Category Archives: Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

VA CVE Rejecting 60% Of New SDVOSB Verification Applications

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The VA’s Center for Veterans Enterprise is rejecting about 60% of initial SDVOSB verification applications, according to Thomas Leney, the  VA OSDBU Executive Director.  Leney gave the figure in testimony before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittees on Oversight and Investigations and Economic Opportunity on Friday, August 3.

In an excellent piece on Federal News Radio’s website, reporters Esther Carey, Ruben Gomez and Jared Serbu offer some other interesting insights from Leney’s testimony–including the incredibly broad definition of “unconditional” ownership and control used by the CVE.

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SBA OHA: Not The Place To “File” A SDVOSB Protest

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For small government contractors, SBA size and eligibility issues are of critical importance.  Recognizing this, the SBA provides an independent forum–the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals–to review potential mistakes made by the SBA Area Offices, which decide SBA size protests.

Small government contractors must remember, however, that SBA OHA exists to evaluate the decisions made by SBA Area Offices, not to evaluate new allegations raised for the first time in the course of a SBA OHA appeal.  Case in point: SBA OHA’s recent decision in Size Appeal of In & Out Valet Co., SBA No. SIZ-5354 (2012), in which the protester apparently attempted to “file” a SDVOSB protest with SBA OHA during the course of its SBA size appeal.

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GAO Sustains An Aldevra Protest (Again)

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The original Rocky was popular with audiences and critics alike, rating as the highest-grossing film of 1976 and picking up three Oscars, including Best Picture.  But by the time the franchise reached Rocky V in 1990, the ongoing sequels had become something of a joke.  In a Washington Post review, critic Desson Howe opened with: “Moments after that brutal bout with Dolph Lundgren in “Rocky IV” — and you did watch “Rocky IV,” didn’t you? — Sly Stallone mistakes his wife for his dead boxing coach. This is not a good sign, even for the Rockster.”

Like the Rocky series, the fight between Aldevra and the VA keeps spawning sequels.  For service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, the good news is that Aldevra has won yet another GAO bid protest, challenging the VA’s refusal to consider a SDVOSB set-aside before procuring equipment from the GSA Schedule.  The bad news is that the sequels keep coming, with no sign that the VA will back down.

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Event: SDVOSB Joint Venturing, Teaming and Subcontracting (El Paso, TX)

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I am excited to announce that I will be speaking on “SDVOSB Teaming, Joint Venturing, and Subcontracting” at the 7th Annual Veterans Business Conference in El Paso, Texas.  The conference will be held August 15, 2012 at the Wyndham Airport Hotel.

Joint venturing and teaming can make a SDVOSB more competitive, but can also be complex and risky.  In this presentation, I will demystify the SDVOSB teaming process.  For SDVOSB prime contractors, I will explain how to put together strong and effective joint venture agreements, teaming agreements and subcontracts, avoid common compliance mistakes, and deal with the day-to-day challenges of managing a relationship with a large subcontractor.  And for SDVOSB subcontractors, I will discuss how to negotiate a better deal with a large prime contractor and earn a reputation as the first company a large prime calls when it needs a SDVOSB subcontractor.

In addition to speaking, I will be on the trade show floor at the Petefish, Immel, Heeb & Hird, LLP booth, where I will answer attendees’ questions and sign copies of my book, The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts.

Many thanks to Joseph Conway and the El Paso Contract Opportunities Center for inviting me to be a part of this great event.  For more information, visit the El Paso Contract Opportunities Center website.

VA Replaces Annual SDVOSB Re-Verification With Two-Year System

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The VA has enacted an interim final rule changing the re-verification requirement for SDVOSBs.  Currently, SDVOSBs must be re-verified annually, a process some service-disabled veterans have complained is unnecessary and unduly burdensome.

In the preamble to the rule, the VA writes that although it initially believed annual re-verification would be necessary, “in administering this program since February 2010, VA has concluded that an annual examination is not necessary to adequately maintain the integrity of the program and proposes a 2-year eligibility period.”  The VA notes that although formal re-verification will only be required every two years, SDVOSBs must continue to maintain ongoing program eligibility throughout their terms.

The amendment to the VA’s system has been released as an “interim final rule,” meaning that it is effective immediately, but subject to change.  Comments on the rule (which I would expect will be overwhelmingly positive) are due by August 27, 2012.

GAO: Agencies Must Consider SDVOSB Set-Asides Before Issuing Small Business Set-Aside RFPs

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One day back when I was in fourth grade, my teacher informed our class that Thomas Jefferson had never been a United States president.  I marched to the back of the classroom, pulled out the Encyclopedia Britannica, and quickly proved that Mr. Jefferson had, in fact, served in our nation’s highest office, leading to a chorus of laughter among the fourth graders of Winship Elementary.  After all, it’s rather amusing to find out that the person in charge got it wrong.  (No wonder my teacher never liked me very much after that stunt).

In a recent GAO bid protest decision, both the procuring agency and the SBA initially got it wrong, too, by erroneously relying on outdated regulations to argue that the agency need not consider a SDVOSB set-aside before awarding a small business set-aside contract.  Fortunately for SDVOSBs, the GAO set matters straight.

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GAO Confirms: AbilityOne Trumps SDVOSB for VA Set-Asides

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The VA has been on the receiving end of a number of GAO bid protest decisions, the most recent issued just a few weeks ago, holding that the VA is acting illegally by ordering off the Federal Supply Schedule without first determining whether the procurement at issue can be set-aside for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses.  But the GAO’s recommendations, and the outrage from the veteran community (which, in my opinion, is very well-deserved), have not stopped the VA from pushing ahead with its “FSS First” acquisition strategy.

Now, the VA has pushed SDVOSBs even further toward the back of the line.  The VA has determined that the Javits-Wagner-O’Day, or JWOD Act, which calls for agencies to make certain purchases from nonprofits listed by the Committee for Purchase for People who are Blind or Severely Disabled (also known as the “AbilityOne” program), trumps SDVOSB set-asides for items on the Committee’s list.

And this time, the VA agrees with the GAO.

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