One of my major concerns with the draft solicitation for the CIO-SP4 GWAC was the limited nature of the past performance NITAAC intended to consider. Under the draft RFP, NITAAC would not have considered the past performance of subcontractors–something I believed violated 13 C.F.R. 125.2(g) in certain cases, and was contrary to the guidance of FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii), which says that agencies “should” consider the past performance of “subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of
As we prepare for a long Memorial Day weekend, let us not forget to honor and thank all those that have served and continue to serve our country. Memorial Day is a day of reflection for those that have come before us and paved the way for our sacred freedoms that are often taken for granted. A big thank you to all of our veterans and active duty military. We see you, we honor you and we appreciate you greatly. Thank you for your service.
“As we express our gratitude we must never forget that
Equitus Corporation was sure it was following the right procedures when it requested a debriefing after receiving a letter stating its proposal under an Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) solicitation had been rejected. The Air Force even provided the debriefing as requested, and Equitus filed a protest less than 10 days later. However, they made an easy-to-miss but crucial error that resulted in dismissal of their protest.
In Equitus Corp., B-419701 (May 12, 2021) the A
Last year, SBA made joint venturing a little easier by relaxing the so-called “three-in-two” rule. But the “two-year” portion of the rule still exists–and in my view, the rule continues to unfairly elevate form over substance.
SBA, it’s time to take the plunge, and get rid of the rest of the three-in-two joint venture rule.
The three-in-two joint venture rule went through a few iterations in its lifetime. But in its most recent form before SBA’s 2020 amendment, the rule said that w
The HUBZone Program has released updated FAQs that provide guidance on important HUBZone rules and how SBA will be interpreting them. While these don’t have the authority of a regulation, the new guidance shows how SBA will come down on certain HUBZone questions that aren’t answered in the regulations. These include the details on long-term investment in a principal office as well as a few other rules. Read on for how SBA will interpret these rules.
SBA originally released guidance in Fe
It’s been a very soggy week in the Midwest and we are looking forward to our normal sunny weather here in Lawrence, Kansas. We hope you are staying dry and the sun is shining bright in your neck of the woods.
There has been a lot of activity in federal government contracting news this week including more big announcements for small businesses and federal government contractors concerning the latest executive orders on cybersecurity requirements. The SBA made an announcement about expanding H
In a recent decision, GAO said that it is not the contracting agency’s job to play investigator when it comes to publicly available negative past performance information. GAO acknowledged that there may be certain situations where the agency is required to consider such information that it is aware of during its evaluation. But according to GAO, this denied protest involved no such situation.
GAO’s decision in Cotton & Company, LLP, B-418380.4 (March 10, 2021), involved the National
Beginning January 30, 2022, all prime contractors and subcontractors doing work on a government contract will be required to pay workers at least $15 per hour, based on a recent executive order.
The executive order does not stop there, beginning in 2023 the wage will go up annually. When can we expect formal guidance to come out, and what other items are found in the text?
The executive order itself takes effect immediately, but don’t expect to hear any specifics until later this y
We’ve all seen cases of agencies assigning NAICS codes to solicitations that just seem…off. But, unless a contractor can show that the code chosen was clearly erroneous, government contractors will simply have to make do with what they’ve been given. The OHA recently handed down a decision confirming this.
The decision concerned an Army Request for Proposals No. W91QEX-21-R-0003 issued in February 2021. A 100% set-aside for 8(a) participants, the contracting officer assigned the soli
An offeror’s bid was rejected because the offeror wasn’t a small business–even though the solicitation didn’t contain a NAICS code or corresponding size standard.
It sounds like a successful bid protest waiting to happen, but GAO didn’t see it that way. Instead, GAO dismissed the protest because the offeror should have protested the defective solicitation terms before it submitted its bid, instead of waiting to see how the competition played out.
GAO’s decision in M R Pittman Group
This week on the blog we continue to bring you coverage of federal government contracting news as government agencies search for solutions to cyber security challenges and, in response, contractors enhance their own cyber defenses.
Here are a several other happenings in federal government contracting news for this week, including an announcement from Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, announcing the latest application data results for the
A recent Court of Federal Claims decision examined the impact on the award to a small business when that small business is acquired, after proposal submission but before award, by a large business. In doing so, the court looked very closely at the FAR clauses incorporated into the solicitation by reference, versus those that are incorporated in full text.
The decision in HWI Gear, Inc. v. United States, No. 20-930, 2020 WL 7706975 (2020) reviewed a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) award fo
NITAAC’s Acting Director Brian Goodger released an update on the long awaited CIO-SP4 Request for Proposals (RFP) today. He provided some insight as to the delays in the RFP’s release and assured everyone that they expect the last signature on the final RFP next week.
For those who don’t know, NITAAC (the NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center) is an office of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It was design
You submit a quotation after the given solicitation deadline. The solicitation includes a provision stating, in part, that late submissions will not be considered, but the Contracting Officer (CO) evaluates your quotation anyway. The CO goes with another contractor, and you submit a protest. After all, the CO evaluated your bid, you have an interest in the matter, right?
Per the GAO, you don’t, and your protest will be dismissed. D B Systems (DBS) learned this the hard way.
On July 2
It will be a great weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day and show all those hard working moms out there some appreciation. We hope you can get out and enjoy the wonderful spring weather and make the day special for the mothers in your life. As a wise person once said:
“A Mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” – Cardinal Mermillod.
For those moms who are into federal contracts, and all others in the contracting world, here’s what’s happening
The government’s hard shift away from lowest-price, technically acceptable evaluations has magnified the importance of past performance in many competitive acquisitions. For start-ups and other companies new to the federal marketplace, past performance requirements can present a significant barrier to success.
Oftentimes, companies with little or no past performance of their own can offer the past performance of another entity, such as a subcontractor or joint venture partner. But the rule
HUBZone companies will get some additional time to plan for the unfreezing of the HUBZone maps by SBA. SBA has just issued a direct final rule that will extend the HUBZone map freeze from December 31, 2021, to June 30, 2023.
In an earlier rule, SBA had indicated that it would freeze current HUBZone designations until the results of the 2020 Census are available, as required under the 2018 NDAA. SBA said it would “‘freeze’ the HUBZone maps with respect to qualified census tracts, qualifi
SBA has been hard at work this past year updating its 8(a) Business Development Program rules and policies. And we have been doing our best here at SmallGovCon to keep you posted. Many of our blog posts focused on SBA’s monumental November 2020 “rule overhaul,” which implemented several 8(a) rule changes. But given the sheer magnitude of information in that final rule, it is pretty easy to lose track of which updates might affect you, as a potential 8(a) applicant or current 8(a) participant. Th
I am pleased to announce that John Holtz has joined our team of government contracts attorney-authors here at SmallGovCon. John is an associate attorney with Koprince Law LLC, where his practice focuses on federal government contracts law.
Before joining our team, John practiced law in a variety of areas, including litigation and corporate counsel matters, and developed a wide berth of experience that provided adaptability and resourcefulness to help clients navigate the world of government
A company learned the hard way that just because their business is majority owned by a woman, it doesn’t mean they are a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) in the eyes of the SBA. The question is one of both ownership and control.
The case is SBA No. WOSB-113. In December 2016, Joint Information Network (JIN) submitted an offer for a contract to provide software engineering and database services in support of the U.S. Navy Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC). The contract was to be a
SBA’s regulations for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses create a rebuttable presumption that a service-disabled veteran doesn’t control the company if the veteran is unable to work normal business hours in the company’s industry.
The rule sounds reasonable at first blush, but as a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals case demonstrates, the SBA may apply the presumption even to a one-person start-up with no contracts. Not many people can afford to quit their day jobs bef
If April showers bring May flowers, Lawrence, Kansas should be a kaleidoscope of color next week. The rain was so heavy at one point our street became a river for a few hours. The sun is shining today, however, and you can almost see the grass growing. It’s time to fire up the lawn mower and the grill and enjoy the longer, warmer days.
Just like the weather, there have been a few changes in federal government contracting, this week. Here are a few newsworthy articles, including an update on
SBA regulations prohibit agencies from requiring the same past performance record from both mentor and protégé entities. The regulations explicitly prohibit this type of requirement.
In a recent GAO decision, it sustained the protest where an agency required all members in a joint venture to submit the same past experience examples in their proposal.
The GAO’s decision in Innovate Now, LLC, B-419546 (April 26, 2021), involved a protest of the terms of an RFP issued by the Air Force
If you’re setting up your first joint venture under the SBA’s rules, you may be tempted to download the SBA’s template joint venture agreement and use it as-is.
But, as of the date of this post, the SBA’s template joint venture agreement is outdated–and it also has some other quirks and potential problems you should know about. If you’re planning to use the SBA’s joint venture template, read this first.
Outdated Provisions
If you’ve been following my posts on SmallGovCon (and I
There are many things to know about responding to size protests. One could probably fill a book with the information-(actually I did, for those who want a real deep dive!). But if you need to know just the basics, here are five things you should know about size protests that can help you be prepared if your company is facing a size protest.
1. The response time is short.
Normally, your company only gets three business days to respond. So, be sure to work quickly to put together as m
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