Author Archives: Steven Koprince

Thank You, San Diego!

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I am back in Lawrence after a trip to beautiful San Diego, where I spent three great days.

On Tuesday, I was part of the 2014 Navy Gold Coast conference, where I gave a presentation on GAO bid protests.  A big “thank you” to the Gold Coast organizers for inviting me to participate in one of the country’s premier events for small government contractors, and to the San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center for helping coordinate my presentation.  Thank you, too, to all of the attendees for their courtesy and great questions.

On Thursday, I spent the morning at the offices of the San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center, where I gave a seminar on joint venturing and teaming.  My thanks to Rachel Fischer, Luz Velasco, and the rest of the SDCOC for inviting me to speak and for hosting the event.  And of course, thank you to the attendees for being such a great audience.

If we didn’t connect in San Diego, there will be more opportunities on the horizon: I will be speaking at industry events in Oklahoma, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico in the coming months.

Davis-Bacon Act Fraud: Subcontractor’s Owner Sentenced

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Davis-Bacon Act fraud has resulted in a criminal sentence for the owner of a now-defunct construction subcontractor.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the subcontractor’s owner has been sentenced to four years of probation (including 18 months of home confinement) and ordered to pay $164,627 in restitution, after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to pay employees less than prevailing wages on a federal construction project in Boston.

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Price Realism: Agency Erred By Failing To Conduct Analysis

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An agency erred by failing to conduct a price realism analysis for a time-and-materials contract with fixed-price fully-burdened labor rates.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO acknowledged that a solicitation of this type does not always require that the agency engage in a price realism analysis, but found that the terms of the particular solicitation called for such an analysis–and that the agency acted unreasonably by ignoring the solicitation’s requirement.

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Thank You, Texas!

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I am back in Kansas after a trip to Texas, where I spoke at the 18th Annual Government Procurement Conference.  My presentation provided an overview of recent legal developments of importance to small government contractors, as well as a look at potential changes on the horizon.  In between sessions, I met lots of engaging industry and government representatives in the exhibit hall and enjoyed listening to a great roster of speakers over lunch.

A big “thank you” to Gregory James and his team at the Cross Timbers Procurement Center for sponsoring this great event and inviting me to participate.  Thank you, also, to the many other speakers who shared their knowledge and guidance about a wide range of government contracting topics.  And, of course, a big thank you to the hundreds of government contractors, government representatives, and others who attended the conference.

Reverse Auctions: House-Passed NDAA Prohibits Use on Many Small Business Procurements

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Reverse auctions would be prohibited for many small business procurements under a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, which has been passed by the House of Representatives.

Under the bill, reverse auctions would be disallowed when the government seeks to award a “covered contract,” so long as the contract is suitable for small businesses or is set-aside under one of many small business preference programs.

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Government Meets FY 13 Small Business Goal; HUBZones and WOSBs Fall Short

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Small businesses were awarded 23.39% of prime contracting dollars in Fiscal Year 2013, a jump of more than a percentage point from FY 2012 levels–and above the 23% government-wide goal for the first time in several years.

According to the recently-released SBA Procurement Scorecard, the government exceeded its goals for SDVOSBs and SDBs, but failed to hit its targets for HUBZones and WOSBs.  Despite these shortfalls, the SBA gave the government an overall “A” rating for its FY 2013 performance.

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August Events: TX, CA & OK

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August will be a very exciting and busy month as I will be speaking at government contracting events in Texas, California and Oklahoma.

My first stop is the Government Procurement Conference in Arlington, Texas on August 6.  I will be giving a brief morning keynote on recent legal developments in government contracting, followed by an in-depth breakout session on the same subject.  My next stop will be sunny San Diego, California.  On August 12, I will be presenting a workshop on GAO Bid Protests at the Navy Gold Coast Conference.  I will stick around San Diego through August 14th, when I will present a session on joint venturing and teaming, sponsored by the San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center.  My final August stop will be the Indian Country Business Summit in Norman, Oklahoma on August 26 and 27.  My workshop will focus on teaming agreements.

Please let me know if you will be at any of these great events.  See you there!