Government Contracts MonitorSmall Business / Socioeconomic IssuesShort Take: Big Incentive to Blow the Whistle on Small Business Set Aside ScamsJuly 13, 2015 Sansbury and Buechler, former employees of LB&B Associates, Inc., filed suit under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act for false claims allegedly made by their former employer to the government. Specifically, the former employees alleged that LB&B made false statements to obtain contracts through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) Business Development Program… Short Take: Get It Done, and Done Right, in SAMJune 22, 2015 Nationwide Value Computer, Inc. protested an agency’s determination that it was not an eligible small business concern. The General Accountability Office (GAO) made short work of the protest. Why? The record showed, and Nationwide could not contest, that Nationwide represented it was not a small business in its SAM (System for Award Management) profile. Nationwide argued… Short Take: Pretending to Be an SDVOSB - The Fraud Just Keeps On ComingJune 15, 2015 Last week a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned a five count indictment charging three men with a multi-million dollar Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). Justice Department Announcement. The indictment alleges that from 2007 to 2014, Ivan Rosa-Colon, Jose Rosa-Colon and Torres Louis Enrique… Get Ready Women -- WOSB Sole-Source Awards Get CloserJune 8, 2015 As previously discussed here, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (the Act), made two important changes for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). First, the Act authorized certain sole source awards to WOSBs, and second, the Act deleted the prior authorization for WOSBs to self-certify their status and eligibility for award. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has now… Think You Are Disadvantaged? Prove It!June 1, 2015 Everyone knows the old phrase, "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it must be a duck." Something akin to this must have crossed Lori Skaggs’s mind when she applied for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) BD Program for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses on behalf of her construction company, Arrow S. Company, Inc.… Hopewell Darneille to Speak at DyNet ConferenceMay 26, 2015 Jackson Kelly’s Hopewell Darneille will be speaking on June 4, 2015, at the Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission’s Dynamic Networking (DyNet) for Small Business program in Erie, Pennsylvania. His presentation, provided as a follow-on, stand-alone, presentation to an earlier presentation by Melissa Loder, a Business Opportunity Specialist in SBA’s West Virginia District… Shield of Discretion Can’t Be Penetrated without Evidence of UnreasonablenessApril 7, 2015 The government’s “discretion” can act as an impenetrable shield, protecting awards from challenge. When the applicable legal standard grants discretion to the government and the subject agency provides at least minimal reasoning for its actions, it can be virtually impossible to prevail on an appeal absent clear evidence the agency acted unreasonably. The recent decision in In re… Learn from Pinocchio: Don’t Lie and Develop Your Own, Independent, IdentityMarch 17, 2015 Small businesses participating in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) Business Development Program (BD Program) would do well to recall the story of Pinocchio, the marionette who wanted to be a real boy. Pinocchio learned two important lessons: be self-reliant and don’t lie. Similarly, the petitioner in the recent The Desa Group, Inc., SBA No. BDPT-543… Short Take: Final Rule on VA Small Business Status ProtestsMarch 17, 2015
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has adopted a final rule establishing the procedures governing Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) status protests. This action resolves, at least for now, the issue as to whether status protests involving VA procurements will be transferred to the Small Business Administration (SBA),… Failing to Meet Socio-Economic and Subcontracting Goals May Cost You!March 2, 2015 A recent GAO decision provides support to agencies in addressing the increasing pressure to evaluate offerors’ compliance with, and puts some teeth in, socio-economic and subcontracting goals. Specifically, GAO found reasonable, and rejected a bid protest challenging, an agency’s assessment of “weaknesses” and downgrading of an offeror’s past performance for failing to meet socio-economic… Getting Larger? You’re Not Automatically Ineligible for Small Business Task OrdersFebruary 16, 2015 Most small business contractors know that growth past a certain point can adversely impact their ability to win new work from the Government. And this understanding is correct, as far as it goes. But, as the recent decision in Research and Development Solutions, Inc., B-410581; B-410581.2 (January 14, 2015), makes clear, it is important not to overstate the impact of becoming “other… Small, Women-Owned? Congress Allows Sole-Source Awards, But No More Self-CertificationFebruary 9, 2015 The recently-enacted National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA-15) includes two important changes for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). First, the Act authorizes certain sole source awards to WOSBs, ending a long effort to bring the WOSB program in line with other socio-economic programs that have long authorized sole source awards. Second, the Act… |
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