Category Archives: Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

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GAO bid protest decision, both the procuring agency and the SBA initially got it wrong, too, by erroneously relying on outdated regulations to argue that the agency need not consider a SDVOSB set-aside before awarding a small business set-aside contract.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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FAA: SDVOSBs Must Be Verified in VetBiz to Receive Set-Aside Awards

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Want to receive a service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside contract from the Federal Aviation Administration?  Get listed in the VA’s VetBiz database.  The FAA has adopted a regulation requiring VA VetBiz certification as a requirement of winning a FAA SDVOSB set-aside award.  One interesting question: will other agencies follow the FAA’s lead?

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Here We Go Again: Another Aldevra-Style GAO Protest Sustained–Is a Court Resolution Looming?

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Kids love repetition.  Even though my daughter isn’t 10 months old yet, some of her favorite games involve doing the same thing over and over.  For instance, she throws a toy.  I pick it up and give it back to her.  She throws it again.  And so on.  She finds this hilarious, whereas I find the whole thing funny just because she’s so adorable (I admit to a bit of bias).

Repetition is also the name of the game in the GAO’s standoff with the VA over the VA’s refusal to set-aside procurements for SDVOSBs before procuring goods and services under the Federal Supply Schedule.  The GAO recently sustained yet another bid protest, holding that the VA had improperly awarded a contract to a non-SDVOSB, even though 20 or more SDVOSBs were capable of doing the work.  But before long, the showdown between the GAO and the VA may end, because one SDVOSB seems to have taken the matter to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which–unlike the GAO–has the power to compel the VA to put “Veterans First.”

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SDVOSB Eligibility: Lack of VetBiz Verification Irrelevant for Non-VA SDVOSB Set-Asides

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“So what?”

That, in essence, is what the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals had to say in a recent SDVOSB appeal decision, in which the protester contended that the service-disabled veteran-owned small business in question was not listed in the VA’s VetBiz database.  The SBA OHA decision serves as an important reminder: CVE verification only matters for VA SDVOSB set-asides.  When another agency sets-aside a procurement for SDVOSBs, there is no requirement that the awardee be listed in the VetBiz database.

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SBA OHA: VA Mentor-Protege Program Does Not Protect Participants From Affiliation

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My parents taught me that it’s not polite to say, “I told you so.”  Mom and Dad are big proponents of being polite, and their lessons (by and large) stuck.  For instance, even in this day and age of abbreviated text messages and quick emails written on handheld devices, I always begin and end every business email with a salutation, and end with “regards,” or something along those lines.  Unnecessary?  Perhaps.  But I like to think I am going the extra mile toward being polite.

Today, however, politeness is going to have to take a little hiatus, because I can’t resist saying, “I told you so.”  For more than a year, I have been warning small government contractors that assistance received from a mentor firm under any federal mentor-protege program other than the SBA 8(a) mentor-protege program or DoD mentor-protege program is probably not shielded from the SBA’s affiliation analysis.

Now, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals has confirmed that participating in the VA’s mentor-protege program does not offer any protection from affiliation.

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The Aldevra Saga Continues–and the GAO Throws the VA Some Lifelines

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The VA has gotten beaten up pretty badly at the GAO lately.  The governmental watchdog agency continues to sustain protests (the most notable being filed by a company named Aldevra) on the basis that the VA’s practice of obtaining goods and services on the Federal Supply Schedule without first determining whether the procurements can be set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses or veteran-owned small businesses is illegal.

However, in a recent bid protest decision regarding the same issue, the GAO ruled in the VA’s favor—and its ruling could bring an end to the Aldevra saga (an end many SDVOSBs and VOSBs are likely to find very unsatisfactory), if the VA accepts the GAO’s lifeline.

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