COFC Part II: Evaluation of Mentor-Protégé Joint Ventures

A couple of weeks ago, I explored the Court of Federal Claims case of SH Synergy, LLC v. United States. In that blog, linked below, I looked at the first question raised in the protest that centered on the question of whether a mentor with two approved mentor protégé joint ventures with two different protégés under the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program is restricted from placing competing offers for a solicitation, in this case GSA’s Polaris solicitation. The answer to that was yes, they are restricted pursuant to 13 C.F.R. § 125.9. Because this decision was chocked full of useful information, and as promised, I’m back to look at the second issue tackled in this mammoth COFC opinion: did the solicitation’s terms, which required mentor-protégé joint ventures, woman-owned small business joint ventures, and service-disabled veteran owned small business joint ventures to be evaluated in the same manner as offerors, generally, violate procurement regulations? As you will see, the answer to that question is also yes, and it appears that this decision has already had an impact on other procurements.

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Size Standards Applicable to SBA’s Socioeconomic Programs

If you are an avid SmallGovCon reader and a small business government contractor, you are probably no stranger to at least the basics of SBA’s size standards and its size and affiliation regulations (if not, check out some of our other blogs on the subject and keep an eye out for our upcoming new, second edition of the “SBA Small Business Size and Affiliation Rules” handbook). Additionally, most of our readers and most small business government contractors seem to understand at least the basics of SBA’s contract-based size requirements (i.e. that a small business–regardless of socioeconomic designation(s)–must be small under the size standard assigned to any set-aside contract it wants to bid). But did you know, if you are pursuing or participating in one of SBA’s other small business socioeconomic programs (8(a) Program, HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB, etc.), there may actually be some additional size requirements you must meet in order to be generally eligible for such small business socioeconomic statuses?

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8(a) Program and EDWOSB: Are they Economically Disadvantaged Twins or Siblings?

Two of the Small Business Administration’s programs require the applicant to demonstrate that they are economically disadvantaged: the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program) and the Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business Program (EDWOSB). The 8(a) Program requires applicants to be owned and controlled by both socially and economically disadvantaged individuals per 13 C.F.R. § 124.101. Applicants of the EDWOSB program must be owned and controlled by one or more economically disadvantaged women per 13 C.F.R. § 127.200(a)(2). But what exactly does it mean to be “economically disadvantaged,” and do both programs have the same requirements? Below I discuss the economically disadvantaged requirement contained in both programs. Read on to find out whether they are the same, and more.

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Small Business Committee Raises Concerns to SBA About Certification Speed, Category Management

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee held a hearing to discuss how the SBA will meet Small Business Contracting goals, and specifically how the SBA can meet its goals related to socioeconomic programs. The committee challenged the Office of Government Contracting & Business Development to show how they will help grow participation in SBA’s small business development programs, and small business participation in federal contracting as a whole. The Small Business Committee raised questions related to inflation, increasing socio-economic program participation, and SBA technology updates.

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Back to Basics: EDWOSB Eligibility

Last week, Nicole Pottroff went through the basics of eligibility for participation in the SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business (“WOSB”) Federal Contracting Program. Today, I’ll walk you through the additional eligibility requirements for participation in SBA’s Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (“EDWOSB”) Program as stated in 13 C.F.R. § 127.200(a). If it has you feeling a little déjà vu, there is good reason for that. Eligibility requirements for the SBA’s WOSB and EDWOSB Programs are very similar, with only a couple small, but very important, differences.

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Back to Basics: WOSB Eligibility

To level the playing field for women business owners, the Federal Government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses participating in SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business (“WOSB”) Federal Contracting Program. Ideally, those contracts are for specific industries where WOSBs are historically underrepresented. And in fact, the Government even has certain WOSB contracting goals to encourage such set-asides. So, its easy to see why the WOSB Program can be a great opportunity for small businesses to get a leg up in the federal contracting world. But don’t let the name fool you, it takes more than just woman-ownership to get in–and stay in. Let’s take a closer look at SBA’s requirements for becoming certified under the WOSB Program.

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Happy International Women’s Day From All of Us at SmallGovCon!

We at SmallGovCon just wanted to take a minute to wish all the amazing women out there a Happy International Women’s Day! And we would like to send an extra-special shout-out to all of our WOSBs and EDWOSBs while we are at it! It’s been a big year for you all with SBA’s implementation of its new WOSB/EDWOSB certification program.

Here’s to commemorating women’s history of achievement and celebrating the bright future to come!

Questions about SBA’s new WOSB/EDWOSB certification program or WOSB/EDWOSB eligibility? Or need help with a WOSB/EDWOSB contracting legal issue? Email us or give us a call at 785-200-8919.

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