Earlier this year, SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeal (“OHA”) released its first HUBZone status protest appeal decision. That decision, as you may recall was fairly straightforward, resulting in a dismissal of the appeal. About half a year later, OHA has issued its second HUBZone status appeal decision! This one is even more straightforward than the first one, but it is important nonetheless as it now gives us further insight into the HUBZone appeal system. Let’s take a little look.
In
As many of you likely already know, back in late 2020, Congress made two changes to the SDVOSB program when it passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. First, all SDVOSBs will be required to certify with the government starting on January 1, 2023. Second, the responsibility for conducting SDVOSB certification will transfer from the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) to the SBA. Seems simply enough, but, obviously, this raises some questions: What if a SDVOSB is already
Executive Order 13495 has had a bit of a rocky past.
Originally issued by President Clinton, the Order has been rescinded and then
replaced, depending on the President’s political persuasions. After being reinstated
by President Obama in 2009, many (like me) assumed that President Trump would
have promptly rescinded it again.
Three years into his administration, President Trump has now acted: on Halloween, he rescinded Executive Order 13495.
Let’s take a step back by refreshing ours
Under 13 C.F.R. § 124.506, if an 8(a) contract price would exceed a certain threshold ($7 million for manufacturing contracts, $4.5 million for others), in most cases, the agency must compete the set-aside. 13 C.F.R. § 124.506(a)(5) is a provision meant to close up what otherwise would be a loophole in the rules. It states that “[a] proposed 8(a) requirement with an estimated value exceeding the applicable competitive threshold amount may not be divided into several separate procurement actions
Since the COVID-19 Relief Bill passed was enacted on December 27 (including the 8(a) term extension that we discussed earlier), the 15-day window for SBA’s rules on the extension falls on January 11. Here are some thoughts on how we think SBA may fill in the gaps for this important 8(a) term extension, based on our interpretation of the statute and feedback from SBA.
Will the 1-year extension option be effective on January 11 (or within a few days of that date) or some later date? We th
An agency’s decision to award a contract as an 8(a) sole source is a “business decision” for which the agency has broad discretion–and a potential protester challenging the agency’s use of that discretion will have an uphill battle.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that government officials are presumed to act in good faith, and that the presumption extends to the decision to award an 8(a) sole source contract instead of competing the work in question.
The GAO’s decision i
Writing a social disadvantage narrative for application to SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program has always been an arduous undertaking–to say the least. And up until a recent Federal District Court decision (which we blogged on here), only a small portion of 8(a) Program applicants had to submit this time-consuming, highly personal, difficult task. But now (as discussed in the above-linked blog and in this blog on SBA’s recent actions in response to the decision), this requirement is being ex
Writing a social disadvantage narrative for application to SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program can be tricky. While SBA’s regulations can guide your pen, they are not the only source of helpful information out there. Let’s take a look at some SBA guidance and recommendations based on SBA’s actual decisions that may increase your chances for success.
To orient yourself, SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Regulations are found in 13 C.F.R. Part 124, Subpart A, which includes both the gen
A few months ago, we explored SBA’s new rule that made changes to the 8(a) program, the limitations on subcontracting rules, and the ostensible subcontractor rule. There was another aspect of that new rule that also makes some needed clarification on how contracting officers can limit 8(a) competitions, and we want to briefly explore that here.
Multiple-Certifications Rule
Prior to the new rule, there was a fair bit of uncertainty on whether the regulations and statutes permitted con
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
It is no doubt that the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program is a first-class program: there is a reason that some of us around here tend to say that it is one of the most important of federal government contracting programs. And in the past year, there has been a flurry of activity surrounding the 8(a) Program. For the most part, this uptick in activity has had to do with the requirement that all applicants prove they are socially disadvantaged in light of the the Ultima decision that we’ve
The continuing legal battle over the constitutionality of the 8(a) program’s “socially disadvantaged” criteria may be on its way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Last September, we covered the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Rothe Development, Inc. v. United States Department of Defense, 836 F.3d 57 (D.C. Cir. 2016), where a two-judge majority of the court concluded the 8(a) program did not violate Rothe’s equal protection rights under the Due Pr
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
An 8(a) Program participant was terminated from the 8(a) Program for failing to pay a subcontractor.
According to the SBA, the non-payment reflected poorly on the 8(a) company’s character–and “good character” is a prerequisite for 8(a) Program participation.
The decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals in Corporate Portfolio Management Solutions, SBA No. BDPT-567 (2018) was an appeal of the SBA’s decision to terminate Corporate Portfolio Management Solutions from the 8 (a) Program.
Participants in the SBA’s 8(a) Program must timely submit their annual review packages to the SBA.
In a recent decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held that the SBA may terminate a participant from the 8(a) Program for failing to provide the required information–even if the 8(a) company’s owner has had personal difficulties that contributed to the failure.
OHA’s decision in KC Consulting, LLC, SBA No. BDPT-563 (2017) involved the 8(a) Program participation of a Michigan-based sm
To qualify for the 8(a) program, a disadvantaged individual must fall below certain personal net worth thresholds. Loans can reduce net worth–but not all loans are treated the same.
According to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, if a disadvantaged individual intends to rely on a loan to reduce net worth, the loan better be bona fide.
In a recent decision, OHA held that it is the unconditional obligation to repay that is critical to determining whether a loan will reduce the net worth of
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
Two of the Small Business Administration’s programs require the applicant to demonstrate that they are economically disadvantaged: the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program) and the Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business Program (EDWOSB). The 8(a) Program requires applicants to be owned and controlled by both socially and economically disadvantaged individuals per 13 C.F.R. § 124.101. Applicants of the EDWOSB program must be owned and controlled by one or more economical
Congress has included in the new COVID-19 relief bill a one-year extension of the term for participation in the 8(a) Program. Under the provision, any small business concern participating in the 8(a) program on or before September 9, 2020 may “elect to extend such participation by a period of 1 year”. This is good news, especially for those concerns in their last year of viability in the 8(a) program who may have felt shortchanged from COVID’s effects on the economy.
This provision is f
When companies seek to join forces under an 8(a) joint venture agreement, they often focus on meeting the SBA’s specific joint venture requirements. In doing so, however, they might overlook the threshold goal of an 8(a) joint venture: to allow an 8(a) to develop the necessary capacity to perform a contract.
As a recent Court of Federal Claims decision shows, overlooking this requirement can cause an 8(a) joint venture agreement to be rejected by SBA—and lead to the joint venture being found in
The SBA’s joint venture rules can be strict. Mistakes like failing to update a joint venture agreement, inserting ambiguous provisions in a joint venture agreement, or relying on an expired mentor-protege agreement can be costly.
Good faith mistakes are one thing–the joint venture may lose out on a contract, but probably won’t face other penalties. But when the government believes that a contractor knowingly violated the joint venture rules, the repercussions can be much more serious–as se
At SmallGovCon, we’ve closely followed the SBA’s
implementation of the Small Business Runway Extension Act. After much confusion
caused by the delayed implementation of the Act, there’s finally a light at the
end of the tunnel: the 5-year receipts calculation period will become effective
January 6, 2020.
Importantly, the SBA’s final rule implements relief for businesses that will be adversely affected by the change to a 5-year receipts calculation period.
Let’s take a look.
By wa
To qualify as a small business under most set-aside or sole source contracts seeking manufactured products or supplies, SBA’s regulations require an offeror to be the item’s manufacturer or, alternatively, comply with the nonmanufacturer rule.
In a prior post, we discussed 5 Things You Should Know about being the item’s manufacturer; in this post, we’ll discuss qualifying under the nonmanufacturer rule.
1.Do I need to qualify under the nonmanufacturer rule?
That depends on the
I’m just back from El Paso, where I had a great time discussing small business size and affiliation issues at the Contract Opportunities Center. This presentation got me thinking: “Wouldn’t our loyal SmallGovCon readers want to know 5 Things about size protests and appeals?”
“Of course they would!” I immediately answered my own internal monologue. “After all, who wouldn’t?”
Here are 5 Things You Should Know about size protests and appeals:
What is a size protest?
As a refresher, an offer
You’ve served your country with pride. Now, as a government contractor, it’s only fair that you get your piece of the pie. Here are five things you should know about the government’s contracting programs for veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses:
What is a veteran-owned small business?
As its name implies, a veteran-owned small business (or VOSB, in government-contracting speak) is a small business that is at least 51% unconditionally owned and
.gif)
