Based on the text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the fact that a company has foreign owners shouldn’t necessarily disqualify it from participating in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
But the form used to apply says otherwise.
Continue reading…Last week, John Mattox wrote of OMB’s guidance to contracting officers in dealing with the extraordinary challenges caused by COVID-19. Among other things, OMB instructed agencies to be flexible in providing extensions on performance deadline and encouraged open communication with industry partners on the response to COVID-19.
Now, the Department of Defense—the federal government’s largest purchasing unit—has issued its own guidance to constituent agencies.
Continue reading…When you are a business that manages parking lots and garages and then suddenly out of the blue the entire country stops leaving the house, well, you’d be excused for some despair.
But that’s not what Penn Parking, Inc., did. Instead, it decided to help. It is making face shields for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals on the front lines in Maryland, where Penn Parking is located.
Continue reading…In the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress appropriated $349 billion for loans to small businesses. These loans, issued under the Paycheck Protection Program, are aimed at helping small businesses keep their workers on payroll by providing loans, up to $10 million, that are partially forgivable. Let’s explore some of the details of this important program instituted as part the U.S. Government’s response to COVID-19.
Continue reading…DoD’s Acquisition and Sustainment Leaders recently updated the public on DoD’s COVID-19 acquisition policy at the Pentagon and announced a joint task force to handle the influx in medical and personal protective equipment needs. One of DoD’s primary points of focus during this conference was a warning to contractors about adversarial capital during this crisis.
Continue reading…The Buy American Act is an important domestic preference statute applicable to many U.S. Government procurements. Despite COVID-19, we have not seen any blanket suspension or waiver of this law. So, it’s worth understanding the statute’s basic requirements. Watch the video below to learn more.
As many contractors have heard, the President declared a state of emergency under the Stafford Act. What will this mean for acquisitions conducted while the COVID-19 emergency continues? In this post, I’ll dig into some contractor-specific effects of that declaration: modifying the micro-purchase, simplified acquisition, and commercial purchase acquisition thresholds.
Continue reading…