It promises to be a beautiful (albeit rainy) fall weekend here in Lawrence. We hope that your weekend is shaping up nicely, too.
In this week’s edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, an update on the National Cybersecurity Strategy, key mistakes small business contractors should avoid, tips on how to get IT contracts, and much more.
Have a great weekend!
It’s easy to forget that roughly a year ago, Equifax was hacked, which compromised the personal information of roughly 145.5 million individuals. The scope of the breach was concerning for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that Equifax was providing identity verification services for three federal agencies at the time it was attacked.
In a recent report, GAO reviewed how these agencies responded to the attack. While not making any specific recommendations at this time, GAO’s report does highlight the extent to which federal agencies were not fully prepared for cyberattacks on private contractors.
As the incumbent contractor, you’re excited to bid on the successor contract. The day it’s posted, you dash to fbo.gov, pull up the solicitation, and breathe a sigh of relief: the contract is still exclusively a small business set-aside. But wait! Under the assigned NAICS code your business doesn’t fall below the size standard.
Can the agency change the NAICS code from one iteration of the contract to another? Sure, so long as the selected NAICS code meets the regulatory standard.
The Department of Defense’s micro-purchase threshold will double, from $5,000 to $10,000, under the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
The increase in the DoD micro-purchase threshold will put the DoD on par with civilian agencies after Congress increased the civilian micro-purchase threshold to $10,000 in last year’s NDAA.
We’re halfway through the government’s fourth quarter, and experienced contractors know what that means–lots of awards on the horizon.
According to a fascinating new analysis from USASpending.gov, the fourth quarter spike in contract awards is quite real, and quite significant: the value of average weekly contract spending in the final week of the fiscal year is more than double that of the next-highest weekly average.
I am back in the Midwest after a great trip to San Diego for the 2018 Department of the Navy Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event. I was part of a PTAC-sponsored legal panel on small business issues, and enjoyed speaking with contractors, government representatives, and others on the trade show floor.
Thank you very much to the San Diego chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association for sponsoring this fantastic event and inviting me to speak. And a big thank you to the many contractors who attended the session and asked great questions.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of attending Gold Coast, I strongly encourage you to put it on your radar screen for 2019. It’s hard to beat a great conference in a great city. As for me, I’ll be hitting the road again soon: I will be in Norman, Oklahoma on August 21 and 22 for the annual Indian Country Business Summit. Hope to see you there!
A small business “can have no more than two [SBA] mentors over the life of the business,” according to the SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protege Program website.
The SBA’s clarification of the lifetime limit provides important guidance for proteges, especially because the SBA’s mentor-protege regulations aren’t exactly crystal clear when it comes to this point. The SBA’s limit ensures that small businesses don’t become permanent proteges–but is “two per lifetime” the best way to carry out that policy?