It is quite common for businesses in the private sector to share control and duties among many executives or individuals. However, as many who have looked into SBA socioeconomic certifications have found out, to gain certification in a set-aside program, basically all control needs to reside with one individual. Recently, the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) reviewed a SDVOSB recertification denial, and provided a reminder to contractors interested in the SDVOSB and VOSB program that the veteran must be the sole individual in control.
Continue reading…OHA: Size Protest Review Must be More Than a Rubber Stamp
As Federated Maritime, LLC, SBA SIZ-6360, 2025 demonstrates, an agency’s review of a size protest must be more than just a surface-level review and a rubber stamp. This size appeal started with a disappointed bidder (here, the Appellant) that questioned the relationship between Schuyler Line Navigation Company, LLC (or Awardee), a company that won two cargo charter contracts, and its alleged affiliates. The contracts were 100% set-aside for small businesses under NAICS Code 483111 – Deep Sea Freight Transportation.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 15-19, 2025
Happy Friday. Federal contracting is seeing a lot of movement lately. Contractors, as usual, must stay flexible as the federal acquisition world and rules keep shifting. With regulatory updates rolling out and fresh talk of bid protest reforms, contractors have a lot to keep up with. Luckily, we have summarized these updates for you!
You can read more about what is happening in federal government contracting this week, in the articles below, including a bipartisan bill on price gouging by contractors and talks of a a potential shutdown.
Have a great weekend!
Continue reading…A Refresher on How the Small Business Rule of Two Generally Works
We have talked a good deal about the Small Business Rule of Two (not to be confused with the separate VA rule of two for veteran-owned businesses) over the years. The (very) general gist of the rule is this: If the procurement is above the simplified acquisition threshold, the agency must set it aside for small businesses if two or more small businesses can perform the work at fair prices. If the agency has a reasonable expectation that two or more SDVOSB/VOSBs, EDWOSBs/WOSBs, 8(a) participants, or HUBZone participants can perform work under a procurement, the agency must consider setting aside the procurement for that particular category (i.e., if it believes two or more 8(a) participants can perform the work, it can set aside the procurement for 8(a) participants). However, it appears there remains a good deal of confusion about what the Rule of Two requires, as opposed to what it simply permits. In a recent GAO protest, a contractor learned this the hard way, and today, we’ll explore that decision.
Continue reading…2025 8(a) Application Updates (Part I): New Application Countdown Timer
Despite various impacts to SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program–both quite recently and over the last couple years (which you can read about here and here, and even listen to me talk about here)–this “golden child” of SBA’s socioeconomic programs remains alive and well. And it is still one of the most lucrative and sought after SBA certifications out there. So, eligible contractors may be quite happy to hear, even during this most recent government shutdown, the 8(a) application portal remains up and running. In fact, given the current “pause” to other government contracting functions and filing portals, there may never be a better time than right now to work on those 8(a) applications. That said, anecdotally, we at SmallGovCon have been hearing from some 8(a) applicants about recent updates to the 8(a) application process and submission portal that we want to share with our readers via this two part blog.
Continue reading…FAR 2.0 Update: Part 8 – Required Sources of Supplies and Services
Many federal contractors have heard about the revamping of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Variously called FAR 2.0, the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or simply RFO, this project has been undertaken by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council). An executive order got the ball rolling, setting forth the mandate to create FAR 2.0 by October 12, 2025. We wrote about it in our earlier post, and described it as two parallel tracks. Track 1 involves a rewrite into “plain language” and removing non-statutory and unnecessary content. Track 2 involves the development of the non-mandatory guidelines to guide procurement officials.
Our earlier posts regarding the RFO can be found here: Executive Order, Overview of FAR 2.0, FAR Part 6.
The revision of the FAR sections has continued over the past few months, with additional proposed revisions being released in September 2025. In this post, we’ll review one proposed revision that seems to make some significant changes to the language: Part 8 – Required Sources of Supplies and Services.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 8-12, 2025
This week’s Week in Review includes quite a few updates from the federal procurement world. Federal contractors should take note of several major updates. These include:
- A new GSA streamlining office
- DoD finalized CMMC rules
- Increased federal IT spending overall
You can read more about these topics and more in the articles below.
Continue reading…