SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 9-13, 2023

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Happy Friday the 13th! It seems very fitting to have a Friday the 13th fall in the month of October, right? The pumpkins are being gathered from the patches in preparation of carving and I see Halloween decorations everywhere I go.

It’s also conference season at SmallGovCon.com. I was in Iowa last month, John Holtz is headed to Nebraska next week for the Fall Meet the Buyers Government Contracting Conference and Nicole Pottroff will be going to Oklahoma the following week for the ICBS Conference. Please come out to see them if you are in the area.

Some interesting articles this week, including new cybersecurity rules, small business updates, and the continuing resolution. We hope you have a safe Friday the 13th!

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Event: Meet the Buyers Fall 2023 Conference | October 17-19 | Scottsbluff, Nebraska

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Please join attorney John Holtz, as he heads back to his home state of Nebraska, to the Meet the Buyers Conference. This is Nebraska’s premier government contracting conference where businesses can advance their contracting knowledge, connect with other business owners, and network directly with agency representatives and buyers. John will be doing two presentations: joint ventures, as well as size and affiliation issues.

Don’t miss the chance to meet directly with Federal, State, and Local government agency reps, government contracting industry people, and resource providers and please stop by the Koprince McCall Pottroff table and say hi to John. More information and registration here.

Joint Venture Agreement Fails for Lack of Detail–And Too Much Detail on Venturer Control

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A joint venture agreement must closely follow Small Business Administration rules to be compliant for a small business set-aside. And SBA interprets those rules strictly. If they are not followed, a joint venture that was up for award, can see that award go up in smoke. Here, SBA said that a joint venture involving a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) was not compliant because it was both (a) not specific enough and (b) too detailed in providing for oversight of actions of the JV partners.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 2-6, 2023

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This week we had some actual fall temperatures at the SmallGovCon home offices. It’s finally pumpkin spice weather! We’ll be enjoying the fall weather and some football this weekend. Hope you enjoy the fall weather as well, along with some of top federal contracting headlines, including the continuing resolution to fund the government, new cyber rules, and the opening of the 8(a) portal. 

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UPDATE: SBA Reopens its Certify Site for all 8(a) Program Applicants

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It’s the moment many have been waiting for–SBA has reopened its Certify portal to new applicants seeking admission into the 8(a) Business Development Program. SBA closed the portal to all new 8(a) Program applicants in early August 2023, following a decision from the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee that took away applicant’s presumption of social disadvantage for certain designated groups. This resulted in all 8(a) participants being required to submit a social disadvantage narrative. To address this issue, SBA opened Certify bit by bit to current participants who had not previously submitted a social disadvantage narrative, prioritizing current 8(a) participants with pending awards followed by current 8(a) participants without pending awards. Now, SBA has opened Certify to new applicants that wish to apply for participation in the 8(a) Program who now must demonstrate their social disadvantage.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 24-29, 2023

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Happy Friday. It’s time to say goodbye to September and welcome in October already. Where does the time go?

As I’m sure you all are aware, this week’s federal government contracting news is all about the possible government shut down and its impact on federal services and federal government contractors. Lawmakers have today and tomorrow to come to some sort of agreement. We’ve included some articles below with additional information on this situation as well as other federal government contracting news. Have a great weekend.

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No Work No Play: SBA Reminds Contractors of HUBZone Employment Requirements

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One of the pillars of the SBA’s HUBZone program is the location of a company’s employees. In August of this year, SBA released an Information Notice emphasizing important points about where employees reside, and HUBZone entity’s efforts to employ the necessary amount of employees residing in HUBZone areas. While SBA’s HUBZone policies don’t have the weight of law as compared to a regulation, the HUBZone office will generally enforce this sort of guidance quite strictly. So don’t think it’s just a suggestion. As these are crucial elements of eligibility, it is important for all HUBZone businesses to be aware and reminded of SBA’s expectations.

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