When submitting an offer, it is important to make sure that all the requirements of the solicitation are met. This is essentially Federal Government Contracting 101 and applies to any type of solicitation. In RELX, Inc., B-421597.2, 2023 CPD ¶ 262 (Comp. Gen. Nov. 17, 2023), GAO looked at this issue in the context of a lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) solicitation for a brand name or better product, with an unexpected ending that the protester surely did not see coming.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Federal Government Contracting
FAR Subcontracting Plan Update: Credit for Lower Tier Subcontractors Means Lower Tier No Longer Lower Value
Updates to the SBA’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan regulations in response to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 Section 870 are changing the circumstances in which a prime contractor can receive credit for lower-tier subcontractors, effective November 13, 2023. Such changes make the inclusion of lower-tier subcontractors in certain situations optional and put the onus on the lower tier subcontractors to report such work to the SBA if the lower tier subcontractor wishes to receive credit. It is important to note that these changes have no effect on any first tier subcontracting requirements.
Continue readingRoom for Improvement: Statistics Suggest It is Unclear if Large Businesses are Meeting Small Business Subcontracting Goals.
Just as agencies have established goals to award a certain percentage of their procurements to small businesses and businesses participating in socio-economic programs like the 8(a) Program, large business contractors must establish goals to include small business subcontractors in their pool of subcontractors for unrestricted awards over the applicable threshold in FAR 19.702 ($750,000 for most contracts, $1.5 million for construction contracts). While the specific goal will vary with each contract (or in some cases may be on a company-wide basis), it is rare for a contracting officer to find a large business hasn’t met the given goal. However, an investigation by GAO indicates that large business contractors aren’t meeting their small business subcontracting goals as often as the government would hope. Let’s take a deeper look at these findings.
Continue readingSBA OIG Report Shows Improvements in 8(a) and Woman-Owned Small Business Programs
The Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released its report discussing the top management and performance challenges facing the SBA in 2024. The report highlights a number of issues currently plaguing the SBA and its various programs, including abuse of economic relief programs, disaster assistance programs, and loan programs, cyber security shortcomings within the agency, and oversight of grant management. The report also notes concerns with the HUBZone and small disadvantaged business programs. However, today I want to focus on the issues identified in two programs that we at Koprince McCall Pottroff work with day in and day out: the Woman-Owned Small Business Program and the 8(a) Business Development Program.
Continue readingDoD Proposes Updates to its Mentor-Protégé Program
Many federal contractors know of and participate in the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program. However, there are many agency specific Mentor-Protégé Programs, including the oldest continuous program, the Department of Defense’s Mentor-Protégé Program. The DoD’s program has been operating since around the First Gulf War, and like any good machine that is a few decades old, regularly needs some updates. Just in the past week, the DoD released the newest proposed changes to its program.
Continue readingUPDATE: SBA Reopens its Certify Site for all 8(a) Program Applicants
It’s the moment many have been waiting for–SBA has reopened its Certify portal to new applicants seeking admission into the 8(a) Business Development Program. SBA closed the portal to all new 8(a) Program applicants in early August 2023, following a decision from the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee that took away applicant’s presumption of social disadvantage for certain designated groups. This resulted in all 8(a) participants being required to submit a social disadvantage narrative. To address this issue, SBA opened Certify bit by bit to current participants who had not previously submitted a social disadvantage narrative, prioritizing current 8(a) participants with pending awards followed by current 8(a) participants without pending awards. Now, SBA has opened Certify to new applicants that wish to apply for participation in the 8(a) Program who now must demonstrate their social disadvantage.
Continue readingWatching the Watchman – New FAR Rule Opens Door to Further Feedback on Acquisition Process
In Fiscal Year 2022, 1,595 bid protests were filed with GAO. While that seems like a large number, it pales in comparison to the number of federal contracts the federal government awards in a given year. On average, the government awards over 11 million contracts per year. That’s a lot of acquisitions that are not subject to any feedback from outside the agency. But things might change now with the new rule that the FAR Council enacted. Today, we’ll take a look at what this entails.
Continue reading