2021 GAO Bid Protest Report Reveals Nearly Half of Protests are Successful

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Shane McCall

GAO has released its annual bid protest report. Along with mashed potatoes and stuffing, it’s one of our favorite holiday traditions at SmallGovCon. This report came over a month earlier than last year, making this more of a Thanksgiving treat than Christmas this year.

A couple key takeaways are (1) the key effectiveness metric, showing numbers of sustains and corrective actions at GAO, was 48% for the 2021 fiscal year and (2) total bid protest numbers are down slightly, continuing a trend from the last few years.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 15-19, 2021

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday, Readers! Next week is Thanksgiving and we have a lot to be thankful for here at Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC, especially with everyone remaining healthy this year. It’s time to break out the stretchy pants and feast on the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie along with watching a few football games, a parade or two and, if we are lucky, we might just get in a nap, as well.

There was a lot of news in federal government contracting, this week. Here are some articles we found particularly interesting, including updates on cybersecurity (including CMMC), some new GSA GWACs, and a potential Stopgap Spending Bill.

Have a great weekend.

Franchise Agreement Terms Sink Company’s SDVOSB Application

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Steven Koprince

It’s a refrain that my colleagues and I have often heard: if you’re a franchisee, it can be really, really hard–perhaps almost impossible–to be verified as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business.

A recent case demonstrates the difficulties in obtaining SDVOSB status as a franchisee. In the case, the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals held that the Center for Verification and Eligibility had correctly denied a company’s SDVOSB application because, in the eyes of the CVE and SBA, the terms of the franchise agreement impeded the veteran’s control of the company.

Picking Your Team: Joint Ventures Versus Prime/Subcontractor Teams (Part Two, Past Performance)

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Nicole Pottroff

Federal contractors often ask: “It is better to team up for government work with a prime-sub arrangement or with a joint venture?” Well, (spoiler alert) the answer is: it depends. But I won’t leave you with just that. This three-part series will provide insight on some of the major differences between these two types of “teams” that offerors should consider when making the decision between a joint venture or prime/subcontractor team in competing for and performing federal contracts. While this series will not provide a comprehensive list of all the differences between these two types of teams, it will cover some of the big ones that seem to come up more frequently in this decision-making process. The focus of the first article in this three-part series was work share considerations. This second article will focus on evaluations of a team’s past performance.

Data Rights and the Government Contractor: Limited Data Rights

Posted on November 16, 2021 by John Holtz

In our last post on intellectual property and government contracts, we went over a basic discussion about data rights and then addressed the matter of unlimited data rights for the government. As discussed, unlimited data rights basically give the government free rein to do as they wish with the data. More importantly, the FAR provides that such unlimited data rights are the government’s default rights. But there is a way to limit the government’s rights: limited data rights.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 8-12, 2021

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday! We hope you had a wonderful and reflective Veteran’s day. I just got back from speaking at the APTAC Fall Conference on the big changes that will be taking place in the SDVOSB certification program, along with other legal updates. Thanks to the many wonderful people at APTAC, including Allen Waldo, who helped make that conference a success. It was a great event.

This week in federal government contracting saw important stories about CMMC 2.0 and other cyber initiatives, as well as the possibility of a year-long continuing resolution.

SBA Updates Veteran Surviving Spouse Rule

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Shane McCall

A proposed rule from SBA will make changes to the SDVOSB rules. SBA has modified its rules allowing surviving spouses to continue owning Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses after the veteran owner has passed away. This should provide some help to spouses of disabled veterans. SBA has updated a few dollar thresholds as well.