SmallGovCon Week in Review: July 31 – August 4, 2023

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

Happy Friday, Readers! As we move into a new month this week, big things are happening in the world of federal government contracting, from the impacts of recent federal court decisions on SBA’s 8(a) Program–to the ever-developing conversations about artificial intelligence and social media (and the benefits, limitations, and concerns surrounding each). But amidst many a changing landscape, some things certainly remain constant–the likelihood of facing severe consequences for dishonesty and fraud at the federal government level, for one. Read about all of these topics and many more in the articles below. And have a great weekend!

SBA Puts “Temporary Pause” on New 8(a) Program Application Submissions

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

The SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, the office that handles the 8(a) Business Development Program applications, has just confirmed that SBA has “temporarily paused” the submission of new 8(a) Program applications in light of the recent decision by the federal district court of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

On Deck for SBA Regulations in 2023: Affiliation and WOSB Rule Changes

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Shane McCall

SBA, like other agencies, publishes a semiannual Regulatory Agenda to provide an update on the various rules it has coming up as well as a timeline for when they will be published or become final. While SBA doesn’t have to meet these timeframes, it’s always good to check in on what SBA has been working on when the final rules will come out. This agenda includes an update on increased size standards, along with some other important rules. Here is a summary of the upcoming rules and what we think could most impact federal contractors. Be sure to comment on these rules if you have an opinions on them.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: July 24-28, 2023

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday! It’s time for another edition of WIR. I’d like to start off by thanking the El Paso Community College’s Contract Opportunities Center APEX Accelerator and the always-lively Pablo Armendariz for hosting me and allowing me to speak at the Procurement and Contracting Symposium, in El Paso, Texas, earlier this week. It was a wonderful event for discussions around federal government contracting. I met some new folks and got to talk to many people with great excitement for the federal contracting world.

We hope you find the following articles informative and have a great weekend. Among the stories this week are a very large false claim settlement, and news about FAR and legislative updates.

$162B in Small Business Contracts: SBA Releases Small Business Scorecards for FY 2022

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Stephanie Ellis

The SBA published its annual Government Wide Small Business Procurement Scorecard for fiscal year 2022, and it appears that nearly every type of small business set-aside by the SBA, with the continued exception for Woman-Owned Small Businesses and HUBZone businesses, either met or exceeded their goal. Overall, agencies exceeded their goals for the year, earning an overall score of “A” due to meeting the small business contracting goals with 104.05% of the total goal.

Initial Challenge to 8(a) Presumption of Social Disadvantage for Certain Minority Groups Succeeds: What This Means for Now

Posted on July 24, 2023 by John Holtz

On July 19, 2023, the federal district court of the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a decision regarding a case involving the rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage in place under the 8(a) Business Development Program. Ultima Servs. Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 220CV00041DCLCCRW, 2023 WL 4633481, at *1 (E.D. Tenn. July 19, 2023). This decision found that this presumption is unconstitutional as it violates the right to equal protection. This, understandably, has caused a great deal of confusion and concern for current and potential 8(a) Program participants. In this post, we will not be providing our opinion on the correctness of the court’s decision (or analyze it from a policy perspective), as we will leave that to attorneys who specialize in constitutional law. Instead, we will go over the decision, what it means, and what it could affect down the road.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: July 17-21, 2023

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

Hello and Happy Friday! We hope you had great week and are finishing the week strong today. The SBA and Whitehouse announced that the current administration exceeded its small business goal with a record breaking $163 Billion in federal procurement opportunities. That’s an $8.7 billion increase from the previous year, which is great news for small businesses. You can read more about this and other newsworthy articles below. Have a great weekend.