The government awarded 24.99% of prime contracting dollars to small businesses in Fiscal Year 2014, a sharp increase over the 23.39% figure from 2013.
The SBA’s 2014 Small Business Procurement Scorecard, which was released today, shows that the government beat its 23% goal for the second year running. It wasn’t all good news, though: the government again failed to meet its WOSB and HUBZone goals.
A company’s failure to certify itself as a small business on its SAM profile resulted in the elimination of the company from a set-aside competition.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that a procuring agency properly excluded the low bidder from award of a small business set-aside contract because the low bidder’s SAM profile stated that it was not a small business under the solicitation’s NAICS code.
The FAR Council recently proposed amendments to Part 19 regarding large prime contractors’ subcontracting plans. The amendments require, among other things, that a large prime include in its subcontracting plan the “NAICS code and corresponding size standard of each subcontract” that it will award to a small business.
The proposed FAR amendment assumes that large prime contractors are assigning NAICS codes to their subcontracts, and with good reason–the SBA’s regulations require it. In my experience, however, many large primes are not doing so.
Last week, SmallGovCon hit a milestone: the 500th post since the blog began publication in May 2012.
At the beginning, I wondered whether anyone would pay attention to a blog focusing exclusively on legal issues of interest to small government contractors. I don’t wonder anymore. According to Google Analytics, several hundred readers visit SmallGovCon each weekday–sometimes, many more than that. Even if it weren’t for Google’s metrics, I would know that SmallGovCon has filled an important information gap from the comments I receive whenever I am on the road at industry events. Many people I meet for the first time don’t know me yet, but they do know SmallGovCon.
I have been fortunate to write for a bright, articulate audience of contractors and industry professionals. Yes, that means you. So whether you are a first-time reader or long-time follower, thank you for reading SmallGovCon. A blog is nothing without its readers, and I am honored–and humbled–to be read by you.
An agency improperly downgraded a proposal simply because the proposal’s full-time equivalents (FTEs) differed from the agency’s undisclosed internal estimate.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO concluded that an agency’s “mechanical” evaluation of the adequacy of an offeror’s proposed staffing by reference to an undisclosed government estimate was improper, because the estimate was not disclosed to the offeror and the agency failed to give the offeror an opportunity to address the differences between the offeror’s proposed staffing and the government estimate.
As 2013 begins to draw to a close, there is still no shortage of government contracting news and commentary.
This week, many headlines were dedicated to a GAO report on reverse auctions (as well as the VA’s decision to suspend their use). Those reverse auction stories, along with articles about the shakeup at the VA CVE, labor law violations, and much more, are in this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review.
After a Thanksgiving hiatus (which I spent enjoying traditional American pastimes such as eating and watching football, rather than reading bid protest decisions), it’s time to get back to government contracts news.
In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, the VA has cancelled the contract of the company performing SDVOSB verifications. The implications are anyone’s guess, but they probably aren’t good–and Jill Aitoro’s story in the Washington Business Journal is a “must read” for all SDVOSBs. Other news and commentary of note includes a new GSA sourcing plan, a breakdown of 8(a) STARS II numbers, “crazy subcontractors” and more.