8(a) Program: OHA Judge Slams SBA For Claim It Cannot Play DVDs

The SBA’s claim that it could not access information provided by an 8(a) program applicant in DVD format was “not credible,” according to a recent 8(a) program appeal ruling issued by the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.

In Sunrise Staffing, SBA No. BDPE-499 (2013), the SBA OHA–in an unusually sharply-worded opinion–rejected the SBA’s excuses for not reviewing relevant information provided by the 8(a) program applicant, and granted the applicant’s 8(a) appeal.

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8(a) Program: Lack Of Business Development Effort Results In Termination

An 8(a) firm’s failure to actively pursue its business has caused the SBA to terminate the firm from the 8(a) program.

Upholding the termination, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals noted that if an 8(a) firm’s fails to make substantial and sustained efforts to obtain business, the SBA is justified in kicking the firm out of the 8(a) program.

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Economic Dependence Affiliation Can Be Created By Single Contract

Economic dependence affiliation under the SBA’s affiliation rules can be created by a single ongoing contract, according to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.

In a recent size appeal decision, SBA OHA held that a single contract amounting to more than 90% of an 8(a) applicant’s revenues over two years resulted in economic dependence affiliation.

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8(a) Joint Ventures Are Not 8(a) Program Participants, Says SBA OHA

8(a) joint ventures are not 8(a) program participants, according to a recent (and commonsense) decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.

In its decision, SBA rejected a joint venture’s argument that its 8(a) joint venture agreement was essentially an 8(a) program application, drawing a jurisdictional decision between 8(a) program certification and 8(a) joint venture agreement approval.

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SBA’s Successor-In-Interest Affiliation Rule Limited To “Reborn” Companies

The SBA’s “successor-in-interest” affiliation rule provides that a government contractor can be affiliated with a dissolved or liquidated company, but only if the government contractor acquires “all, or nearly all” of the dissolved company’s assets and liabilities.

According to a recent commonsense decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, the successor-in-interest affiliation rule does not apply when a government contractor acquires only some of the dissolved company’s assets and liabilities.

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SBA 8(a) Program: Termination For “Full Time Employment” Violation Upheld

A participant in the SBA’s 8(a) Program was appropriately terminated because the company’s disadvantaged owner took another full-time job without the SBA’s permission.

The recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals decision upholding the termination is an important reminder of the limitations on outside employment for 8(a) owners–as well as a reminder of the importance to 8(a) firms of ongoing honesty and forthrightness with the SBA.

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SDVOSB Joint Ventures: Supermajority Provision Defeats Eligibility, Says SBA OHA

A SDVOSB joint venture was not eligible for award of a SDVOB set-aside contract because its joint venture agreement called for certain decisions to be made by supermajority vote.

As explained by the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals in its decision finding the SDVOSB joint venture ineligible, the supermajority provision undermined the regulatory requirement that a SDVOSB joint venture be managed by an eligible SDVOSB.

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