GAO case addressed this issue,
Happy Friday! March Madness is upon us! For you college basketball fans, it’s a great time of year. The upsets keep things exciting, even if they do bust everyone’s brackets. I guess that’s what makes March Madness so maddening and exciting–one can never predict the outcome. Listening to the news out of the federal government can sometimes feel like March Madness.
So, before you start your weekend of studying those basketball stats, here are some things that happened in federal government c
It is no doubt that the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program is a first-class program: there is a reason that some of us around here tend to say that it is one of the most important of federal government contracting programs. And in the past year, there has been a flurry of activity surrounding the 8(a) Program. For the most part, this uptick in activity has had to do with the requirement that all applicants prove they are socially disadvantaged in light of the the Ultima decision that we’ve
Back in 2021, GAO came down with a clear decision on whether Department of Defense (DoD) agencies could require a joint venture (JV) to have its own facility clearance level (FCL) if its component members held the required FCL themselves. Infopoint LLC, B-419856 (Aug. 27, 2021). That decision was “no,” and it was based on a very strong foundation: The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (2020 NDAA), an act of Congress, contained a provision, Section 1629, expressly forbidding DoD agencies fr
A NAICS code appeal can be a powerful tool for altering the competitive landscape of a bid by changing what size of business is allowed to submit a bid and thereby either increasing or decreasing the potential competitor pool. This post explores some of the important reasons for considering filing a NAICS code appeal. While NAICS codes appeals are not that common, they have a fairly high rate of success.
What is a NAICS Code?
A NAICS code is a six-digit code that is assigned to vari
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