While SBA has taken over SDVOSB certification from the VA (along with some other rule changes), some things remain the same. One thing which we think will never change, is that making sure the language in your agreements is clear, is vital for the federal contractor (and indeed all businesses). While this is obvious for things like operating agreements and bylaws, documentation like meeting minutes should be clear as well. In a recent appeal of a denial of SDVOSB certification, a company had to
Happy Friday! Monday is our newest federal holiday, Junteenth. Courtesy of History.com, Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday
A recent COFC decision yielded some important insights about government contracting. We already wrote about some joint venture aspects of the decision. But the decision also touched on whether GSA’s solicitation violated federal procurement law by excluding price as an evaluation factor at the indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) level for a procurement.
In the SH Synergy, LLC v. United States, No. 22-CV-1466 (Fed. Cl. Apr. 21, 2023) decision, the Court of Federal Claims took a
Subcontracting is a hot topic in the federal government contracting world. Large businesses placing bids on federal procurements are often required to have a small business subcontracting plan, while small businesses are limited to exactly how much work they can subcontract out. The FAR and SBA rules contain the details relevant to small businesses’ limitations on subcontracting. These regulations are, in general, pretty straightforward. Well, at least when it comes to total small business set a
Happy Friday, Readers! As temperatures climb in this now official Kansas summer, so does federal government spending. But with more spending, comes more responsibility. A lot has happened this week! The FAR council proposed to ban TikTok for contractors. NASA is planning some extensive tech development, with the help of small businesses. And NOAA issued a massive $8 billion RFP for scientific and professional services acquisition. Enjoy the articles below and your weekend!
Now that the
Uncle Sam only wants to do business with ethical contractors — and not all of the government’s ethics rules are intuitive. In this webinar, government contracts attorney, Nicole Pottroff, explains the ins and outs of the key ethics rules contractors should know, including organizational conflicts of interest, contingent fees, collusion, gratuities, the False Claims Act, and the Procurement Integrity Act. The presentation concludes with an in-depth look at what a compliant Ethics Plan and Interna
In the world of Federal Government Contracting, it often feels like there are 20 different ways that your business or your business’s awards can be protested. In addition to size protests and bid protests (at both GAO and the COFC), there is also what is commonly referred to as a “status protest.” A status protest, while certainly less common than size protests and bid protests, still presents its own unique factors, procedures, and corresponding risks that contractors should be aware of. In thi
GAO recently sustained a bid protest to a General Services Administration (GSA) acquisition for warehousing and deployment services at the strategic national stockpile–a literal “stockpile” of the nation’s largest supply of critical pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies, and emergency supplies. GSA issued this solicitation and conducted this acquisition on behalf of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), an operating agency of the Department of Health and Hu
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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