Government Contracts Monitor

New Year’s Resolutions – Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings and Check Your Past Performance Ratings

January 12, 2015

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 2015.

1.   Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status:  Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes.  For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change…

You Say Responsibility, GAO Says Acceptability, Let’s Call the Protest Off

November 25, 2014

Just because a small business award involves security clearance issues does not automatically mean there is a “responsibility matter” that must be referred to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a Certificate of Competency (COC) determination.  Sometimes, as in the recent case of MT & Associates, LLC, B-410066 (October 17, 2014), the protestor simply fails to convince the agency…

Size Protests – Beware: Your Protest Deadline May Be Triggered by Indirect Notice

November 18, 2014

A recent decision by the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) reminds potential size protestors that the “notice” triggering the five business day size protest period in a negotiated procurement does not have to be in writing, nor does it have to come from the cognizant contracting officer (CO), and may even be indirect, including by published announcements,…

Shine a Light: Examine and Understand What You’re Protesting

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…

Beware “Incumbentitis” – It Can Be Fatal

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…

Court Overturns SDVOSB Decertification

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…

Short Take: Too Much Knowledge Can Be a Disadvantage: Fraudulent Receipt of Confidential Government Information

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…

Short Take: Changes to Agency Management of Software Licenses on the Horizon

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…