Populated joint ventures will no longer be permitted in the SBA’s small business programs, under a new regulation set to take effect on August 24, 2016.
The SBA’s major new rule, officially issued today in the Federal Register, will be best known for implementing the long-awaited small business mentor-protege program. But the rule also makes many other important changes to the SBA’s small business programs, including the elimination of populated joint ventures.
Under current law, a joint ve
On Friday, Steven wrote about the framework of the new SBA small business mentor-protégé program. As part of this significant program addition, SBA’s final rule includes details about the requirements a small business joint venture must satisfy in order to be qualified to perform a small business set-aside. This post will briefly discuss those requirements.
A quick disclaimer: as we have detailed previously on SmallGovCon, the SBA will closely evaluate a joint venture agreement in the case of
I’m back in the office today after a great workshop with the Kansas PTAC where I spoke about Big Changes for Small Contractors–a presentation covering the major changes to the limitations on subcontracting, the SBA’s new small business mentor-protege program, and much more. If you didn’t catch the presentation, I’ll be giving an encore presentation next week in Overland Park.
And since it’s Friday, it must be time for our weekly dose of government contracting news and notes. In this week’s Sm
SDVOSB joint venture agreements will be required to look quite different after August 24, 2016. That’s when a new SBA regulation takes effect–and the new regulation overhauls (and expands upon) the required provisions for SDVOSB joint venture agreements.
The changes made by this proposed rule will affect joint ventures’ eligibility for SDVOSB contracts. It will be imperative that SDVOSBs understand that their old “template” JV agreements will be non-compliant after August 24, and that SDVOSBs
The HUBZone program will see significant changes to its rules as a result of major SBA changes set to take effect in late August.
These changes apply generally to two aspects of the HUBZone program: that relating to the SBA’s processing of HUBZone applications, and a significant expansion of the HUBZone joint venture requirements.
Here at SmallGovCon, we have been writing about the many changes brought about by the SBA’s recently published final rule about Small Business Mentor-Protégé Progr
It’s been a very busy week in government contracting with the SBA issuing its final rule on the small business mentor-protege program. It has given us here at Koprince Law a lot to read over and blog about so that SmallGovCon readers can stay abreast of all of the changes packed inside this lengthy document.
But as important as the mentor-protege rule is for small and large contractors alike, it’s not the only government contracts news making headlines this week. In this week’s SmallGovCon Wee
An agency’s spam filter prevented an offeror’s proposal from reaching the Contracting Officer in time to be considered for award–and the GAO denied the offeror’s protest of its exclusion.
A recent GAO bid protest decision demonstrates the importance of confirming that a procuring agency has received an electronically submitted proposal because even if the proposal is blocked by the agency’s own spam filter, the agency might not be required to consider it.
GAO’s decision in Blue Glacier Manag
NAICS code appeals, while little known, can be an extraordinarily powerful tool when it comes to affecting the competitive landscape of government acquisitions.
Case in point: in a recent NAICS code appeal decision issued by the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, the appellant prevailed–and obtained an order requiring the contracting officer to change the solicitation’s size standard from 500 employees to $15 million.
OHA’s decision in NAICS Appeal of Hendall Inc., SBA No. NAICS-5762 (2016)
The 8(a) Program regulations will undergo some significant changes as part of the major final rule recently released by the SBA, and effective August 24, 2016.
Here at SmallGovCon, we’ve already covered big changes to the SDVOSB Program and HUBZone Program brought about by the new SBA rule. But the 8(a) program is affected by the new rule too, and important changes involving eligibility, the application process, sole source awards, NHOs, and more will kick in later this month.
The final rule
It’s been a year of big changes in the government’s SDVOSB programs. First came the Kingdomware Supreme Court decision, which was soon followed by the SBA’s final rule adopting a new “universal” mentor-protege program–and imposing many new requirements on SDVOSB joint ventures.
On Thursday, August 4, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. Central, I will host a free webinar to discuss these important changes. To register, just follow this link and complete the brief electronic form, or call Jen Catloth of Koprinc
The recently-finalized SBA small business mentor-protege program will change the landscape of set-aside contracting–for large businesses and small contractors alike.
I am excited to announce that Koprince Law LLC has partnered with GOVOLOGY to offer a live electronic training on this important new program. Please join us on August 11, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. Central for this 90 minute training. The training is open to the public, so please follow this link to register. If you’re a Koprince Law LL
It’s the day after you submitted an offer for a big government contract, when one of your key personnel walks into your office. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me,” she says, “but I’ve decided to take an opportunity elsewhere.”
Employee turnover is a part of doing business. But for prospective government contractors, it can be a nightmare. As highlighted in a recent GAO bid protest, a offeror was excluded from the award simply because one of its proposed key personnel resigned after the
It’s hard to believe that August is already here. Before we know it, the end of the government fiscal year will be here–and if tradition holds, a slew of bid protests related to those inevitable last-minute contract awards.
In our first SmallGovCon Week In Review for August, two big-wig executives who previously plead guilty to charges of conspiracy now face civil claims, some helpful tips on how to prepare for the year-end contracting frenzy, Schedule 70 looks to be improved, a major roadblock
Native Hawaiian Organizations soon will be able to own HUBZone companies under a new SBA direct final rule published yesterday in the Federal Register.
The new rule implements provisions of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, in which Congress instructed the SBA to open the HUBZone program to NHOs.
Under current law, NHOs are unable to majority-own HUBZone companies, even though Indian tribes and Alaska Native Corporations can be HUBZone owners. The new rule, which will amend the S
With the finalization of the new SBA Small Business Mentor Protégé Program, other agencies without statutorily-authorized mentor-protege programs must seek SBA approval of their mentor-protege programs within one year, if they wish those programs to continue.
In a final rule scheduled to be effective August 24, 2016, the SBA questioned the need for other agencies (except the Department of Defense) to continue to operate their own mentor-protege programs, but provided a road map for agencies
The SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals lacks jurisdiction to consider whether an entity owned by an Indian tribe or Alaska Native Corporation has obtained a substantial unfair competitive advantage within an industry.
In a recent size appeal case, OHA acknowledged that an unfair competitive advantage is an exception to the special affiliation rules that tribally-owned companies ordinarily enjoy–but held that only the SBA Administrator has the power to determine that an Indian tribe or ANC has o
Circle October 1, 2o16 on your calendar: that’s when the SBA will begin accepting applications for its new universal small business mentor-protege program.
According to the SBA’s new website for the small business mentor-protege program, applications will only be accepted through the SBA’s new certify.sba.gov portal. The SBA’s new website also has an overview on the small business mentor-protege program itself and a discussion of the eligibility requirements for the program.
For prospective m
An offeror submitting a proposal for a set-aside solicitation ordinarily need not affirmatively demonstrate its intent to comply with the applicable limitation on subcontracting.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that an offeror’s compliance with the limitations on subcontracting is presumed, unless the offeror’s proposal includes provisions that negate that presumption.
The GAO’s decision in NEIE Medical Waste Services, LLC, B-412793.2 (Aug. 5, 2016) involved a VA RFQ for
This week I had the pleasure of speaking at the 20th Annual Government Procurement Conference in Arlington, Texas. It was a great event and I was glad to see so many familiar faces. Next up, I’ll be in Des Moines on August 23rd for the Iowa Vendor Conference, where I’ll be joined by my friend Guy Timberlake for a great day of networking and information sessions.
But even as I log miles on the air and on the highways, there’s no mistaking the fact that we’re in the last days of the government fi
Each party to a GSA Schedule Contractor Teaming Arrangement must hold the Federal Supply Schedule contract in question.
As demonstrated by a recent GAO bid protest decision, if one of the parties to the GSA CTA doesn’t hold the relevant FSS contract, the CTA may be found ineligible for award of an order under that contract.
The GAO’s decision in M Inc., d/b/a Minc Interior Design, B-413166.2 (Aug. 1, 2016) involved a VA RFQ for healthcare facility furniture and related services.
An agency acted improperly by inviting the ultimate contract awardee to revise its pricing, but not affording that same opportunity to a competitor–even though the awardee didn’t amend its pricing in response to the agency’s invitation.
According to a recent GAO bid protest decision, merely providing the awardee the opportunity to amend its pricing was erroneous, regardless of whether the awardee took advantage of that opportunity.
The GAO’s decision in Rotech Healthcare, Inc., B-41302
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
With the Olympics coming to a close this Sunday, we can look forward to getting back to our usual sleeping patterns without the lure of athletes seeking gold in Rio. So while preparations are ongoing for the closing ceremony and the eventual torch hand off to Tokyo, we continue to work to bring you the top government contracting news and notes for the week.
In this week’s SmallGovCon Week in Review, a businessman will serve prison time after stealing a veteran’s identity and using it to obtain
Citing an abuse of the protest process, the GAO has suspended a company’s right to file bid protests for a period of one year.
The GAO’s unusual action was taken after the contractor in question filed 150 bid protests in the ongoing fiscal year alone, most of which have been dismissed for technical reasons. The GAO’s decision also cites “baseless accusations” made by the protester, including accusing GAO officials of being “white collar criminals” and asserting that “various federal officials
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
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