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SmallGovCon.com

A blog by Koprince Law LLC in General

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Entries in this blog

Annie Birney Joins Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC as Associate Attorney and SmallGovCon Contributor!

We are excited to announce that Annie Birney has joined the firm and will also be a regular SmallGovCon contributor! She is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law. You can read her full biography here. Annie was very accomplished during her law school days, including plenty of practical experience. This included assisting with tax preparation services for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Additionally, Annie participated in the Elder Law Field Placement Progra

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 23-27, 2024

Happy Friday and happy fall! We hope you had a productive week and are looking forward to the weekend. The federal government contractors have been quite busy wrapping things up at the end of this fiscal year and preparing for a new one to begin. We hope everything is “falling” into place. Have a great weekend! This week in federal government contracting news looked at a new CR, cloud procurement requirements, and another push towards category management. OPM asks agencies to review

SBA Proposed Rule: New Size and Status Recertification Standard

In a proposed rule in August of 2024, SBA has unveiled a brand new regulation related specifically to recertification of size and status. A frequent question of federal contractors is whether they can continue to be small, or maintain a specific socio-economic status (i.e., WOSB, SDVOSB etc.) after a change in ownership or business structure. The SBA’s size and status recertification standards are currently found in multiple places: the size determination timing regulations, each socio-economic

Predictions: Upcoming Rules on Conflicts of Interest

Back in 2023, we wrote about Congress’s late-2022 mandate to update and clarify various rules surrounding organizational conflicts of interest (or OCIs). At that time, Congress, in a short piece of legislation, asked that OCI rules be updated to address a number of areas. In this post, I’ll provide some predictions about how the OCI rules will be updated, as we wait for the new proposed rule to come out. In addition, I’m discussing this topic at the Judicial Conference for the U.S. Court of Fede

OHA Reminder: Don’t ignore Program Examination Questions from SBA . . . or Else

Most of SBA’s socioeconomic programs (woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, HUBZone) have a requirement for the contractor to go through a recertification process, or program examination, every three years. 8(a) Participants have an annual review process, so they are reviewed even more frequently. But between these routine program recertifications, there is a possibility that the SBA will choose to perform an additional program examination to “verify the accuracy” of certific

Webinar Event! October 1, 2024 – Limitations on Subcontracting and the Nonmanufacturing Rule hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators

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 with heavy potential penalties if a contractor gets it wrong. The nonmanufacturer rule is the flip side of the LoS, but for supply contracts in the federal government contracting realm. It is also one we encounter quite often in our role assisting fede

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 16-20, 2024

Happy Friday! There has been a flurry of activity here at SmallGovCon, as the government’s fiscal year is ending this month. In the evolving landscape of federal contracting, one needs to stay on top of recent developments. Here are some key ones. The U.S. Small Business Administration is set to implement new rules for mentor-protégé arrangements. I had the privilege of being interviewed by Tom Temin of the Federal News Network on these new mentor-protégé rules and potential ones on the hori

Rezoning (Part 2): Updates to the HUBZone Program

Very recently, we went through some more of the potential changes to the HUBZone Program from SBA’s proposed rule from August 23, 2024. In this post, we will look at the remaining proposed changes. SBA’s proposed rule would change HUBZone protests appeals, principal office requirements (which we did discuss a bit before here), HUBZone map concepts, and the HUBZone price evaluation preference (PEP). Protests and Interested Party HUBZone status protests, like 8(a), WOSB/EDWOSB, and VOS

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 9-13, 2024

Happy Friday the 13th! We hope you have a good week. This week has been busy in the federal government contracting world with multiple developments highlighting key areas of government procurement, spending transparency, and small business support. There are updates on a new federal spending bill, but also concerns about a shutdown, something contractors will be watching closely. You can read more about these topics in the articles below. Have a great weekend and be careful out there today

Rezoning (Part 1): A Look at SBA’s Proposed Changes to the HUBZone Program

A few weeks ago, SBA released a proposed rule that would, among other things, modify the HUBZone program. We took a look at some of these changes when the proposals were released. As we promised in that post, we stated we were going to discuss some other aspects of the proposed rule in later posts. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the other changes that SBA is proposing for the HUBZone program, as there’s a lot. In this post, we’ll be focusing on other changes to how HUBZone employees are dete

SBA Proposed Rule Clarifies Mentor-Protégé Misunderstandings

In August, the Small Business Administration issued a proposed rule that was packed to the brim with changes to many of the SBA’s small business contracting programs. We’ve mentioned a few of the changes in prior blog posts. Gregory Weber, discussed potential changes to the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program that may result in more relaxed requirements. While Shane McCall, recently took a deep dive into proposed changes to past performance requirements for joint ventures. Today, we will foc

Govology Webinar: September 19, 2024 – The Buy Indian Act: Regulatory Updates and Their Implications for Tribal-Owned Businesses

The Buy Indian Act is a law that gives contracting preference to companies owned by Native American tribes. This law has been on the books for a century and it seems to be finally getting some teeth through regulatory changes and updates. This webinar, presented by myself and Nicole Pottroff will discuss the Buy Indian Act, as well as other rules and regulations that provide advantages to tribal entities. Hope you can join us! Register here. The post Govology Webinar: September 19, 2024 – The

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 2-6, 2024

It’s Friday and it’s time for our week in review. We hope you had a wonderful Labor Day and were able to enjoy some time with friends and family. Now it is time to transition into fall and football season which we are very excited about here at SmallGovCon! We hope you have a great weekend. This week in federal government contracting news saw some interesting storis about IT and cyber security, the feds avoiding fraud payments, and a potential boost for WOSB contracts. SOCOM cuts ye

SBA Proposed Rule: SBA Plans to Relax 8(a) Program Restrictions

The SBA recently dropped a large proposed rule that it grouped mainly under the HUBZone program, but actually touches on almost every SBA socioeconomic certification. So, it should come as no surprise that the SBA’s 8(a) Program is facing some potential changes based on this proposed rule. There are quite a few proposed updates to the 8(a) Program. We wanted cover just a few that really stood out to us here at SmallGovCon. Be sure to review the whole rule if you want to comment on any of these 8

SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 26-30, 2024

Happy Friday! In this week in review, we have included some noteworthy articles including the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) proposed rule with significant updates to the HUBZone program and other SBA rules. We dive into this proposal here. Other updates include the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) enhancing its mentor-protégé program and dealing with the end of the fiscal year. You can read more about these changes and other federal contracting news in the articles below. We hope you h

SBA Proposed Rule: Joint Venture Past Performance

How agencies evaluate past performance of joint ventures has been a somewhat confusing topic for federal contractors over the past few years. We’ve written about many of the key aspects of the evolution of this rule on SmallGovCon, from the earlier final rule to recent decisions interpreting that rule. The proposed rule would clarify how SBA thinks agencies should review past performance for joint ventures, but it also invites comment from contractors. This is an area where input from the federa

News Flash: SBA Issues Proposed Rule with HUBZone and Small Business Changes

The SBA has issued a new proposed rule addressing both the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program and other small business updates. It is titled: “HUBZone Program Updates and Clarifications, and Clarifications to Other Small Business Programs.” In this post, we’ll provide an overview of some of the main highlights of the proposed rule, and will do a deeper dive on some aspects of the regulation in later posts. The proposed rule was published on August 23, 2024 with c

SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 19-23, 2024

Hello and happy Friday! Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, the kids have started school and the college students are busy moving in and preparing to start classes. It always feels like such a big shift in the energy with all the excitement and the many back to school events taking place. This week in federal government contracting, the recent headlines highlight a wide array of developments within federal operations, emphasizing both accountability and innovation. You can read more about this week’

Webinar Event: Joint Ventures A Powerful Small Business Tool hosted by the Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship, August 28, 2024

The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship is hosting this helpful, virtual workshop on August 28 at 10:00am CDT. Joint ventures can be a powerful tool for companies to jointly compete for proposals and combine the best of their capabilities to perform their awards. This webinar, presented by federal government contracts attorney, Gregory Weber, will address the benefits of joint venturing, eligibility, how past performance comes into play, and the differences between a joint ventu

Some Assembly Required: GAO Addresses how Agencies Should Approach Trade Agreements Act Compliance

The Trade Agreements Act (TAA) (along with its cousin, the Buy American Act) is one of the more complex acts to deal with in federal government contracting. We have taken a look at the TAA before, noting that it does not apply to small business set-asides and discussing how it applies in its related FAR clause, FAR 52.225-5. One of the key requirements under the TAA, as shown in FAR 52.225-5, is that the product has been “substantially transformed…into a new and different article of commerce wit

SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 12-16, 2024

Happy Friday, blog readers, and welcome to the week in review. Recent legislative and agency initiatives are shaping the landscape for federal contracting, cybersecurity, and support for veterans and small businesses, this week. A bipartisan Senate bill seeks to mandate cybersecurity vulnerability disclosures by contractors, enhancing national security. In parallel, the Pentagon’s release of key Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) contracting rules aims to fortify the defense suppl

SBA: Ostensible Subcontractor Affiliation Arises from Improper Limitations on Subcontracting in Proposal

The SBA ostensible subcontractor affiliation rule has long confused contractors and their attorneys alike because its standards were not very clear. It was based on whether, in a small business contract, a subcontractor performs the “primary and vital requirements of a contract” or the prime contractor was “unusually reliant” on the subcontractor. SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals filled in the gaps on these terms. But in 2023, SBA updated its definition for these rules, declaring that if a s

SBA Getting Strict on MPA Language

One of the most popular programs in small business federal contracting seems to be the SBA’s Mentor-Protege Program. It is generally a great program for small businesses to utilize the resources and knowledge of a larger or more experienced business to grow. In turn, it also gives large businesses the ability to work on small business contracting opportunities, and the Government the ability to contract with more robust teams. Unfortunately, there has been a recent trend of the SBA being somewha

SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 5-9, 2024

Happy Friday, All. Please enjoy our latest week in review in order to stay on top of federal contracting news. Some interesting stories include Senate efforts to enhance oversight of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements and address delays in Major Acquisition Programs (MTA). Meanwhile, the GSA is pushing forward with updated standards to accelerate federal buildings toward zero emissions, reflecting a broader shift towards sustainability. In cybersecurity, CISA’s CDM program is set to ta

GAO Reminder: Don’t Delay, Submit Your Proposal Today

Submitting a proposal in the correct manner and on time are two of the most elemental aspects of any response to a solicitation. After all, if you don’t submit the proposal, there is zero chance that the agency will review your proposal. Unfortunately, every so often there are hiccups in the submission process that cause delays. And, as one disappointed offeror found out, in the vast majority of cases these delays will be held against the offeror and not attributed to the agency. The sol

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