Author Archives: Steven Koprince

SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 18-22, 2017

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Greetings from Omaha, where I’ve just wrapped up a great half-day training session sponsored by the Nebraska PTAC.  If you haven’t been to Omaha, you’re missing out: I’m enjoying exploring the Old Market District, and keep wondering when I’ll run into Warren Buffett.

Of course, I’m not about to let a little road trip get in the way of our weekly roundup of government contracts news. In this edition of the SmallGovCon Week In Review, we have an update on an SDVOSB fraud case that we have been following for awhile, a push to close loopholes in the Buy American Act, some promising changes for the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee program, and more.

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SBA OHA Confirms Strict SDVOSB “Unconditional Ownership” Requirements

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Provisions in a company’s Shareholders Agreement, requiring the service-disabled veteran to sell his shares back to the company in the event of the veteran’s death or incapacity, were contrary to the SBA’s SDVOSB regulations.

According to a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals decision, these provisions prevented the veteran from having unconditional ownership over the company, because he could not dispose of his shares as he chose.  In reaching its conclusion, SBA OHA wrote that Court of Federal Claims decisions allowing such provisions under the VA’s SDVOSB program didn’t apply to SBA–meaning that SDVOSBs verified by the VA might be ineligible for non-VA SDVOSB contracts.

What a mess.

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Small Business Set-Asides: When The “Rule Of Two” Becomes The “Rule Of One”

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An agency isn’t required to cancel a small business set-aside solicitation if the agency learns that one of the small businesses upon whom the set-aside decision rested is no longer small.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that an agency need not redo its “rule of two” determination when a potential small business competitor outgrows its size standard–even if it could effectively convert a particular solicitation into a “rule of one.”

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 11-15, 2017

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As we get closer to the end of the fiscal year, things can get a little crazy in the world of government contracts.  This week is no exception, with plenty of news and commentary in our SmallGovCon Week In Review.

In this mid-September edition, court documents reveal a bribery scheme centered on a former VA OSDBU official, the GSA has relaxed certain contracting rules to speed efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey, the OFPP is planning a third in its series of highly-regarded “mythbusters” memos, and much more.

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Release of Claims: Contractor Signatory Must Have Authority

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What goes around, comes around.

The government sometimes refuses to pay a contractor for a modification when the government official requesting the modification lacks appropriate authority.  But contractual authority isn’t a one-way street benefiting only the government.  A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals demonstrates that a contractor may not be bound by a final waiver and release of claims if the individual signing on the contractor’s behalf lacked authority.

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SmallGovCon Welcomes Shane McCall

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I am pleased to announce that Shane McCall has joined our team of government contracts attorney-authors here at SmallGovCon.  Shane is an associate attorney with Koprince Law LLC, where his practice focuses on federal government contracts law.

Before joining our team,  Shane was an attorney with Lentz Clark Deines PA, where he advised individuals and small businesses alike on complex legal matters.  Check out Shane’s full biography to learn more about our newest author, and don’t miss his first SmallGovCon post on how “fair and reasonable pricing” is evaluated under solicitations requiring line-item prices.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 5-8, 2017

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Football season is back, and the Chiefs certainly gave those in our neck of the woods something to cheer for last night. I wish I could say I felt sorry for our SmallGovCon Patriots fans, but those five Super Bowl Rings ought to take the sting out of an opening-week loss.

I’ll be watching my share of football on Sunday, but before the weekend starts, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week In Review.  In this edition, two Arkansas men are headed to trial on procurement fraud charges, GSA awarded a $700 billion contract, a company vying for a piece of the border wall contract was previously investigated for alleged mentor-protege improprieties, and much more.

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