SBA Doubles Down On WOSB Self-Certification With New Website

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Steven Koprince

The SBA has launched a new WOSB portal to help women-owned businesses better manage the WOSB self-certification process–even though Congress eliminated the statutory authority for self-certification more than a year ago.

The SBA apparently was caught off guard by Congress’s action, but I don’t understand why the SBA is spending time and resources to improve a prohibited self-certification mechanism. While the SBA continues to state that WOSB self-certification remains valid indefinitely, the SBA has yet to answer what should be a simple question: what the heck is the legal justification for continuing to promote a self-certification mechanism that Congress has explicitly eliminated?

Thank You, Idaho!

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Steven Koprince

I am back in Lawrence after a great trip to Idaho for the Idaho Small Business Symposium. My presentation at the ISBS focused on big legal changes on the horizon in small business contracting, including the SBA’s proposed universal mentor-protege program.

Thank you to all of the small business owners, government officials, and others who attended my session or stopped by to visit me at the Koprince Law booth. And a special thanks to Lee Velten and Gary Moore of the Idaho PTAC, who put together this fantastic event.

Next up for me: the APTAC Spring Conference in St. Louis, where I look forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces–including my friend Guy Timberlake of the American Small Business Coalition, who will also be speaking at APTAC. If you are a “PTACer,” I look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 21-25, 2016

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Steven Koprince

As a Duke alum living in Kansas, March Madness is particularly exciting for me. Last night, my defending champion Blue Devils got bounced from the tourney, but KU’s journey continues to the Elite Eight. The win was especially sweet for me because it came against Maryland–a team whose fans (back when the Terps were in the ACC) kept insisting that Duke was their arch-rival. I lost count of how many times I had to remind a Maryland fan that Duke already has an arch-rival.

While I await Saturday’s basketball excitement, it’s time for our weekly roundup of what’s new in the world of government contracts. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, the Navy has been rocked by a bribery scheme, the DoD enlists a supercomputer to untangle its procurement system, some insightful commentary on recent changes to the WOSB program, and much more.

GAO: Protest of Exclusion From Competitive Range Untimely After Award

Posted on March 23, 2016 by SmallGovCon Contributor

A protester’s failure to timely file its bid protest at GAO is almost always certain to lead to the dismissal of its protest. But knowing when the clock starts running for an offeror to file its protest isn’t always clear.

This uncertainty recently tripped up a would-be protester seeking to challenge its exclusion from the competitive range—because that offeror failed to request a pre-award debriefing, its attempt to protest its exclusion following the award and a post-award debriefing was untimely.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 14-18, 2016

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Steven Koprince

With much of the country on spring break this week, it has allowed us to slow down a little bit to enjoy the weather and more importantly spend some time working on our March Madness picks. (That Little Rock win was amazing, but blew up my brackets).

So while I no longer have to worry about a perfect bracket, I do have to make sure that the weekend doesn’t arrive without a dose of SmallGovCon Week In Review. This installment looks at alleged procurement fraud in upstate New York, a deeper look at why it took the SBA so long to reach its WOSB contracting goals, a new online database that was launched to help small business gain federal contracts, and much more.

SDVOSB Fraud: $5 Million Settlement In Rent-A-Vet Case

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Steven Koprince

A New York business has agreed to pay $5 million, plus interest, to resolve allegations that its CEO, President, and others engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain SDVOSB set-aside contracts.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the CEO and President of Hayner Hoyt Corporation created a company supposedly run by a service-disabled veteran. However, the veteran in question was not involved in making important business decisions, but was instead responsible for overseeing Hayner Hoyt’s tool inventory and plowing snow from Hayner Hoyt’s property. Although the DOJ is perhaps too polite to use the term “rent-a-vet” in its press release, that’s exactly what this scheme sounds like.

Ostensible Subcontractor Affiliation: Beware These “Four Key Factors,” Says SBA OHA

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Steven Koprince

Ostensible subcontractor affiliation can arise for many reasons–but a small business may be in grave danger of affiliation with its subcontractor when four specific factors are present.

In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held that a small prime contractor was unusually reliant on its large subcontractor where “four key factors” indicated that the small prime contractor was bringing little to the table but its small business status.