Author Archives: Steven Koprince

Five Things You Should Know: Eligibility for Small Disadvantaged Business Self-Certification

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The Administration’s recent announcement that it plans to boost Small Disadvantaged Business contracting by 50% means that we may see increased interest by government agencies and large prime contractors alike in doing business with self-certified SDBs.

But my guess is that the Administration’s push will come with additional oversight, too–after all, increasing the goal isn’t worth much if the government cannot be confident that the contracts it counts toward its SDB goals were awarded to eligible entities. In my experience, many contractors check the SDB box in SAM without fully understanding what it takes to be an eligible Small Disadvantaged Business under federal contracting laws.

So before you click that box (or re-click it on your next SAM update) here are five things you should know about eligibility for self-certified SDB status.

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Event: 8(a) Program Conversation with Teresa Moon of Parabilis

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For disadvantaged small businesses, the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program can help level the playing field by providing powerful benefits, including access to sole source and set-aside contracts. And in the wake of the Administration’s announcement that it will attempt to boost SDB contracting by 50%, this could be the right time for many businesses to consider an 8(a) Program application.

On Wednesday, June 30 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, please join me as I discuss the 8(a) Program with Teresa Moon of Parabilis. As a back-and-forth conversation (not a webinar), this promises to be an informative and fun event. Click here to sign up. See you on June 30!

Five Things You Should Know: Common Misconceptions About SBA’s Affiliation Rules

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Avoiding affiliation with other companies can be critical to qualifying as a small business under the SBA’s rules for government contractors. But not all SBA affiliation rules are intuitive, and in my career as a government contracts attorney I have seen the same misconceptions about the affiliation rules come up time and and time again.

So without further ado, here are five common misconceptions about the SBA’s affiliation rules.

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Happy Anniversary, SDVOSBs: The Supreme Court’s Kingdomware Decision Was Five Years Ago Today

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For SDVOSBs and VOSBs, June 16, 2016 was a monumental day. That morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, holding that the VA must follow the law by putting “veterans first” in VA contracting.

Koprince Law LLC was honored to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting Kingdomware, and my colleagues and I were thrilled with the Court’s 8-0 decision. Click here to check out my post from June 16, 2016 proclaiming “Victory!” for SDVOSBs and VOSBs in this watershed case.

The Kingdomware decision didn’t (and couldn’t) solve every problem that some SDVOSBs and VOSBs have had with VA’s contracting practices, but five years later there is no doubt in my mind that the Court’s decision has been the driving force behind a large increase in VA’s SDVOSB and VOSB contracting. Happy anniversary!

Agency Properly Awarded Contract to Company with Nine Negative CPARs

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Among some contractors, it’s taken as an article of faith that even a single negative Contractor Performance Assessment Report will effectively preclude the contractor from winning new government work.

While it’s undoubtedly true, in my opinion, that some Contracting Officers place too much emphasis on a single less-than-perfect CPAR, it’s also true that a contractor with multiple negative CPARs can still win government contracts, so long as the government reasonably believes that the contractor can successfully perform the new work. Case in point: a recent GAO bid protest decision upholding an award to a company with nine (count ’em!) recent, relevant and negative CPARs.

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Event: Government Contracting Ethics, Hosted by Govology

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In the commercial world, it’s normal to buy a good customer a holiday gift. But when your customer is Uncle Sam, you might break the law by giving that same gift.

The government contracting ethics rules aren’t always as cut-and-dried as “don’t give the contracting officer a briefcase full of unmarked bills” (although you shouldn’t do that, either!) and the government’s rules sometimes vary from commercial norms. On June 10, please join me and Shane McCall as we cover the key ethics and related rules contractors should know, including gift/gratuity rules, the False Claims Act, Procurement Integrity Act, anti-kickback rules, contingency fee restrictions, conflicts of interest and much more.

This webinar is hosted by our friends at Govology and it’s easy to register: just click here. Shane and I hope to see you on June 10!

The CIO-SP4 RFP Allows Broad Past Performance Information–But Does It Go Too Far?

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One of my major concerns with the draft solicitation for the CIO-SP4 GWAC was the limited nature of the past performance NITAAC intended to consider. Under the draft RFP, NITAAC would not have considered the past performance of subcontractors–something I believed violated 13 C.F.R. 125.2(g) in certain cases, and was contrary to the guidance of FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii), which says that agencies “should” consider the past performance of “subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement.”

The good news is that the final CIO-SP4 RFP fixes this problem. That’s a relief for a lot of potential offerors. But now I’m concerned that NITAAC went too far in the other direction!

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