SmallGovCon Week in Review: July 12-16

Happy Friday, readers! We hope you are enjoying the beautiful summer days. We here at SmallGovCon have definitely been getting out for some much needed vacation time lately. But we still want to keep you up to date on what’s going on in the federal contracting realm.

Here are a few noteworthy articles in the federal government contracting world this week, including looking back on the GAO and all the changes that have been made along the way as well as the DoD’s list of recent contract awards. Read on for all the details and have a great weekend.

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Event: The SBA’s Small Business Affiliation Rules for Government Contractors, Hosted by The Catalyst

My colleague Steven Koprince and I are pleased to be speaking at The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship this Thursday. Please join us on July 15, 2021 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM (CDT) as we discuss the SBA’s affiliation rules in plain English, from rules governing common ownership and management to lesser-known bases of affiliation such as economic dependence and family relationships.

The Catalyst always has a great group both organizing the events, and attending! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at this event. For more information and to register, visit their site.

COFC Confirms SBA Interpretation of Runway Extension Act

The Court of Federal Claims recently reviewed the Small Business Runway Extension Act, particularly SBA’s contention that it was not bound by the 5-year lookback period that Congress enacted for size receipt calculations. Now, SBA has issued its own rule that it will use the 5-year lookback period, at least after a two-year transition period, as discussed in our earlier posts. But there were still some cases working their way through the courts that examined how Congress implemented the Runway Extension Act and whether it applied to SBA or not. To make a long story short, the court agreed with SBA.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: June 28 -July 9, 2021

Happy Friday! We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July holiday weekend. Despite the holiday, there has been a lot of news and announcements in Federal government contracting these past two weeks. Here are a few articles that we found interesting and informative including news about a new order to bolster cybersecurity, the Pentagon canceling the JEDI Cloud contract and an announcement that Soraya Correa, the Department of Homeland Security’s chief procurement officer, is retiring after more than 40 years of federal service. Have a great weekend!

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CIO-SP4: Is it Limiting Mentor Experience Too Much?

The CIO-SP4 is a big deal for many small and large federal contractors. And lately it’s been a bit of a moving target as to how NITAAC will evaluate the experience of companies working together in prime-sub, mentor-protégé, and joint-venture relationships. We wrote about some of the issues with past performance and other recent changes. One change that caught my eye puts a restriction on the number of experience examples a large business mentor can provide. But should it?

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: June 21-25, 2021

Happy Friday and welcome to this week’s addition of the week in review. I recently got back from a camping trip in 100 degree weather, so I know that staying cool is crucial. Hope you are all staying cool and enjoying the summer.

There were several announcements such as Robin Carnahan‘s confirmation by the Senate as Administrator of the General Services Administration Wednesday afternoon and on Tuesday Kiran Ahuja was also confirmed to be the next director of the Office of Personnel Management. The General Services Administration made awards to 426 small businesses in an effort to provide agencies with more emerging technology options, completing the first phase of its $50 billion 8(a) STARS III contract Thursday. Read on for more details and have a great weekend!

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