Category Archives: Events

Posts dealing with seminars, webinars, and other government contracting events in which Steven Koprince is a speaker, panelist, sponsor, etc.

SmallGovCon Welcomes Candace Shields

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I am very pleased to announce that Candace Shields is joining our team of government contracts bloggers here at SmallGovCon.

Candace comes to us from the Social Security Administration, where she was an Attorney Advisor for several years.  As an associate attorney at Koprince Law LLC, Candace’s practice focuses on federal government contracts law.

Please check out Candace’s online biography and great first blog post, and be sure to visit SmallGovCon regularly for the latest legal news and notes for small government contractors.

Thank You, Quad Cities!

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I am back from a trip to the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa, where I gave two presentations at the Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposium. My first presentation focused on upcoming legal developments (including the big Kingdomware Supreme Court decision, which is due any day now); my second talk centered on the SBA’s pending universal mentor-protege program.

It was great to spend two days meeting with small government contractors, large mentors and small business liaison officers, government officials and others in the industry.  A big “thank you” to the Iowa/Illinois Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association for organizing an outstanding event.  Thanks also to the Illinois PTAC, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and all of the other event sponsors for their contributions, and to the Midwest SBLO Group for inviting me to address its quarterly meeting.  And of course, thanks to all of those who attended the conference (and my presentations!)

If you weren’t able to make it the Quad Cities for this year’s event, please feel free to contact me for copies of my PowerPoint slides. As for me, I’ll be sticking closer to home for a little while, before kicking off a busy August with a trip to Texas for the 20th Annual Government Procurement Conference.  Hope to see you there!

Thank You, Texas!

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I am back in Lawrence after a great trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the Alliance Texas procurement conference.  At the conference, I was part of a panel discussion on the legal aspects of joint venturing and teaming for small government contractors.

Many thanks to Cathy Doerr and the ShoWorks team for organizing this great event, Stephanie Lewis of the SBA for moderating the panel, and John Ruiz of Miratek for his insightful discussion of his company’s experiences with teaming.  And of course, thanks most of all to the small business owners and others who attended the panel and stopped by the Koprince Law trade show booth.  I enjoyed meeting everyone.

ShoWorks’ series of Alliance procurement conferences doesn’t end in Texas.  Up next: Alliance Baltimore on November 10.  As for me, I’ll next be traveling to the Quad Cities for the annual Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposium.  I hope to see you there!

Thank You, APTAC!

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I am about to leave St. Louis, where I have been since Sunday for the APTAC Spring Conference.  My presentation yesterday focused on common misunderstandings about the SBA’s size and socioeconomic rules (for example, a state WBE certification doesn’t mean that a contractor is a federally-certified WOSB).  Thank you to all of the “PTACers” who attended my presentation and asked such great questions.

But for me, the highlight of the trip was yesterday’s luncheon, where the APTAC membership surprised me with a special “Friend of APTAC” award.  I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be honored by APTAC in this way.  Thank you very much to Terri Bennett, Jason Porch, Becky Peterson, and all of APTAC for this great honor.

I’ve said it once (actually, I’ve said it many times), but if you are a small business in government contracting, you owe it to yourself to see what your local PTAC can do for you.  Visit the ATPAC website to get started.

Thank You, Idaho!

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I am back in Lawrence after a great trip to Idaho for the Idaho Small Business Symposium.  My presentation at the ISBS focused on big legal changes on the horizon in small business contracting, including the SBA’s proposed universal mentor-protege program.

Thank you to all of the small business owners, government officials, and others who attended my session or stopped by to visit me at the Koprince Law booth.  And a special thanks to Lee Velten and Gary Moore of the Idaho PTAC, who put together this fantastic event.

Next up for me: the APTAC Spring Conference in St. Louis, where I look forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces–including my friend Guy Timberlake of the American Small Business Coalition, who will also be speaking at APTAC.  If you are a “PTACer,” I look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

Thank You, Veterans!

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I am back in Lawrence after two great days at the National Veterans Small Business Engagement in Pittsburgh.  I led three Learning Sessions at the NVSBE: the first on SDVOSB joint venturing and teaming, the second on the SBA’s proposed new “universal” mentor-protege program, and the third on the ins and outs of the non-manufacturer rule.

Thank you to all of the veterans, government representatives, and others who attended the sessions–the rooms were packed and the audiences were very engaged.  And thank you, as well, to the organizers of this great annual event, who kindly invited me to speak even though the VA and I don’t exactly see eye to eye on the Kingdomware case.

If you weren’t able to attend my sessions at the NVSBE, I am happy to send you a copy of the slides–just contact me.