If you are a small business government contractor who ever utilizes subcontractors to complete federal set-aside contracts, knowing what a “similarly situated entity” is for a given contract is vital to your success. So, let’s take it back to the basics of “similarly situated entities.”
Continue readingAuthor Archives: Nicole Pottroff
First Annual MyGovWatch Buyer Survey Results May Surprise You
This post was written by our friend and colleague, Nick Bernardo, president of MyGovWatch, a
bid notification and intelligence website offering a free trial to government contractors in more
than 200 industries.
Webinar! Small Business Certifications, March 20, 2024, 10:00-11:00 am CDT
Please join federal government contracts attorneys Nicole Pottroff & Greg Weber for this informative webinar on SBA certifications hosted by Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship. Participants will get an overview about the Small Business Certifications including:
- Woman Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Business
- 8(a) Business Development Program
- HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone)
- Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
We will discuss how to get certified, how long it may take, regulations, changes, updates, and tips and tricks on how to be prepared. Please Register here.
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 11-15, 2024
Happy Friday and happy, early Saint Patrick’s Day. We hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend. Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, preparations are underway for the annual St. Patty’s Day parade. It seems the whole town comes out to celebrate and it’s a very fun and festive spectacle. I think more than anything, people are just ready to get outside to enjoy the warmer temperatures.
Before you head into your weekend activities, here are a few articles on what’s happening in the federal government contracting world. Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget to wear green!
Continue readingMyGovWatch YouTube Video Available Now!
Join our attorneys, Nicole Pottroff and John Holtz, on the latest edition of MyGovWatch, now on YouTube. This podcast, hosted by Nick Bernardo, covered a wide variety of current government contracting topics and answered all the right questions. From the migration of the Veteran Small Business Program from the VA to the SBA (and the first appeal reviewing SBA’s SDVOSB “grace period”)–to the most-recently updated size standards and the assignment of (the often incorrect) NAICS codes to federal contracts–all the way to SBA’s 8(a) Program and the effects of the recent federal court decision in Ultima –and everything in between.
You can watch this informative video here.
1 Day Virtual Event! The Essentials for Small Business Government Contracting, February 29, 2024
Whether you are a small, medium or even a large contractor seeking to team with small businesses, this course will discuss the different regulations you must follow, the different small business programs set up by the SBA, the advantages and disadvantages of the JV & Mentor Protégé programs, plus other topics of interest. This live virtual event will be hosted by Larry Allen and Nicole Pottroff and Stephanie Ellis will be joining Larry for the afternoon session. We hope you will consider attending this informative event! Register here.
OHA Sustains Status Protest: Self-Proclaimed SDVOSB Awardee Not Certified by VetCert, Not Eligible For SBA’s Grace Period, And Not Veteran Owned or Controlled
In Mckenna Brytan Indus. LLC, SBA No. VSBC-334, 2023 (Feb. 8, 2024), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) sustained the Service-Disabled Small Business (SDVOSB) status protest of BTNG Enterprises, LLC (BTNG). In its decision, OHA reiterated the two current regulatory options for calling yourself an “SDVOSB” concern: the first, is having your SDVOSB application officially approved by the SBA and your company listed in the SBA’s Veteran Small Business Certification Program (VetCert) data base; and the second, is having submitted your complete application to SBA through VetCert prior to December 31, 2023, and be currently waiting for approval or denial. Here, OHA was unable to conclude that BTNG had done either of those things–despite looking for evidence of eligibility from the SBA and from BTNG itself.
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