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
An 8(a) joint venture failed to obtain SBA’s approval of an addendum to its joint venture agreement—and the lack of SBA approval cost the joint venture an 8(a) contract.
In Alutiiq-Banner Joint Venture, B-412952 et al. (July 15, 2016), GAO sustained a protest challenging an 8(a) joint venture’s eligibility for award where that joint venture had not previously sought (or received) SBA’s approval for an addendum to its joint venture agreement.
At the big picture level, SBA’s 8(a) Business Deve
I recently had the pleasure to discuss important government contracting legal updates and their effects on small businesses, at the 11th Annual Veterans Business Conference at Fort Bliss (in El Paso). The Contract Opportunities Center did a fantastic job organizing the conference, which brought together small businesses and government agencies for a wide-ranging discussion on government contracting. My presentation discussed many of the topics we’ve been following at SmallGovCon, including the S
Greetings from Oklahoma, where I am wrapping up a busy week of travel that has included speaking engagements both at the Iowa Vendor Conference and The Indian Country Business Summit.
While I’ve been on the road, it has also been a noteworthy week in government contracting news. This week, SmallGovCon Week In Review takes a look at stories about the year end spending frenzy, the Freedom of Information Act may undergo major changes, DoD is barely exceeding 50% when it comes to meaningful competi
A protester’s failure to be specific enough in an SDVOSB status protest will result in dismissal of the protest.
The decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals in Jamaica Bearings Company, SBA No. VET-257 (Aug. 9, 2016), reinforces the SBA’s rule concerning specificity in filing a service disabled veteran-owned status protest. The rule provides, “[p]rotests must be in writing and must specify all the grounds upon which the protest is based. A protest merely asserting that the protested
I am back in Lawrence after a great Midwestern driving trip last week, where I spoke at two fantastic government contracting events.
On Tuesday, I was in Des Moines for the Iowa Vendor Conference. My presentation focused on debunking common myths surrounding the SBA’s size and socioeconomic programs (think that VetBiz verification applies to all agencies? Think again!) Many thanks to the Iowa State University Center for Industrial Research and Service for organizing this great event and in
A former 8(a) protege was not automatically entitled to take advantage of the past performance it obtained as part of a mentor-protege joint venture, in a case where the former mentor would not be involved in the new contract.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that a procuring agency erred by crediting the protege with the joint venture’s past performance without considering the extent to which that past performance relied on the mentor–and the extent to which the mentor’s absence
An unsuccessful offeror lacked the ability to file a valid SBA size appeal involving the size status of a competitor, because the unsuccessful offeror was eliminated from the competitive range–and its elimination had been upheld in a GAO bid protest decision.
In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals confirmed that an offeror that cannot possibly be awarded the contract ordinarily lacks standing to file a size appeal.
OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Straughan
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
We have been hard a work all week long here at Koprince Law and are ready to take advantage of the Labor Day weekend. Not only is it a long weekend, but it is also the start of the college football season. There is nothing better than football, tailgating and cooler weather to get you in the mood for fall (although our local Kansas Jayhawks haven’t exactly been tearing up the gridiron in recent years).
Before you head out the door to enjoy the holiday weekend, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week
An SDVOSB set-aside contract was void–and unenforceable against the government–because the prime contractor had entered into an illegal “pass-through” arrangement with a non-SDVOSB subcontractor.
In a recent decision, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals held that a SDVOSB set-aside contract obtained by misrepresenting the concern’s SDVOSB status was invalid from its inception; therefore, the prime contractor had no recourse against the government when the contract was later terminated for de
I always knew my legal career would some day overlap with my love of terrible movies, before-they-were-stars trivia, and naval warfare. Today is that day.
When I saw that GAO had dismissed a “killer tomato” protest, several things came to mind. First, I thought, wait, are they talking about “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes“? Then I though, wait, wasn’t George Clooney in that—and didn’t he have a terrible 80’s mullet? Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me. I clicked.
The protest in questio
A contractor successfully challenged an adverse size determination that found affiliation under the newly organized concern rule, by establishing that its president and chief executive officer was not a former key employee of its supposed affiliate.
In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals clarified the definition of “key employee” under the newly organized concern rule, by noting that such a former employee’s title was not conclusive—instead, to be a key employe
Happy Friday! Here at Koprince Law, we’ve been busy posing for pictures for our new firm website (coming soon) and enjoying our annual trip to the Taste of Lawrence event last night, where we were able to enjoy food from local restaurants, hear live music and interact with the community.
Even with all that fun we have managed to bring you this edition (albeit a little later in the day) of SmallGovCon Week In Review. In this week’s edition, we bring you the latest on the ENCORE III bid protest,
The 8(a) Program has survived a major challenge to its constitutionality–but the legal battle over the 8(a) Program’s future may well continue.
On Friday, a two-judge majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the statute that creates the 8(a) Program is not unconstitutional. While the D.C. Circuit’s decision is a big win for proponents of the 8(a) Program, the limited scope of the ruling–and a sharp dissent from that ruling–signal that the fight over the future of
When the SBA evaluates a size protest, it is not required to investigate issues outside of those raised in the size protest itself.
A recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals demonstrates the importance of submitting a thorough initial size protest–and confirms that the SBA need not investigate issues outside of the allegations raised in the protest.
OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of K4 Solutions, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5775 (2016) involved a TSA procurement. The TSA acquisition
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
To be timely, a GAO bid protest challenging the terms of the solicitation must be filed no later than the proposal submission deadline.
A recent GAO decision affirmed that, at least in some cases, this deadline applies to an offeror’s elimination from competition based on an organizational conflict of interest. Because the offeror knew of its potential conflict and the agency’s position on its eligibility before its proposal was submitted, its post-evaluation protest was untimely. GAO dismissed
For many sports fans, it’s now football season, but I’m still focused on baseball, with my Chicago Cubs clinching the Central Division title last night. There are still more regular season games to be played, but I’m looking forward to the start of the playoffs, where the Cubs will try to end a 108-year World Series drought.
Of course, baseball isn’t the only thing on my mind these days–especially this close to the end of the government’s fiscal year. As always, I’ve been keeping a close eye
The Department of Labor has announced a new “preassessment” initiative, under which a government contract can voluntarily ask the DOL for an assessment of the contractor’s record of labor law compliance.
The preassessment program is designed to help contractors discover if they may have any trouble with their mandatory disclosures under the new Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, which will take effect beginning on October 25. Voluntary use of the preassessment program may be a good i
When multiple unsuccessful offerors protest a solicitation, the GAO ordinarily will dismiss any and all bid protests associated with the procurement in the event one unsuccessful offeror takes its case to federal court–even if some protesters would prefer to remain at the GAO.
As one federal contractor recently learned in Colleague Consulting, LLC—Reconsideration, B-413156.18 (Sept. 12, 2016), the GAO’s jurisdictional rules prevent it from deciding protests when the outcome of the protest could
Before deciding whether to set-aside a solicitation for small businesses under FAR 19.502-2, should the contracting officer first determine whether those small business will be able to provide the needed services while, at the same time, complying with the limitation on subcontracting?
No, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision. Instead, an agency’s determination whether a small business will comply with the limitation on subcontracting should be made as part of its award decision (foll
I am wrapping up a great trip to Huntsville, Alabama, where I gave a presentation yesterday the Redstone Edge conference. As I make my way back home, it’s time for our weekly roundup of government contracting news and notes.
In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, fourth quarter spending is actually down this year, Congress takes aim at the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order, and much more.
The federal equivalent of Black Friday isn’t what it used to be: a new analysis of fed
The SBA’s new “all small” mentor-protege program will begin accepting applications on October 1, 2016–but applicants will have to contact the SBA for an application form.
After November 1, 2016, the SBA will be processing electronic applications through its certify.sba.gov website.
Earlier this fall, the SBA announced that it would begin processing mentor-protege applications on October 1. The SBA’s official website for its all small mentor-protege program now provides the following instruc
The Department of Defense is proposing a major overhaul of the regulations governing its “pilot” mentor-protege program for small businesses.
The proposed rule, which was published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2016, makes a number of important changes, including adding new eligibility criteria, placing limits on the amount of time a protege can participate in the program, adding new required elements to mentor-protege agreements, and much more.
The DoD’s proposed rule responds to
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