The VA Rule of Two, while a powerful motivator for setting procurements aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, does have its limits.
One of those exceptions was discussed in a recent ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court confirmed that the VA may convert a service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside solicitation to a small business set-aside if the SDVOSB bids it receives are too high in price.
Continue reading…The SBA’s mentor-protégé program offers powerful benefits. To help ensure that only legitimate small businesses take advantage of the program, the SBA asks applicants a series of questions about potential affiliation between the prospective mentor and protégé.
But once the SBA signs off on a mentor-protégé agreement, that’s that. As the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals recently confirmed, competitors cannot use the size protest process to challenge whether an SBA mentor-protégé agreement should have been approved in the first place.
Continue reading…Hello SmallGovCon readers. Here at HQ, we’ve been hit with both a Super Bowl loss from the Chiefs, as well as temperatures topping out in the single digits this week. We’re really looking forward to spring! But in the meantime, enjoy some of these hot federal contracting updates to warm you up.
This week saw stories including myths about CMMC, increase in federal AI spending, and bias affecting growth in the 8(a) program.
Continue reading…A new FAR final rule recently went into effect that has increased the percentage for the domestic component requirement under the Buy American Act, a percentage that had been in place for nearly 70 years before this recent change.
Continue reading…Ask many government contractors, and they’ll tell you that even a single negative report in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System can have a powerful adverse impact on winning future prime contracts.
Given the importance of these performance reports, it’s little wonder that a contractor on the receiving end of a negative CPAR may want to ask a judge to review the matter. But as one recent case demonstrates, a contractor cannot challenge a CPAR with a judge until the contractor has followed the FAR’s claims process.
Continue reading…Generally, the small business Rule of Two requires an agency to set aside contracts for small business, assuming that there are at least two small businesses with competitive prices who will bid on the contract. But does the small business Rule of Two apply to orders under a multiple award contract? In a recent decision, GAO affirmed the answer is no–application of the small business Rule of Two for orders under a multiple-award contract is discretionary.
Continue reading…8(a) joint ventures are a powerful tool–both for non-8(a)s to participate in 8(a) contract opportunities and for 8(a) companies to gain valuable experience in their industries. But it is crucial that 8(a) joint ventures follow all of SBA’s requirements if they want to get (and keep) 8(a) awards.
Some of those requirements underwent significant revisions this past year. Join Shane McCall and me on February 9 for the SBA Training Webinar: 8(a) Joint Ventures, where we will discuss the ins and outs of 8(a) joint ventures and keep you up-to-date on all of SBA’s requirements.
Please register here. Hope to see you there!