The Federal Acquisition Regulation has officially been updated to increase the micro-purchase threshold and the simplified acquisition threshold, effective August 31, 2020. Various federal agencies had already increased the thresholds through deviations, but this rule makes it official across the board. A few additional thresholds will increase due to inflation.
Read on for the details on how this could impact federal procurement.
Continue reading…One of the trickiest requirements for admission into the SBA’s 8(a) program is demonstrating social disadvantage. While some groups are presumed socially disadvantaged (as discussed here), social disadvantage can also be demonstrated based on other characteristics not specifically included in the SBA’s regulations. For those characteristics, applicants must submit a “social disadvantage narrative.”
In this video, I provide you the tricks of the trade you’ll need to write a successful narrative:
For assistance drafting your social disadvantage narrative, reach out to us here!
Recently, GAO published a report on small business subcontracting plan compliance, concluding that agency oversight of these plans need improvement.
Continue reading…Congratulations, everyone! We’ve made it through another week. Hopefully your weekend will be full of (socially-distanced) pool parties and barbecues . . . or, at the least, an afternoon couch nap.
Before we log off for the weekend, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week In Review. In this week’s edition, we’ll touch on CMMC (of course), the Alliant II cancellation, and more.
Have a great weekend!
Continue reading…In a recent bid protest decision, GAO said being under a COVID-19 “Stay at Home Order” was no reason to miss a comments filing deadline.
Continue reading…In recent GAO decision, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., B-418449 (Comp. Gen. May 18, 2020), GAO reminded the Marine Corps to make sure its RFQ requirements were reasonable—and in line with the underlying contract.
Continue reading…Price realism—the evaluation of whether a proposed price is too low—is a method the government may use to evaluate fixed price offers to ensure that offerors are proposing pricing that reflects an understanding of the work required by the solicitation.
Prices that are unrealistically low can result in proposal elimination. This means price realism is an important consideration when preparing a bid. But what if an agency decides after proposal submission that a price realism evaluation will not be performed? In a recent decision, GAO confirmed that offerors must be given the opportunity to revise their proposals.
Continue reading…