Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC Announces Gregory Weber as Senior Associate Attorney!

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Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC is a premier small business and federal government contracts firm in Lawrence, Kansas. The management team is pleased to announce that Gregory Weber has been promoted to the role of Senior Associate Attorney.

Greg quickly integrated himself into the fabric of our firm, and working with federal contractors has become second nature to him. In response to the announcement, Greg said, “I am thrilled to be given this opportunity to further help our clients and work within the federal contracting community. Koprince McCall Pottroff has a great tradition of excellence and I am proud to be a part of it.”

Greg draws on his experience working for a number of large organizations. In those roles, he became adept at communicating complicated legal and regulatory concepts to clients. This skill translated nicely into the federal contracting world. Greg is hardworking to a fault and always puts providing client value and outstanding client communications at the top of his list. He is equally skilled at litigation (including at SBA, ODRA, and the Court of Federal Claims) and transactional matters (including small business, socioeconomic certifications, and teaming relationships).

Greg is a great attorney and advocate for the federal contractors that our firm serves. The promotion is well deserved!

GAO: Each JV Partner’s Experience Must Be Considered

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A common path for many federal contractors to bid on and perform a federal contract is through a joint venture (“JV”). Utilizing a JV can provide some great opportunities for two (or sometimes more) businesses to share resources and boost each others’ performance on a contract. Additionally, it can be a great tool for contractors to utilize both JV partners’ experience and to jointly gain more experience. There are even widespread SBA regulations requiring agencies to “consider” both JV partners’ experience in an evaluation. However, there has still been quite a bit of back and forth regarding how agencies are supposed to evaluate a JV’s experience, and specifically what it means to “consider” each JV partners’ individual experience, particularly in situations where only one JV partner submits the experience. In May of 2023, GAO issued a decision that provided at least some clarification on how an agency should consider each JV partner’s experience, and the impact of not doing so.

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Event Announcement: Procurement & Contracting Symposium hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators, July 25, 2023

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I’m very excited to be speaking at the Procurement & Contracting Symposium held at EPCC Administrative Services Center (ASC) in El Paso, Texas on July 25.  The wonderful Pablo Armendariz is putting this one together. I’ll be providing a comprehensive update on the most important government contracting legal changes.

It’s going to be a great opportunity for Federal, state, and local government agencies, buyers, prime and subcontractors, suppliers, providers, and the regional business community to meet and participate in informative training sessions as well as receive government contracting guidance, updates, and upcoming forecasts. I hope to see you there! Here is the event link, for additional information.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: June 19-23, 2023

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Happy Friday and happy Summer Solstice! It’s officially summer and the temperatures here in Lawrence, Kansas sure feel like it. We have been in the 90’s this week and we are certainly grateful for air conditioning (and maybe even looking forward to winter). We hope our readers have some fun summer vacation plans and find time to rest and relax a bit this weekend. Wear your sunscreen and stay hydrated!

In federal government news this week, budget talks and the draft NDAA are being worked on, while agencies focus on cybercrime and customer experience, among other things.

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SBA Revisions to the “Two-Year Rule” for Joint Ventures: a Reminder to Read the Entire Rule

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SBA recently revised its affiliation regulations in a number of ways, some of which we have already discussed here. We have likely sounded pretty upbeat about most of SBA’s recent updates thus far, as the majority do seem to be a step in the right direction–adding clarity to SBA’s rules and furthering the policies SBA seeks to enforce. Well, not trying to rain on any parades here, but at least one of SBA’s recent regulatory updates, (at least in our humble opinion) has the potential to confuse federal contractors regarding SBA’s affiliation rules. That update revised the language in SBA’s “Two-Year Rule” for small business joint ventures–though, it really didn’t change the substance or effect of the rule, at all. Let’s take a closer look.

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Event: SBA Mentor Protege Program Webinar hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators, June 27, 10:00am-11:30am MDT

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Touted as a “game-changer” when it was first introduced in 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program isn’t new anymore. Known now as simply the “SBA Mentor-Protégé Program,” it is still extremely powerful for large and small contractors alike.

In this course, Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC government contracts attorneys Stephanie Ellis and I will explain the ins and outs of the Mentor-Protégé Program, covering the program’s eligibility requirements, its potent benefits (including the ability to form special mentor-protégé joint ventures), the application process, and common misconceptions and pitfalls. Free Registration Link here. Hope you will join us!

Clarity is Key: An Example of Why Clear Language is Important for Showing SDVOSB Control

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While SBA has taken over SDVOSB certification from the VA (along with some other rule changes), some things remain the same. One thing which we think will never change, is that making sure the language in your agreements is clear, is vital for the federal contractor (and indeed all businesses). While this is obvious for things like operating agreements and bylaws, documentation like meeting minutes should be clear as well. In a recent appeal of a denial of SDVOSB certification, a company had to go through what must have been a frustrating ordeal that might have been prevented with just a little extra language in the meeting minutes, only to have to deal with further frustration due to a couple of details.

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