Update: SBA Says 5-Year Receipts Calculation Period Not Yet Effective

Posted on January 4, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

On December 17, 2018, the Small Business Runway Extension Act became law. As we’ve previously written, this Act had a single purpose: to extend the measurement period of the SBA’s calculation of average annual receipts, from three years to five.

We opined that the Act became effective with the stroke of the President’s pen. Just a few days ago, however, the SBA disagreed—according to the SBA, the 5-year calculation period will not become effective until its regulations are revised.

GAO: Don’t Misrepresent Incumbent Capture in Proposals

Posted on January 3, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

GAO sustained a protest recently where a contractor misrepresented to the agency that it had negotiated offers with incumbent workers when in fact it had not.

Realities of Cost Recovery in the Wake of the Federal Shutdown

Posted on January 3, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

Shuttering of the government (or parts of the government) following appropriations lapses has become an increasingly common phenomenon in recent years. Funding lapses interrupt the usual predictability of government operations, which is often to the detriment of both agencies and federal contractors that are left in proverbial limbo with stop work orders.

Unfortunately, unlike many other topics, the FAR does not substantively address procedures for contractors during or following a government shutdown. As such, recovering expenses incurred as a consequence of government shutdowns can be challenging.

Here are some pointers.

Failure to Update Joint Venture Agreement Costs Mentor-Protégé SDVOSB JV a Contract

Posted on January 2, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

Updating your joint venture agreement is essential to maintaining compliance with SBA’s regulations and failing to update could cost you contracts.

In Stacqme, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-5976 (Dec. 10, 2018), the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held that a mentor-protege joint venture’s failure to update its JV agreement caused the agreement to be non-compliant with the SBA’s rules, and meant that the joint venture was ineligible for an SDVOSB set-aside contract.

5 Things You Should Know: NAICS Code Appeals

Posted on January 2, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

NAICS code appeals are a useful tool in any small business government contractor’s toolbox. If successful, an appeal can dramatically change a procurement’s competitive landscape—either by limiting the pool of eligible offerors, or expanding it.

Even still, NAICS code appeals are underutilized among contractors. So I wanted to take just a few minutes to walk through the basics of NAICS codes appeals, in case your business ever needs to file one.

Here are 5 Things You Should Know about NAICS appeals:

SDVOSB Regulations Reveal Typo in Exceptions to Ownership Conditions

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Shane McCall

As we’ve written about on the blog, SDVOSB regulations were consolidated under the SBA’s rules beginning October 1, 2018, and those changes included some good and bad changes. We recently noticed a single letter in one of the changes that, while most likely a typo, could potentially affect the meaning of one part of the new regulation.

GAO Dismisses Protest Where Proposal was Unacceptable

Posted on December 28, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

In a protest before GAO, prejudice is an essential element. Even if GAO might agree that an agency’s action was improper, it will not sustain a protest where the protester would not have received the award anyway.

That’s what happened in the protest of Benaka Inc., B-416836 et al. (Dec. 16, 2018).