SBA Eliminates Megawatt Hours Size Standards

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Steven Koprince

The SBA has issued a final rule eliminating the unusual megawatt hours size standard applicable to six NAICS codes in NAICS Sector 22. The SBA’s revision replaces the megawatt hours size standard with a 500-employee size standard, and eliminates the requirement that a firm must be “primarily engaged” in the generation, transmission or distribution of energy for sale.

Although the megawatt hours size standard may have made sense when it was adopted in the 1970s, the SBA appropriately recognized that the market has changed. Perhaps most important, the “primarily engaged” component of the megawatt hours size standard unfairly excluded many companies from competing as “small” in NAICS Sector 22.

Happy Holidays From SmallGovCon

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Steven Koprince

With Christmas two days away and 2014 right around the corner, it’s time to enjoy the holidays, reflect on the year that was, and look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

With that in mind, this will be the last SmallGovCon post of 2013. I’ll be spending the holidays sharing in my two-year-old daughter’s excitement about Santa Claus and marveling at my one-year-old son’s sudden transformation into an adorable toddler with a penchant for pulling everything out of any closed drawer in sight.

SmallGovCon will be back in the New Year with much more legal news for government contractors. (If you want to ring in the New Year by reading up on GAO decisions, SBA OHA appeals, or the nuances of the 2013 NDAA, my archives should have you covered). Until then, best wishes for a wonderful and joyous holiday season.

Fifty-Nine Extra Seconds: GAO Clarifies Its 5:30 Filing Deadline

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Steven Koprince

A bid protest filing with the U.S. Government Accountability Office will be deemed to be filed on a particular day if it is filed before 5:31 p.m. Eastern Standard Time , according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

The GAO’s decision in Government Acquisitions, Inc., B-408426, B-408426.2 (Sept. 17, 2013) clarifies that the GAO’s 5:30 p.m. deadline allows for a timely filing “until the clock reaches 5:31 p.m.” Unfortunately for my own curiosity, however, the decision does not answer the more interesting question of what on earth the protester was thinking when it filed at 35 seconds after 5:30 p.m.

SDVOSB Not Required To Inform Agency Of Veteran’s Death, Says Court

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Steven Koprince

A SDVOSB was not required to inform a procuring agency that the service-disabled veteran owner had passed away following submission of the SDVOSB’s proposal, according to a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

In NEIE, Inc. v. United States, No. 13-164 C (2013), the Court sharply criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for unjustifiably maintaining that the SDVOSB in question was required to inform the EPA of the veteran’s death, even though there is no such requirement in the regulations and the veteran’s death had no impact on the SDVOSB’s contract eligibility.

The NEIE case is not only a good reminder of when a SDVOSB must be eligible to receive a non-VA SDVOSB set-aside (typically, at the time of the initial priced offer), but a troubling example of an over-zealous procuring agency misinterpreting and misapplying the SDVOSB regulations to the detriment of an eligible SDVOSB.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: December 9-13, 2013

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Steven Koprince

As 2013 begins to draw to a close, there is still no shortage of government contracting news and commentary.

This week, many headlines were dedicated to a GAO report on reverse auctions (as well as the VA’s decision to suspend their use). Those reverse auction stories, along with articles about the shakeup at the VA CVE, labor law violations, and much more, are in this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review.

SBA Size Protests: “Bare Allegations” Are Insufficient

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Steven Koprince

A SBA size protest must contain some basis for the belief that the company being protested is not an eligible small business.

As demonstrated in a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, a protester’s “bare allegation” that the protested firm does not qualify is insufficient, and will cause the SBA to dismiss the size protest.

DOJ Files Complaint In HUBZone Fraud Cause

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Steven Koprince

The Department of Justice has filed a complaint accusing an Ohio construction contractor and its owner of fraudulently obtaining HUBZone certification and HUBZone set-aside contracts.

According to a DOJ press release, the government is alleging that William Richardson, the owner of TAB Construction Co. Inc., made false statements regarding TAB’s principal office to obtain HUBZone certification, then used that certification to win millions of dollars in HUBZone set-aside contracts.