SmallGovCon Week In Review: August 14-18, 2017

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Steven Koprince

With what is being deemed “The Great American Eclipse” ready to hit the skies on Monday, there is a lot of excitement in the air here in Lawrence. We are just off the path of totality and are expecting 99.3% coverage. My colleagues and family will be outside (with protective eyewear of course) and witness this amazing moment. As for me, I’ll be in San Diego, speaking at the 2017 Department of the Navy Gold Coast Conference which will drop my near total eclipse view down to a partial eclipse of about 58% coverage–but it’s well worth it to be part of this great event.

Before I take off for the West Coast, it’s time for the latest SmallGovCon Week In Review. This week, two Senators have filed an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act called the Modernizing Government Technology Act, an “Amazon-like” procurement system might not be too far off, a company is forced to repay millions of dollars amid allegations of overcharging the government, and much more.

5 Things You Should Know: Bid Protests

Posted on August 17, 2017 by SmallGovCon Contributor

You’ve poured precious time and resources into a proposal, only to lose out on the award. Making matters worse, the agency’s explanation of the award shows that it didn’t reasonably evaluate your proposal. What can you do?

Here are five things you should know about bid protests.

Price Realism: Agency Didn’t Compare Proposed Rates To Incumbent Rates

Posted on August 14, 2017 by SmallGovCon Contributor

An incumbent contractor won a protest at GAO recently where it argued that the awardee’s labor rates were too low, because they were lower than the rates the incumbent itself was paying the same people.

GAO faulted the agency for concluding that the awardee’s price was realistic without checking the proposed rates against the incumbent rates. In other words, GAO told the agency to start at the obvious place—the compensation of the current employees.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: August 7-11, 2017

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Steven Koprince

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the weekend. I’m looking forward to spending some time with the family before I turn into a bit of a road warrior. Next week, I’ll be at the 21st Government Procurement Conference in Texas; the following week I head to the West Coast for the Navy Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event, and I’ll wrap up the month in Oklahoma at the Indian Country Business Summit.

If you’ll be at any of these events, please stop by to say hello and talk about the latest happenings in the world of government contracts. And speaking of latest happenings, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week In Review. In this week’s edition, a look at what it takes for contractors to win at the end of the federal fiscal year, a defense contractor is caught billing Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury costs to the Pentagon, a former contractor will pay a $50,000 fine for SDVOSB fraud, and more.

SBA All Small Mentor-Protege Program: Annual Evaluation Forms Now Available

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Steven Koprince

The SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protege Program office has issued its annual evaluation forms for ASMPP participants. The purpose of the reports is to “determine whether the business is eligible to continue to participate in the All Small Business Mentor-Protege Program.”

The annual evaluation process requires participants to complete two forms: a nine-page protege evaluation report, and a separate five-page mentor evaluation addendum.

Ostensible Subcontractor Affiliation: Hiring Third-Party Employees OK

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Steven Koprince

Under the SBA’s ostensible subcontractor affiliation rule, hiring incumbent employees can be evidence of affiliation, but the importance of that staffing plan in an affiliation analysis depends on what role the incumbent contractor will play in the awardee’s performance of the contract.

In a recent size appeal decision, the awardee proposed to hire 85% of its personnel from the incumbent contractor, but the incumbent wasn’t proposed as a subcontractor–in fact, the incumbent was the company protesting the awardee’s small business size. Under these circumstances, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held, the awardee’s hiring of incumbent employees did not establish ostensible subcontractor affiliation.

Unequal Evaluation: Incumbent Not Credited For Retaining Its Own Employees

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Steven Koprince

In its evaluation of proposals, a procuring agency gave a challenger a strength for proposing to recruit incumbent employees, but didn’t give the incumbent contractor a strength–even though the incumbent contractor proposed to retain the very same people.

Unsurprisingly, the GAO found that the evaluation was unequal, and sustained the incumbent’s protest.