Koprince Law Welcomes Kevin Wickliffe

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Shane McCall

We are pleased to announce that Kevin Wickliffe has joined our team of government contracts attorney-authors here at Koprince Law. Before joining our team, Kevin served as general counsel and chief compliance officer at a federally registered institutional, manager-of-managers, investment adviser. His combined regulatory compliance, business, and legal experience give him a unique perspective in providing legal assistance on transactional matters and in interpreting the government’s complex rules and regulations. Check out Kevin’s full biography to learn more about our newest attorney, and don’t miss his first SmallGovCon post concerning email notice for bid protests.

Agency Properly Awarded Contract to Company with Nine Negative CPARs

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Steven Koprince

Among some contractors, it’s taken as an article of faith that even a single negative Contractor Performance Assessment Report will effectively preclude the contractor from winning new government work.

While it’s undoubtedly true, in my opinion, that some Contracting Officers place too much emphasis on a single less-than-perfect CPAR, it’s also true that a contractor with multiple negative CPARs can still win government contracts, so long as the government reasonably believes that the contractor can successfully perform the new work. Case in point: a recent GAO bid protest decision upholding an award to a company with nine (count ’em!) recent, relevant and negative CPARs.

Event: Government Contracting Ethics, Hosted by Govology

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Steven Koprince

In the commercial world, it’s normal to buy a good customer a holiday gift. But when your customer is Uncle Sam, you might break the law by giving that same gift.

The government contracting ethics rules aren’t always as cut-and-dried as “don’t give the contracting officer a briefcase full of unmarked bills” (although you shouldn’t do that, either!) and the government’s rules sometimes vary from commercial norms. On June 10, please join me and Shane McCall as we cover the key ethics and related rules contractors should know, including gift/gratuity rules, the False Claims Act, Procurement Integrity Act, anti-kickback rules, contingency fee restrictions, conflicts of interest and much more.

This webinar is hosted by our friends at Govology and it’s easy to register: just click here. Shane and I hope to see you on June 10!

SmallGovCon: Week in Review May 31-June 4, 2021

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday blog readers! Can you believe that it is already June? The sunshine and warmer temperatures have returned here in the Midwest and I, for one, am grateful for it. We hope you can get out and enjoy the sunshine this weekend.

There has been a lot of activity in the federal government contracting arena this week. Some noteworthy items are the announcements from the Biden administration concerning agency hiring initiatives, a 5% increase in federal contracts set asides for small disadvantaged businesses, and legislation that will examine if federal agencies should relocate from Washington D.C. Read on for all the details. We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program Now Closed

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Nicole Pottroff

SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans provided nearly $800 billion dollars of crucial financial support to over 8.5 million businesses and nonprofit organizations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the proverb goes, “all good things must come to an end.” SBA closed the PPP doors to new loan guaranty applications at the end of May 2021 and released a closing statement on the program’s success.

DoD Proposes DFARS Amendment to Enhance Debriefings

Posted on June 2, 2021 by SmallGovCon Contributor

Receiving a notice that a competitor received an award can be a punch to the gut. This feeling is compounded when the requested debriefing is short on details. Offerors are normally left with more questions than answers.

The DoD has proposed to amend the DFARS to enhance debriefings in certain procurements. The correct amount of information in a debriefing is an ever-moving target; hopefully, this new proposed amendment will be a step in the right direction.

The CIO-SP4 RFP Allows Broad Past Performance Information–But Does It Go Too Far?

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Steven Koprince

One of my major concerns with the draft solicitation for the CIO-SP4 GWAC was the limited nature of the past performance NITAAC intended to consider. Under the draft RFP, NITAAC would not have considered the past performance of subcontractors–something I believed violated 13 C.F.R. 125.2(g) in certain cases, and was contrary to the guidance of FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii), which says that agencies “should” consider the past performance of “subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement.”

The good news is that the final CIO-SP4 RFP fixes this problem. That’s a relief for a lot of potential offerors. But now I’m concerned that NITAAC went too far in the other direction!