November 11, 2014
The performance of Government contracts often requires the use of contractors’ preexisting data. Your rights in this data are frequently very valuable – sometimes even indispensable to your continued existence. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that when submitting a proposal for a government contract it is crucial that you understand and articulate your rights and those of the…
November 11, 2014
Despite all the alarming news about Ebola in the press these days, government contractors face another ailment that’s also scary and, unfortunately, far more common. Known as incumbentitis, this disease all too often prevents contractors from winning renewals of their existing contracts. The symptoms include overconfidence based on past performance; an inability to notice changes in an agency’s…
November 4, 2014
Protesting contractors sometimes prematurely interpret an agency’s decision to take corrective action as a tacit admission of their protest’s merits, only to be brought back to earth when that corrective action fails to “properly” resolve the issues (i.e. in their favor). This dynamic reflects the practical realities of corrective action, one of the most powerful tools in an agency’s protest…
November 4, 2014
The Court of Federal Claims recently determined, for the second time in two years (see our March 2013 blog: Due Process is Alive and Well), that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to provide due process to a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in connection with its eligibility decertification. The Court also ruled that VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged…
November 4, 2014
A 54-year old Virginia executive, Mark Farmer, was indicted in October for allegedly providing things of value to the former director of two Ohio Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers. The alleged quid pro quo was that, in exchange for these items of value, the VA director provided confidential information to Farmer about various VA construction projects. The charges in the…
October 28, 2014
Many companies licensing software to federal agencies have been frustrated by their government customers’ apparent inability to effectively manage their licensing efforts. Too often agencies either: (i) buy more licenses that they need and later ask for rebates or concessions because they “didn’t use the software”; or (ii) purchase too few licenses and exceed licensed usage limits, triggering a…
October 21, 2014
Federal law and regulations require our Government to award contracts on a competitive basis, to the maximum extent practical. Yet more than 30 years ago the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that “32 percent of the sole-source contracts it examined could have been awarded on a competitive basis.” The problem: ineffective management, including market research and advance…
October 21, 2014
A September 16, 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) (GAO-14-706) concluded that contracting officers (COs) are not properly monitoring subcontracting by 8(a) prime contractors to ensure compliance with applicable subcontracting limitations. Indeed, only two of the COs associated with the 10 contracts GAO reviewed had asked for and reviewed necessary information and made certain that the…
August 12, 2014
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard. Government-Wide Performance Scorecard FY13. SBA understandably highlighted the fact that, for the first time in eight years, the federal government achieved its goal to award 23% of eligible contracts…
July 1, 2014
On June 12, 2014 the Small Business Administration (SBA) published an Interim Final Rule under which SBA adjusts its monetary-based size standards to account for inflation that has occurred since 2008. These adjustments are in addition to the recent revisions to SBA’s size standards issued as part of its comprehensive size standards review. The rule goes into effect on July 14,…
May 27, 2014
One of the most interesting parts of the recent Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce GovConNet Procurement Conference was hearing from government procurement professionals and successful contractors about what works (and what doesn’t) when marketing to federal agencies. During the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Panel, Brian Hebbel, the Director of the Division of Quality…
September 4, 2013
The U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently announced its Fiscal Year 2012 (“FY12”) small business goaling results. To no one’s great surprise, the federal government again fell short, for the seventh straight year, of its goal to award 23% of eligible contracts to small businesses. Much of the commentary on this shortfall has focused on either bemoaning the fact that…
November 11, 2014
The performance of Government contracts often requires the use of contractors’ preexisting data. Your rights in this data are frequently very valuable – sometimes even indispensable to your continued existence. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that when submitting a proposal for a government contract it is crucial that you understand and articulate your rights and those of the…
November 11, 2014
Despite all the alarming news about Ebola in the press these days, government contractors face another ailment that’s also scary and, unfortunately, far more common. Known as incumbentitis, this disease all too often prevents contractors from winning renewals of their existing contracts. The symptoms include overconfidence based on past performance; an inability to notice changes in an agency’s…
November 4, 2014
Protesting contractors sometimes prematurely interpret an agency’s decision to take corrective action as a tacit admission of their protest’s merits, only to be brought back to earth when that corrective action fails to “properly” resolve the issues (i.e. in their favor). This dynamic reflects the practical realities of corrective action, one of the most powerful tools in an agency’s protest…
November 4, 2014
The Court of Federal Claims recently determined, for the second time in two years (see our March 2013 blog: Due Process is Alive and Well), that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to provide due process to a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in connection with its eligibility decertification. The Court also ruled that VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged…
November 4, 2014
A 54-year old Virginia executive, Mark Farmer, was indicted in October for allegedly providing things of value to the former director of two Ohio Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers. The alleged quid pro quo was that, in exchange for these items of value, the VA director provided confidential information to Farmer about various VA construction projects. The charges in the…
October 28, 2014
Many companies licensing software to federal agencies have been frustrated by their government customers’ apparent inability to effectively manage their licensing efforts. Too often agencies either: (i) buy more licenses that they need and later ask for rebates or concessions because they “didn’t use the software”; or (ii) purchase too few licenses and exceed licensed usage limits, triggering a…
October 21, 2014
Federal law and regulations require our Government to award contracts on a competitive basis, to the maximum extent practical. Yet more than 30 years ago the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that “32 percent of the sole-source contracts it examined could have been awarded on a competitive basis.” The problem: ineffective management, including market research and advance…
October 21, 2014
A September 16, 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) (GAO-14-706) concluded that contracting officers (COs) are not properly monitoring subcontracting by 8(a) prime contractors to ensure compliance with applicable subcontracting limitations. Indeed, only two of the COs associated with the 10 contracts GAO reviewed had asked for and reviewed necessary information and made certain that the…
August 12, 2014
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard. Government-Wide Performance Scorecard FY13. SBA understandably highlighted the fact that, for the first time in eight years, the federal government achieved its goal to award 23% of eligible contracts…
July 1, 2014
On June 12, 2014 the Small Business Administration (SBA) published an Interim Final Rule under which SBA adjusts its monetary-based size standards to account for inflation that has occurred since 2008. These adjustments are in addition to the recent revisions to SBA’s size standards issued as part of its comprehensive size standards review. The rule goes into effect on July 14,…
May 27, 2014
One of the most interesting parts of the recent Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce GovConNet Procurement Conference was hearing from government procurement professionals and successful contractors about what works (and what doesn’t) when marketing to federal agencies. During the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Panel, Brian Hebbel, the Director of the Division of Quality…
September 4, 2013
The U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently announced its Fiscal Year 2012 (“FY12”) small business goaling results. To no one’s great surprise, the federal government again fell short, for the seventh straight year, of its goal to award 23% of eligible contracts to small businesses. Much of the commentary on this shortfall has focused on either bemoaning the fact that…
