HUBZone companies owned by U.S. citizens will no longer be required to demonstrate that the ownership is “direct.”
The SBA’s HUBZone program rules have long required that a HUBZone company owned by U.S. citizens be at least 51% directly owned by those citizens–as opposed to allowing the qualifying citizens to own those interests through legal vehicles like holding companies. But the SBA has had second thoughts, and effective May 25, 2018, the direct ownership requirement will be eliminated.
The DoD has issued a final rule making major changes in the DoD “Pilot” Mentor-Protege Program. The rule took effect on March 23, 2018.
Among the major changes, DoD has both expanded and contracted the universe of potential proteges–and has included a mandatory certification that seems to completely misunderstand the SBA’s joint venture rules and processes.
Here is my take on the good, the bad, and the ugly from the final rule.
What a week of college basketball! I don’t think anyone could have predicted a world in which UMBC knocked out Virginia and Loyola-Chicago is knocking on the door of the Final Four, but that’s where we are. Tonight, both of my teams–Duke and KU–are playing, so I’ll be spending my Friday evening watching some hoops.
But before March Madness kicks off, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week in Review. In this week’s edition, the GSA and OMB are seeking legislative fixes as they move forward with the “Amazon Amendment,” protests against the major ENCORE III contract have been denied, a contractor admits to a bribery and gratuity scheme, and much more.
SmallGovCon readers may recall that, in 2016, the Government Accountability Office proposed an electronic filing system for bid protests. GAO released a pilot version of its new system earlier this year, and Koprince Law LLC has had the opportunity to test it on several occasions through our bid protest work.
Here are some first impressions on GAO’s Electronic Protest Docketing System.
NAICS code appeals can be powerful, and while they’re infrequent, they often succeed. But NAICS code appeals are subject to a strict, 10-day deadline–and that deadline isn’t extended by deliberations with the Contracting Officer.
In a recent NAICS code appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals reiterated that the 10-day deadline isn’t affected by discussions with the procuring agency.
A CIO-SP3 SB contract holder could not protest the award of a task order to a competitor because the order was valued at less than $10 million.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that civilian task order awards–including those under CIO-SP3 SB–generally cannot be protested unless the value of the order exceeds $10 million.
Under the SBA’s size regulations, when a size standard calls for a company’s size to be determined by its average annual receipts, the company’s ongoing fiscal year usually isn’t included.
In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals rejected an argument that the SBA’s evaluation of a company’s size should have included receipts from the company’s current fiscal year.