As we said in this space a few days ago, the SBA has put in place a safe harbor until May 14 for companies to return Paycheck Protection Program loan money if they find they don’t need it. No harm, no foul.
So, what happens if they don’t need it, but don’t return it? Maybe Clubber Lang said it best.
Continue readingThere’s a scene in 2016’s War Dogs where the Jonah Hill character explains to his employees that they are going to spend all day every day digging through one website. In the background, extras are seen staring in to the blue and yellow glow of FedBizOpps.gov.
“Oh my,” I exclaimed from my couch to no one in particular. “I use that website every day—it’s terrible.”
Continue readingOn Friday, July 12, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
While this passage may lead to an uncharacteristic political fight over appropriations, contractors will be watching whether the U.S. Senate and House bills ultimately agree upon the less politically-charged sections likely to impact their businesses.
Continue readingWhether you are an active small business federal contractor, or an entrepreneur still getting your business off the ground, you are going to need a cybersecurity plan. Many DoD contractors, in particular, face a pending deadline to comply with NIST 800-171, as mandated by DFARS 252.204-7012.
The Kansas SBDC Cybersecurity Center for Small Business wants to help.
In a GAO bid protest, recovering costs after an agency takes corrective action turns on whether or not the agency unduly delayed the corrective action.
A recent GAO case shows that, in certain circumstances, an agency may be able to fight a protester almost to the bitter end, then take corrective action without necessarily having crossed the “unduly delayed” line.
Contracting officers have wide discretion to determine that a business can perform the work in question—even if the business is about to enter bankruptcy.
In a recent GAO protest, an unsuccessful offeror challenged just such a determination, saying that there is no way the awarded business could perform because it was nearly bankrupt. But according to the GAO, so long as the agency considered the pending bankruptcy, it was not improper to make an award.
Generally speaking, government contractors know that part of the cost of doing business with the federal government is some loss of autonomy. The government writes the rules. It is the 500 lb. gorilla. What it says usually goes.
When contractors try to do things their own way–even in an relatively informal medium such as email–they can sometimes get into trouble, as evidenced by a recent GAO protest decision: Bluehorse Corp., B-414809 (Aug. 18, 2017).