July 5, 2017
Contractors sometimes fall into the trap of thinking of protests as a sort of silver bullet that can be used, at least in theory, to remedy any problem. Whether this perspective reflects the contractor’s own past protest success or its perception that the procedure has allowed others to avoid bad outcomes, it substantially overstates the availability–and hence ultimate utility--of the protest…
June 21, 2017
Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. Establishing and operating a start-up always entails careful consideration of a wide variety of legal and practical issues. Success or failure can depend on the choice of entity, agreed-upon buy-out provisions, the selection of teammates and suppliers, or any of a multitude of other key decisions. When a firm’s business plan includes the pursuit…
June 6, 2017
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard. According to SBA, the federal government achieved its 23% small business contracting goal for the fourth straight year, awarding 24.34% of federal prime contracts, totaling $99.96 billion, to small business. While…
May 17, 2017
SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) recently reiterated an important pleading sufficiency warning that we have discussed previously, most recently here – namely, that, while informal, size protests must be sufficiently specific and factually supported, and protestors should include supporting documentation with their protests.
Specifically, in Size Appeal of Nugate Group, LLC, SBA No.…
May 9, 2017
As we have discussed previously, timing is everything in filing North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code appeals at the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). This is because NAICS code appeals must be filed within a relatively short 10 calendar days after issuance of the initial solicitation, per 13 C.F.R. § 121.1103(b)(1). OHA strictly…
May 9, 2017
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s recent decision in Competitive Range Solutions, LLC, B-413104.10, Apr. 18, 2017, provides a valuable reminder that Certificate of Competency (COC) referrals to the Small Business Administration (SBA) are required in broader contexts than pure non-responsibility determinations. Specifically, SBA’s regulations provide, inter alia, that a contracting…
April 19, 2017
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified a number of problems in DOD’s Pilot Mentor-Protégé Program, including a lack of standard operating procedures that DOD components are required to follow to approve Mentor-Protégé Agreements (MPAs), resulting in many MPAs not including required elements necessary to ensure the Protégé's eligibility and Program compliance. GAO further…
March 6, 2017
Hopewell Darneille, of the Firm’s Washington, DC office, will be a presenter at the eighth annual Dynamic Networking for Small Business (DYNET) Conference, a federal and prime contracting event in Fairmont, West Virginia, on April 13, 2017 at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center.
Mr. Darneille will co-present a workshop on “SBA’s NEW Joint Venture Rules,” with Melissa Loder, the principal…
February 20, 2017
One of the biggest complaints about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s programs for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) has been that program eligibility, granted on the basis of an exhaustive process, was valid for only one, and subsequently two, years, before having to be reestablished through an intensive reverification…
February 7, 2017
As discussed previously, a size protest is a valuable, low cost, way to challenge the size of an announced winning competitor, and possibly get a second bite at an award if such company is not, in fact, small and is disqualified. SBA’s size protest sufficiency filing threshold is low. Importantly, once crossed, SBA shifts the burden to the protested concern to establish its small business size…
January 17, 2017
Individuals and companies should carefully consider the many serious risks, including criminal prosecution and forfeiture of assets, before seeking to improperly take advantage of and abuse federal programs created to advantage various socio-economic groups. These programs include Government contract set-aside programs for Veteran-Owned (VOSBs), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSBs),…
January 3, 2017
Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2017.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies…
July 5, 2017
Contractors sometimes fall into the trap of thinking of protests as a sort of silver bullet that can be used, at least in theory, to remedy any problem. Whether this perspective reflects the contractor’s own past protest success or its perception that the procedure has allowed others to avoid bad outcomes, it substantially overstates the availability–and hence ultimate utility--of the protest…
June 21, 2017
Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. Establishing and operating a start-up always entails careful consideration of a wide variety of legal and practical issues. Success or failure can depend on the choice of entity, agreed-upon buy-out provisions, the selection of teammates and suppliers, or any of a multitude of other key decisions. When a firm’s business plan includes the pursuit…
June 6, 2017
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard. According to SBA, the federal government achieved its 23% small business contracting goal for the fourth straight year, awarding 24.34% of federal prime contracts, totaling $99.96 billion, to small business. While…
May 17, 2017
SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) recently reiterated an important pleading sufficiency warning that we have discussed previously, most recently here – namely, that, while informal, size protests must be sufficiently specific and factually supported, and protestors should include supporting documentation with their protests.
Specifically, in Size Appeal of Nugate Group, LLC, SBA No.…
May 9, 2017
As we have discussed previously, timing is everything in filing North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code appeals at the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). This is because NAICS code appeals must be filed within a relatively short 10 calendar days after issuance of the initial solicitation, per 13 C.F.R. § 121.1103(b)(1). OHA strictly…
May 9, 2017
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s recent decision in Competitive Range Solutions, LLC, B-413104.10, Apr. 18, 2017, provides a valuable reminder that Certificate of Competency (COC) referrals to the Small Business Administration (SBA) are required in broader contexts than pure non-responsibility determinations. Specifically, SBA’s regulations provide, inter alia, that a contracting…
April 19, 2017
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified a number of problems in DOD’s Pilot Mentor-Protégé Program, including a lack of standard operating procedures that DOD components are required to follow to approve Mentor-Protégé Agreements (MPAs), resulting in many MPAs not including required elements necessary to ensure the Protégé's eligibility and Program compliance. GAO further…
March 6, 2017
Hopewell Darneille, of the Firm’s Washington, DC office, will be a presenter at the eighth annual Dynamic Networking for Small Business (DYNET) Conference, a federal and prime contracting event in Fairmont, West Virginia, on April 13, 2017 at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center.
Mr. Darneille will co-present a workshop on “SBA’s NEW Joint Venture Rules,” with Melissa Loder, the principal…
February 20, 2017
One of the biggest complaints about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s programs for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) has been that program eligibility, granted on the basis of an exhaustive process, was valid for only one, and subsequently two, years, before having to be reestablished through an intensive reverification…
February 7, 2017
As discussed previously, a size protest is a valuable, low cost, way to challenge the size of an announced winning competitor, and possibly get a second bite at an award if such company is not, in fact, small and is disqualified. SBA’s size protest sufficiency filing threshold is low. Importantly, once crossed, SBA shifts the burden to the protested concern to establish its small business size…
January 17, 2017
Individuals and companies should carefully consider the many serious risks, including criminal prosecution and forfeiture of assets, before seeking to improperly take advantage of and abuse federal programs created to advantage various socio-economic groups. These programs include Government contract set-aside programs for Veteran-Owned (VOSBs), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSBs),…
January 3, 2017
Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2017.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies…
