It’s the moment many have been waiting for–SBA has reopened its Certify portal to new applicants seeking admission into the 8(a) Business Development Program. SBA closed the portal to all new 8(a) Program applicants in early August 2023, following a decision from the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee that took away applicant’s presumption of social disadvantage for certain designated groups. This resulted in all 8(a) participants being required to submit a social disadvantage narrative. To address this issue, SBA opened Certify bit by bit to current participants who had not previously submitted a social disadvantage narrative, prioritizing current 8(a) participants with pending awards followed by current 8(a) participants without pending awards. Now, SBA has opened Certify to new applicants that wish to apply for participation in the 8(a) Program who now must demonstrate their social disadvantage.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 24-29, 2023
Happy Friday. It’s time to say goodbye to September and welcome in October already. Where does the time go?
As I’m sure you all are aware, this week’s federal government contracting news is all about the possible government shut down and its impact on federal services and federal government contractors. Lawmakers have today and tomorrow to come to some sort of agreement. We’ve included some articles below with additional information on this situation as well as other federal government contracting news. Have a great weekend.
Continue reading…No Work No Play: SBA Reminds Contractors of HUBZone Employment Requirements
One of the pillars of the SBA’s HUBZone program is the location of a company’s employees. In August of this year, SBA released an Information Notice emphasizing important points about where employees reside, and HUBZone entity’s efforts to employ the necessary amount of employees residing in HUBZone areas. While SBA’s HUBZone policies don’t have the weight of law as compared to a regulation, the HUBZone office will generally enforce this sort of guidance quite strictly. So don’t think it’s just a suggestion. As these are crucial elements of eligibility, it is important for all HUBZone businesses to be aware and reminded of SBA’s expectations.
Continue reading…Watching the Watchman – New FAR Rule Opens Door to Further Feedback on Acquisition Process
In Fiscal Year 2022, 1,595 bid protests were filed with GAO. While that seems like a large number, it pales in comparison to the number of federal contracts the federal government awards in a given year. On average, the government awards over 11 million contracts per year. That’s a lot of acquisitions that are not subject to any feedback from outside the agency. But things might change now with the new rule that the FAR Council enacted. Today, we’ll take a look at what this entails.
Continue reading…Small GovCon Week in Review: September 18-22, 2023
Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you have had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend. Talk around the proverbial water cooler, this week, has been about the possible government shut down. On midnight, September 30th, fiscal year 23 will come to an end. Apparently, if certain things aren’t passed by Congress and signed by the President, the new fiscal year will start with a shutdown, and that has a lot of government contractors nervous.
We have included some articles on this topic and other federal government news below. Have a great weekend.
Continue reading…COFC: Lapsed SAM Registration During Proposal Evaluations Makes Offeror Ineligible for Award
It’s a tale as old as time, and I’m not talking about “Beauty and the Beast.” I’m talking about an offeror who failed to comply with the registration requirements in FAR 52.204-7. What’s FAR 52.204-7? It’s the FAR provision that requires, among other things, all offerors to be registered in the System for Award Management, or SAM as it is better known. And, as we have seen many times before, there is no way around this rule. Often, failure to be registered in SAM limits an offeror’s eligibility before award is made, making the offeror ineligible for award. However, this time, it affected the award that had already been made, resulting in the court entering a preliminary injunction against the government continuing with its original award.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 11-15, 2023
Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you had a great week. We are starting to get a little fall weather around these parts, which is exciting. Fall has also brought the prospect of a potential government shutdown and what the impact will be, as reflected in some of these articles. The budget process is complicated, so we are all waiting to see how it shakes out.
We’ve also included some other articles on topics such as OASIS+ and cybersecurity, we hope will be of interest to you below. Have a great weekend.
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