Author Archives: Annie Birney

SBA OHA Says: Claiming Social Disadvantage? Prove it!

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Many individuals who have gone through SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program (the 8(a) Program) will tell you that the application process is not for the faint of heart. One of the most time-consuming, and often frustrating hurdles of the application is the Social Disadvantage Narrative (or SDN).  

Applicants are asked to revisit painful moments where they experienced discrimination. Sharing these deeply personal experiences is what makes it so upsetting for an applicant when SBA pushes back on their narrative – or worse, when SBA questions the bias, finding “legitimate alternative grounds” for the mistreatment.

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Back to Basics: Interested Parties

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Imagine you’ve submitted a bid for a procurement that you believe your company is a shoo-in for. Nobody comes close to the experience and skills your company brings to the table. A while later, you learn that the new company down the street was awarded the contract. There clearly must be a mistake. The awardee doesn’t have half the experience your company has in this industry. Feeling wronged, you decide to file a bid protest questioning the award at the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Your lawyer informs you that a bid protest may be dismissed if the protester doesn’t qualify as an interested party. But you were an actual bidder who should have been awarded the contract. Of course you’re an interested party—right?

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ChatGPT is Not Your Lawyer (Even If it Sounds Like One), Recent GAO Case Confirms

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The world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing topic that many are eager to share their opinions on. There are people excited to witness this advancement of technology and are eager to implement AI programs into their lives and/or businesses to optimize efficiency. Others are uneasy about the advancements of AI, fearing replaceability or changes in the workforce. Or, there are those who have read one too many science fiction novels and believe that this is the beginning of the end.  

A recent decision prompted GAO to weigh in on the use of AI in the realm of federal contracting. Specifically, should companies use AI to draft legal pleadings such as bid protests?

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GovCon FAQs: It’s Been Two Years–Has My Joint Venture Reached the End of the Road?

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The lifespan of a joint venture is a frequently asked question that can be hard to find in SBA’s regulations if you don’t know where to look. Alternatively, people hear about the “two-year rule” and assume that’s the answer. This question comes up frequently because, like many topics in federal contracting, the answer requires some digging into the regulations and specifically the affiliation rules.   

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Money Talks: CEO’s IRA Withdrawal Results in 8(a) Program Denial

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Whether you know from firsthand experience or have read our blogs on the topic, it’s no secret that a company applying for one of SBA’s socioeconomic programs will be examined extremely closely by SBA during the application process. Sometimes even more so in the 8(a) Program. This can include sifting through the language in a company’s operating agreement (as in this case we blogged on here), down to the meeting minutes. It can sometimes be overlooked that this close review also includes a look at the personal finances of the qualifying individual, at least for 8(a) and EDWOSB programs.

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Spell it Out for Me: OHA Finds Joint Venture Agreement Compliant When Reviewed with Operating Agreement

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When an SBA approved mentor and protégé create a joint venture to pursue contracts set-aside for small businesses, SBA requires the mentor-protégé joint venture agreement to contain the requirements found in 13 C.F.R. § 125.8(b)(2). But how closely does the joint venture agreement have to match the language of these required provisions in order to be found complaint?

In DecisionPoint-Agile Defense JV, LLC, OHA considered whether the language in a joint venture’s operating agreement (OA) can be considered alongside the joint venture agreement (JVA) when determining if a JVA meets all the regulatory requirements.

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Fully Devoted or Just Rebuttable? Qualifying Veterans Overcome Full-Time Devotion Rule

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It doesn’t take too long to find a blog post where we’ve discussed SBA’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) full-time devotion requirement. For a service-disabled veteran (SDV) to meet the SDVOSB control requirements, the SDV must control “the management and daily business operations” of the SDVOSB. This requires the SDV to be fully devoted to the SDVOSB. As a quick refresher on the full-time devotion requirement, a qualifying veteran “may not engage in outside employment that prevents [them] from devoting the time and attention to the concern necessary to control its management and daily business operations.” Further, the veteran must be able to “devote full-time during the business’s normal hours of operation” or SBA will assume lack of control. 13 C.F.R. 128.203(i). The same rule applies for the WOSB and 8(a) programs. In past decisions, SBA was OK with a veteran juggling multiple jobs as long as the hours didn’t overlap. But a recent decision shows that it may be possible to overcome this assumption.

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