SBA proposed a major revamp of how it will interpret and enforce the HUBZone program’s rules back in October of 2019. We wrote about the major changes in a couple of posts (here and here) as well as some of the common misconceptions that SBA cleared up as part of the proposed rule.
Well, the wait is over. SBA will release the final rule November 26 and the new rules will become effective on December 26, 2019.
Continue readingSmallGovCon readers, have a great Thanksgiving! We won’t be posting our weekly roundup next week due to the holiday, but we’ll catch up on any missed news the following week.
In the mean time, enjoy this week’s roundup of federal contracting news. Also be sure to enjoy the family, friends, and food at your Thanksgiving table. My personal favorite–stuffing! Below are some interesting updates about GSA’s investigation into the rocky transition to beta.sam.gov, a guilty plea in a “Rent-A-Vet” Scheme, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division establishing New Business Opportunities.
Continue readingThis week, I wanted to send a special thank you our nation’s veterans. Your service is vital to our country and a big part of the work that many federal contractors perform.
With that in mind, here are some of the interesting federal contracting updates from the past week. This week we have stories about a potential government shutdown, the annual suspension and debarment report, and new tools coming to protect the supply chain from potential malicious actors.
Continue readingKind of like Disney+ for the federal contracting set, the FedBizOpps replacement went live today, November 12. But the parallels don’t stop there. Similar to the new streaming service’s technical issues, beta.SAM.gov has also experienced technical problems, based on our own experience sampling the site.
Continue readingA happy Veterans Day to all veterans and their families as we remember what you’ve done for our country. And there’s good reason for veteran business owners in particular to be happy. The Department of Veteran Affairs has recently made it easier to stay verified as a veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-veteran owned small business.
Continue readingIt’s a busy travel period in our office. Just this week, I went to Warrensburg, Missouri for the Procurement Conference 2019 featuring Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler. It’s been great to chat with folks at these conferences.
Despite all the travel, we’ve been keeping up with federal contracting news. This week, we wanted to share a number of stories, including the Justice Department’s anti-price collusion “strike force”, a crackdown on supply chain cybersecurity, and the number of suspended and debarred contractors fell for the fourth year in a row.
Continue readingI recently returned from the Procurement Conference 2019 featuring Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler in Warrensburg, Mo. It was a great experience! The remarks of the Congresswoman, as well as those of keynote speaker the Hon. Alan Shaffer, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Acquisition & Sustainment.
One theme they both touched on was that the Department of Defense is looking for great ideas from contractors and wants to pay well for those innovative ideas. That’s good news for federal contractors!
Thanks to all who organized the event, especially Bill Stuby with Missouri PTAC. I was able to provide an update on current issues in government contracting to a lively audience. And thanks to all who stopped by our booth to chat!