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SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 29- June 2, 2023

Happy Friday! We hope you had a great week and can take time to enjoy your weekend. We’ve been receiving a lot of rain here in the Midwest lately. The rain gauge was completely full and topped out at 4 1/2″ in a 12 hour span of time, this past week. Everything outside is looking beautiful and I’m guessing there will be a lot of lawn mowing going on this weekend. We’ve included several articles that hopefully provide some good information concerning federal government contracting this week.

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Event: Limitations on Subcontracting and the Nonmanufacturing Rule Webinar hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators, June 6, 10:00-11:30am MDT

For small businesses and their teammates, few topics in government contracting are as confusing as the limitations on subcontracting for set-aside and socioeconomic sole source contracts.  And if that isn’t stressful enough, the “LoS” is an area of heavy enforcement: get it wrong, and a contractor can face major penalties. The nonmanufacturer rule is one that is also commonly misunderstood in the federal government contracting realm. But it is also one we encounter quite often in our role assist

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

COFC Part II: Evaluation of Mentor-Protégé Joint Ventures

A couple of weeks ago, I explored the Court of Federal Claims case of SH Synergy, LLC v. United States. In that blog, linked below, I looked at the first question raised in the protest that centered on the question of whether a mentor with two approved mentor protégé joint ventures with two different protégés under the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program is restricted from placing competing offers for a solicitation. The answer to that was yes, they are restricted pursuant to 13 C.F.R. § 125.9. Because

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 22-26, 2023

Happy Friday and we hope you are looking forward to a nice, long weekend. Monday, May 29 is Memorial Day and an official federal holiday, but do you know when and why it was established? If not, here’s a brief history lesson. After the Civil war, in late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to countless fallen soldiers. In 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York as the official birthplace of Memorial Day because it hosted an ann

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

OASIS+ Small Business: A Preview

GSA has produced a number of successful contract vehicles over the years, one of which was the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Solution or “OASIS.” This vehicle, used to acquire professional services (not including information technology) for the government, was so successful that GSA is in the process of preparing its sequel, OASIS+. On March 6, 2023, the agency issued its second draft RFP, and the final RFP is expected soon. In light of this, we’re going to go through some of the plann

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

OHA: Ill-Defined Joint Venture Agreement and State Law Requirements Means JV was Invalid

As readers of SmallGovCon know, SBA interprets its small business joint venture rules vary strictly. A small business joint venture must follow all of SBA’s requirements down to the letter, or risk being found noncompliant. In a recent case, SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) examined how a joint venture was managed under the state law of Michigan and found that the joint venture was noncompliant with small business rules. In Size Appeal of: Syscom, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-6195, 2023

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 15-19, 2023

It’s Friday, once again, and time for another week in review. We hope you had a great week. This week in federal government contracting news there were several articles on the VA electronic health records contract, the debt talks, as well as plenty of examples of why one should never try to pull one over on the federal government without facing the consequences. Enjoy your weekend! Industrial funding fee pain relievers [FedNewsNet] Former U.S. Army Employee Arrested In Bribery And

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

COFC Confirms: Mentor-Protege JVs from the Same Mentor Can’t Bid Against Each Other

Those who work within the federal government contracting world are likely to have noticed that, lately, many large indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracting vehicles are soliciting offers. However, with large contracting vehicles, which are often worth billions of dollars and promise many awards, there are often many protests. And Polaris, Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation 2 (T4NG2), and Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 4 (CIO-SP4), to

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Back to Basics: Calculating Small Business Size

Most contractors, when starting their journey into the world of federal contracting eventually run into the same question: What size is my business? In the world of federal contracting, the size of your business can determine whether you can bid on certain procurements, participate in certain programs, and more. Miscalculating or misrepresenting your business size could open you up to size protests, and other severe repercussions. So, knowing the accurate size of your business could be critical

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Size Standards Applicable to SBA’s Socioeconomic Programs

If you are an avid SmallGovCon reader and a small business government contractor, you are probably no stranger to at least the basics of SBA’s size standards and its size and affiliation regulations (if not, check out some of our other blogs on the subject and keep an eye out for our upcoming new, second edition of the “SBA Small Business Size and Affiliation Rules” handbook). But either way, did you know, if you are pursuing or participating in one of SBA’s other small business socioeconomic pr

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 8-12, 2023

Happy Friday, Readers! The second week of May brought with it some rainy weather in the midwest. It’s difficult to stay ahead of getting the grass mowed when the grass is growing so quickly. Everything looks very lush and green here and the spring flowers are very colorful, as well. Only a few more weeks until school is out! Parents, are you ready? We’ve included some interesting articles, from federal government contracting news this week, for you to read as you sit back and relax this week

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SBA New Rule: Guidelines for Compliance with Limitations on Subcontracting in 13 C.F.R. 125.6

13 C.F.R. § 125.6 sets out the limitations on subcontracting for all small business set-asides (including 8(a), SDVOSB/VOSB, HUBzone, and WOSB/EDWOSB set asides.) These limitations on subcontracting are crucial for any small business federal contractor to be familiar with, and we have discussed how they work here. But, while the regulation does provide for certain legal penalties for violations of these limitations, up until SBA’s recent rule change, it didn’t provide for any direct consequences

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 1-5, 2023

Happy Friday and happy May! I don’t know about you, but it sure seems like the pace picks up in the spring, as the weather gets warmer. The kids are getting ready for the summer break, there are graduations and weddings to attend and of course, it’s time to start mowing the lawn and preparing the gardens, too. We hope amid all the activities you have a chance to relax this weekend and, in the meantime, here are a few articles from the federal government contracting world, including updates on

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

New Defenses to the Ostensible Subcontractor Rule are Coming

You may have noticed that SBA issued a final rule last week that created sweeping changes to the SBA’s 8(a) Program regulations, but along with that, SBA made sure to slip in a change to the ostensible subcontractor rule that has been a sticking point for many contractors when facing affiliation concerns. With this final rule, SBA will update the regulations to provide contractors certain ways to defend against potential ostensible subcontractor rule affiliation, depending on the type of contra

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 24-28, 2023

It’s Friday, Readers! Hope everyone is ready for the weekend. The NFL Draft is right down the road in Kansas City this weekend and if you’re an NFL fan (as is almost required in Kansas City), I’m sure you are anxiously awaiting to see if your favorite players will be selected. What better way to welcome the weekend than with a bit of football excitement and a review of what’s been happening in the government contracting world? In this week’s roundup, there were several articles concerning D

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

GAO Upholds Low Agency Bar to Waive OCI

The FAR requires offerors, in most situations, to disclose any actual or potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) that exist when submitting an offer or proposal in response to a solicitation. While it is rare that an offeror will be excluded from competition solely due to the existence or potential of an OCI, offerors who do not disclose as required will most likely be excluded, making this a situation where you generally want to disclose the existence of an OCI up front, not explai

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SBA Final Rule Relaxes Change of 8(a) Program Ownership, Allows Limited Populated Joint Ventures

SBA has issued a final rule updating some of its rules relating to the 8(a) Program. The final rule will have an impact on some aspects of ownership and control requirements for the 8(a) Program, including providing some flexibility for change of ownership and making some 8(a) set-aside processes a little cleaner. The rule would also allow for populated joint ventures between similarly situated joint venture members. We wrote about the proposed rule last year. Below are some of the key take

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 17-21, 2023

Yet another beautiful Spring Friday for us at SmallGovCon! And you guessed it, it’s time for your week in review.  As the flowers continue to blossom all around us, so do the partnerships between agencies (such as GSA and DHA). And as allergies are reaching an all-time high for many, so too is the government’s spending on AI and other technology solutions and innovation! We’ve included some fascinating articles on these topics, and many others we think you will enjoy. Have a wonderful weeken

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Back to Basics: GAO’s Protest Timeliness Rules

Here in Kansas, it is certainly starting to feel like thunderstorm season–and one of my favorite seasons, I might add. But over in D.C., some may say it is starting to feel like protest season! That said, anyone familiar with the protest process at D.C.’s Government Accountability Office (GAO) is probably also quite familiar with the strict timeliness rules GAO applies to such protests. And frankly, even for the seasoned GAO protesters, a refresher on the timeliness rules can be quite beneficial

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

GAO: Agency Can’t Combine Evaluation Factors After the Fact

Typically, agencies will provide a handful of evaluation factors, sometime more, in a solicitation. Common evaluation factors are technical, past performance, and cost. A recent protest decision looked at a solicitation that contained separate factors for 1) offeror’s technical capability and 2) staffing and management approach. The question was, can an agency combine its evaluation for two different factors? If it does mix the two evaluation criteria, is that enough to sustain a protest?

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Govology Webinar: Still A Game Changer: The SBA Mentor-Protégé Program (2023 Update), April 27, 2023, 1:00pm EDT

I hope you will join Nicole Pottroff and I as we discuss the benefits of the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program. We will be covering the program’s eligibility requirements, application process, options such as forming a special Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture and much more. Hope to see you there! Register here. The post Govology Webinar: Still A Game Changer: The SBA Mentor-Protégé Program (2023 Update), April 27, 2023, 1:00pm EDT first appeared on SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog.View the fu

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 10-14, 2023

Happy Friday, Readers! Time for your week in review. The spring trees are in full bloom here in Lawrence, Kansas this week and they couldn’t be more beautiful! Other than allergy sufferers, we certainly are enjoying the beauty of spring and hope you are as well. The federal government contracting world is also very active at this time. There was a lot of buzz this week surrounding the Defense Department and how it can immediately modernize acquisition in addition to a release of the departme

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

MyGovWatch Live: The B2G Roundtable Event: April 19, 2023, 1:00pm EDT

Please consider joining me as I participate in a round table discussion with several APEX Accelerator (formerly PTAC) procurement specialists, hosted by Nick Bernardo, President & Founder of mygovwatch.com. We will be discussing resources available for federal government contractors and answering questions that you may have regarding federal government contracting matters. Please join us for this informative roundtable discussion. Register here. Hope to see you there! The post MyGovWatch Li

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Buy American? Agencies Must Carefully Document Market Research for Domestic Preference Compliance, says GAO

A recent GAO case on protest costs looked at whether costs were reimbursable centered around whether a Buy American Act waiver was properly applied in the procurement process. As you likely know, the Buy American Act is something many contractors (especially supply and construction contractors) must deal with in their contracting process, and getting a waiver or an exception often may be critical to a proposal. This case arose from a protest seeking costs, but it is still a great opportunity for

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

Breaking: HUBZone Appeals Coming Soon!

SBA has released its proposed rule allowing for HUBZone appeals to go to the Office of Hearings and Appeals. Below are the key items from this proposed rule, and how it will affect potential and current HUBZone companies. SBA issued the final rule on April 10 and it will become effective on May 10. As we wrote about a few months back, the HUBZone appeals rule will allow appeals from adverse status determination protests for certified HUBZone small business concerns. The inclusion of HUB

Koprince Law LLC

Koprince Law LLC

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