Webinar Event! October 1, 2024 – Limitations on Subcontracting and the Nonmanufacturer Rule hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Shane McCall

For small businesses and their teammates, few topics in government contracting are as confusing as the limitations on subcontracting for set-aside and socioeconomic sole source contracts. And if that isn’t stressful enough, the “LoS” is an area with heavy potential penalties if a contractor gets it wrong.

The nonmanufacturer rule is the flip side of the LoS, but for supply contracts in the federal government contracting realm. It is also one we encounter quite often in our role assisting federal contractors.

In this course, Greg Weber and I will help you make sense of the limitations on subcontracting and nonmanufacturer rule. Using a step-by-step process and plenty of examples to help bring the rules to life will help you ensure that you understand and comply with these essential rules. We hope you will join us at 10:00 am MDT on October 1. Register here.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 16-20, 2024

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday! There has been a flurry of activity here at SmallGovCon, as the government’s fiscal year is ending this month. In the evolving landscape of federal contracting, one needs to stay on top of recent developments. Here are some key ones.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is set to implement new rules for mentor-protégé arrangements. I had the privilege of being interviewed by Tom Temin of the Federal News Network on these new mentor-protégé rules and potential ones on the horizon from SBA. You can read the full transcript below. We hope you have a great weekend!

Rezoning (Part 2): Updates to the HUBZone Program

Posted on September 17, 2024 by John Holtz

Very recently, we went through some more of the potential changes to the HUBZone Program from SBA’s proposed rule from August 23, 2024. In this post, we will look at the remaining proposed changes. SBA’s proposed rule would change HUBZone protests appeals, principal office requirements (which we did discuss a bit before here), HUBZone map concepts, and the HUBZone price evaluation preference (PEP).

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 9-13, 2024

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday the 13th! We hope you have a good week. This week has been busy in the federal government contracting world with multiple developments highlighting key areas of government procurement, spending transparency, and small business support. There are updates on a new federal spending bill, but also concerns about a shutdown, something contractors will be watching closely.

You can read more about these topics in the articles below. Have a great weekend and be careful out there today on Friday the 13th!

Rezoning (Part 1): A Look at SBA’s Proposed Changes to the HUBZone Program

Posted on September 13, 2024 by John Holtz

A few weeks ago, SBA released a proposed rule that would, among other things, modify the HUBZone program. We took a look at some of these changes when the proposals were released. As we promised in that post, we stated we were going to discuss some other aspects of the proposed rule in later posts. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the other changes that SBA is proposing for the HUBZone program, as there’s a lot. In this post, we’ll be focusing on other changes to how HUBZone employees are determined, new rules on certification and decertification, and changes to the “attempt to maintain” rule with regards to maintaining 35% HUBZone resident workforce. Some of these changes reflect a stricter approach from SBA that contractors should be on the lookout for.

SBA Proposed Rule Clarifies Mentor-Protégé Misunderstandings

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Stephanie Ellis

In August, the Small Business Administration issued a proposed rule that was packed to the brim with changes to many of the SBA’s small business contracting programs. We’ve mentioned a few of the changes in prior blog posts. Gregory Weber, discussed potential changes to the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program that may result in more relaxed requirements. While Shane McCall, recently took a deep dive into proposed changes to past performance requirements for joint ventures. Today, we will focus on two additional proposed changes to the SBA’s Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program.

Govology Webinar: September 19, 2024 – The Buy Indian Act: Regulatory Updates and Their Implications for Native-Owned Businesses

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Shane McCall

The Buy Indian Act is a law that gives contracting preference to companies owned by Native American tribes and tribal members. This law has been on the books for a century and it seems to be finally getting some teeth through regulatory changes and updates. This webinar, presented by myself and Nicole Pottroff will discuss the Buy Indian Act, as well as other rules and regulations that provide advantages to tribal entities. Hope you can join us! Register here.