SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 10-14, 2016

It’s mid-October, and my Chicago Cubs are still playing.  After a thrilling comeback win over the Giants, the Cubs will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers starting tomorrow in the National League Championship Series.  Will this be the year that the Cubs break the Billy Goat Curse and allow their fans to think about The Simpsons instead of the 2003 playoffs when they hear the word “Bartman”?

Time will tell.  But as the baseball playoffs move forward, I’m keeping my eyes on government contracting news–and there’s plenty of it this week.  In the latest SmallGovCon Week In Review,  a large trade group has filed a lawsuit to block the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule, GSA updates its Dun & Bradstreet contract, Guy Timberlake addresses the potential effects of the 2017 NDAA, and much more.

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150 Bid Protests And Counting: My “Federal Drive With Tom Temin” Interview

In August, I wrote about a highly unusual case in which a company–which had filed 150 protests in the current fiscal year–was suspended from filing GAO bid protests for one year. I recently spoke with Tom Temin on his radio show Federal Drive to talk about GAO’s  decision.

If you missed the live conversation, you can click here to listen to the recorded audio from Federal News Radio. And be sure to tune in to Federal Drive with Tom Temin, which airs from 6-10 a.m EST on 1500 AM in the Washington, DC region and online everywhere.

Large Business Ineligible For SDVOSB Verification Protest, Says Court

A large business couldn’t demonstrate that it was eligible to pursue a bid protest challenging a VA SDVOSB sole source contract award.

In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that a protester, which was a large business under the NAICS code assigned to the SDVOSB sole source contract, had not demonstrated standing to challenge the contract award. The sole source contract in question wasn’t just any contract, either–but a contract to oversee the VA’s verification process for SDVOSBs and VOSBs.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 3-7, 2016

While we are diving into fall weather here in Kansas, my colleagues and I are thinking of everyone on the East Coast dealing with Hurricane Matthew.  We hope that everyone makes it through the storm safe and sound.

Hurricane Matthew is at the top of the news headlines this week, but there’s still plenty happening in the world of government contracting.  In this edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, we bring you articles final FAR rule restricting awards to companies with unpaid tax liabilities, two separate cases regarding alleged discrimination by government contractors, a new beta version of a Freedom of Information Act Wiki was launched, a major expansion of the HUBZone program, and much more.

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SDVOSB & 8(a) Fraud: Prison Sentences Handed Down

A North Carolina couple is heading to prison after being convicted of defrauding the SDVOSB and 8(a) Programs.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Ricky Lanier was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and his wife, Katrina Lanier, was sentenced to 30 months for their roles in a long-running scheme to defraud two of the government’s cornerstone socioeconomic contracting programs.

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SBA Releases “All Small” Mentor-Protege Template & Application

The SBA has released a sample template mentor-protege agreement, and accompanying application information, for its new “all small” mentor-protege program.

The template calls for the parties to select from up to six categories of assistance that the mentor may provide, and requires the parties to set forth specific details about the nature of the planned assistance, the timeline for providing it, and milestones for measuring success.  The application form, in turn, requires the protege to have a written business plan, and will require mentors and proteges to complete an online training module if they apply after November 1, 2016.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: September 26-30, 2016

Fall is officially here, and that means that the leaves are turning color, it’s apple-picking season, and football is a big part of my typical weekend (both on TV, and chasing around my three-year-old son as he scores touchdown after touchdown in our living room).

But for those of us involved in federal government contracts, it’s hard to think of the fall without also thinking of the end of the government’s fiscal year, and all that it entails.  In this, the final SmallGovCon Week in Review of the 2016 Fiscal Year, we have stories on a large software vendor pulling out of the GSA schedule, Guy Timberlake’s unvarnished–and very important–commentary on a terrible change being proposed to small business goaling, and more.

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