GAO recently dismissed a protest to an awardee’s eligibility under the applicable size standard. The protester argued that the agency should have known that the awardee exceeded the nonmanufacturer rule’s 500-employee maximum. After extensive briefing from both parties and from the SBA itself, GAO found that the awardee’s proposal didn’t raise any issues and that it was really up to the SBA to decide the size issues anyway.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week In Review: August 3 – August 7, 2020
Happy Friday to all our SmallGovCon readers and hope you have a great weekend!
This week saw some interesting federal contracting developments, such as projections for this year’s federal spending to be the highest ever, changes to the CMMC Advisory Board, and an executive order that may affect how contractors employ foreign workers.
Continue reading…FAR Council Implements Interim FAR Rule Prohibiting Contractor Use of Chinese Telecom Products
The FAR Council recently moved forward with implementing provisions of Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the 2019 NDAA through an interim rule. This rule, effective August 13, 2020, furthers the work begun previously of separating the federal government and its contractors from certain Chinese telecom and video surveillance companies.
Continue reading…SBA Inspector General Warns of ‘Widespread’ Fraud in COVID-19 Loan Program
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General, potential fraudsters have obtained $250 million in federal funds intended to help businesses survive the impact of COVID-19.
The Inspector General also identified $45.6 million in potentially duplicate payments and warned that with well over $220 billion left to give out, rapid changes were needed.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week In Review: July 27 – July 31, 2020
Next week on August 5 you’ll have the opportunity to join me for a special event. At 2 pm central, I’ll be exploring the newest “Koprince Law LLC GovCon Handbook: Procedures and Pitfalls of Size Protests and Appeals” in a Koprince Law LLC Webinar.
This past week had some important federal contracting news, including a call for more time to reimburse government contractors for costs related to COVID-19, the Pentagon planning for the next 25 years of cybersecurity, and new issues with the CMMC rollout.
Continue reading…GAO Denies Challenge to Solicitation Terms: Use of “Tactical” Was Imprecise, but Allowable
In the world of federal contracting, precision matters. In fact, precision is often essential when developing a winning proposal. When it comes to subjective evaluation considerations, however, it can be challenging to articulate relevant evaluation criteria with a high level of precision. Indeed, as one prospective offeror recently discovered, some evaluation terms are good enough for government work, despite being imprecise.
Continue reading…OHA: Second Job Leads to 8(a) Program Termination
When it comes to the 8(a) program, you might want to quit your day job.
The 8(a) Business Development Program, similar to other SBA socioeconomic programs such as the service-disabled veteran-owned small business program, requires the disadvantaged individual owner to work full-time at the business during normal business hours of similar firms. If an owner has a second job outside the main company, that can create problems, as it did in a recent OHA decision.
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