Author Archives: Shane McCall

SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 7 – October 11, 2019

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The end of the government’s fiscal year always brings a rash of government purchasing. We hope the government’s purchasing push has been good for all of our readers. As you recover from the busy last couple of weeks, enjoy this week’s updates in government contracting, which may help put some perspective on what just happened at the end of the last fiscal year and identify future trends for government acquisitions.

This week’s updates include a recap of large defense deals, the future of the Federal Data Strategy, and a State Department contracting officer convicted of bribery.

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VA Updates Guidance on SDVOSB Joint Ventures, Fixes Error

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As of September 2019, the VA has updated its Verification Assistance Brief on SDVOSB joint ventures. The old assistance brief was last revised in 2017 and contained some incorrect information. To its credit, this update removes the wrong info and it contains some additional guidance that could be helpful for SDVOSB joint venture members.

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“We Couldn’t View the Solicitation,” Argues Protester

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The first step in competing for a federal contract is knowing that an opportunity exists in the first place. In a recent protest, a contractor argued it was not able to find an opportunity despite routinely searching the appropriate federal procurement opportunity system, e-Buy. Thus, according to the protesting company, the procurement was not properly publicized and the award was improper.

GAO did not agree.

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SBA Adds Affiliation Questions to Revised All Small Mentor-Protege Template

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With little fanfare, the SBA has updated the template for agreements under the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP). The new template adds a series of check box-style questions, mainly about potential affiliation between the mentor and protege.

Be sure to check out the new template if you are working on a mentor-protégé agreement.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 30 – October 4, 2019

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Hi there loyal readers! We’ve been getting some great cool fall weather here in Lawrence. Seems like summer is officially over. Hope you’re enjoying fall as well.

We also hope you enjoy’s this week’s round-up of government contracting news, including stories about GSA’s new commercial e-Marketplace, issues impacting women veteran-owned businesses, and an update to LPTA procurements for non-DOD agencies (we recently blogged about the related LPTA update for DOD agencies).

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 23 – September 27, 2019

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Happy Fall Ya’ll! We’ve finally been getting a welcome taste of fall weather, after what seemed like a very long summer season. Hope you are enjoying the season change as much as we are.

But for now, it’s time for another dose of government contracting news. This week, stories about increased use of AI in government contracting, the role of small business in the next moon mission, and a guilty plea for rigging bids at government auctions.

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GAO Upholds Agency’s Cancellation of LPTA Procurement with only One Acceptable Offer

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Pop quiz: Your company is the only technically acceptable offeror in an lowest-priced, technically acceptable procurement. You win, right? Not when the agency cancels the solicitation, hoping that a cheaper offeror who was not technically acceptable will submit a bid if given another chance. GAO recently considered this very scenario.

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