I’m proud to announce that the new GovCon Handbook, Procedures & Pitfalls of Size Protests & Appeals, is now available! This video highlights some of the main topics from the book.
You can order the book here. I’m also conducting a webinar on August 5 to explore some of the key insights. Be sure to check out the webinar or contact me if you have questions.
Last week, I tried to see the Comet NEOWISE, but I couldn’t locate it. Guess that’s why I’m a lawyer and not an astronomer! Maybe some of you had better luck. As we move through the dog days of summer, I hope all our readers are staying cool and healthy.
This week saw a number of interesting federal contracting stories. Among them were tallying up record federal spending during the pandemic, cyber hygiene as part of CMMC, and potential waivers for the Huawei ban.
Continue readingHappy Friday to you all and here’s to the weekend!
This week saw its fair share of government contracting updates as well. These included STARS III details, progress on GSA’s schedule mass modification, and predictions for a government fourth quarter spending spree.
Continue readingAs of July 15, the initial caps on net worth, adjusted gross income, and fair market value of assets for the 8(a) program have gone up. The dollar amounts for initial 8(a) economic disadvantage eligibility have increased quite a bit, making more people economically eligible. Read on for the details on this change.
Continue readingThe Federal Acquisition Regulation has officially been updated to increase the micro-purchase threshold and the simplified acquisition threshold, effective August 31, 2020. Various federal agencies had already increased the thresholds through deviations, but this rule makes it official across the board. A few additional thresholds will increase due to inflation.
Read on for the details on how this could impact federal procurement.
Continue readingHappy Independence Day to all of our SmallGovCon readers! I hope you are able to share some time with family and friends and observe the 4th in a way that means the most to you. Stay healthy and safe.
In this short week, there were still some interesting federal contracting developments. These included debate on National Defense Authorization Act and other congressional initiatives such as the ban on equipment from certain Chinese companies, some challenges for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, and GSA announcing awards for the government e-commerce portal.
Continue readingFans of the blog know that we’re wild about joint ventures: they allow small business contractors to use their size status while, at the same time, leveraging their joint venture partner’s experience and capabilities.
But joint ventures—particularly joint ventures under one of the SBA’s socioeconomic programs—can be tricky to create. For joint ventures between a small and a large company, the venturers first need an approved mentor-protégé agreement. And regardless, for the joint venture to qualify under a socioeconomic designation, that joint venture must have a compliant agreement.
But that’s still not enough to create a compliant joint venture. As a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals decision explains, the small business venturer must unequivocally control the joint venture.
Continue reading