SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 10-14, 2023

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday, Readers! Time for your week in review. The spring trees are in full bloom here in Lawrence, Kansas this week and they couldn’t be more beautiful! Other than allergy sufferers, we certainly are enjoying the beauty of spring and hope you are as well.

The federal government contracting world is also very active at this time. There was a lot of buzz this week surrounding the Defense Department and how it can immediately modernize acquisition in addition to a release of the department’s finance study showing how large versus small federal contractors are faring. We’ve included those articles, and a few others we hope you find of interest, below. Enjoy your weekend!

MyGovWatch Live: The B2G Roundtable Event: April 19, 2023, 1:00pm EDT

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

Please consider joining me as I participate in a round table discussion with several APEX Accelerator (formerly PTAC) procurement specialists, hosted by Nick Bernardo, President & Founder of mygovwatch.com. We will be discussing resources available for federal government contractors and answering questions that you may have regarding federal government contracting matters. Please join us for this informative roundtable discussion. Register here. Hope to see you there!

Buy American? Agencies Must Carefully Document Market Research for Domestic Preference Compliance, says GAO

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Gregory Weber

A recent GAO case on protest costs looked at whether costs were reimbursable centered around whether a Buy American Act waiver was properly applied in the procurement process. As you likely know, the Buy American Act is something many contractors (especially supply and construction contractors) must deal with in their contracting process, and getting a waiver or an exception often may be critical to a proposal. This case arose from a protest seeking costs, but it is still a great opportunity for contractors to better understand the limits of a waiver or exception of the Buy American Act and GAO’s expectations surrounding such an action.

Breaking: HUBZone Appeals Coming Soon!

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Shane McCall

SBA has released its proposed rule allowing for HUBZone appeals to go to the Office of Hearings and Appeals. Below are the key items from this proposed rule, and how it will affect potential and current HUBZone companies.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 3-7, 2023

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you have had a great week. It’s a beautiful day in Lawrence, Kansas and it should be a great weekend for Easter egg hunting if you are so inclined. We hope you can spend time with family and friends this weekend and enjoy the spring weather.

There were some important announcements in federal government contracting this week including the continued saga of CIO-SP4 and anticipation over the Oasis+ contracts. You can read more about that and other federal government contracting news in the articles below. Enjoy the weekend.

Technically Unacceptable Offeror Cannot Protest Awardee’s Size, Says OHA

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

In a recent size determination appeal, OHA confirmed that an offeror found technically unacceptable does not have standing to protest an awardee’s size under SBA’s regulations. As such, OHA denied the appeal and affirmed the Area Office’s size determination dismissing the size protest on such grounds.

Foreign Ties: SBA Publishes Notice of SBIR and STTR Program Policy Directives Update

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Stephanie Ellis

The Small Business Administration recently published a notice of an amendment to the Policy Directives for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program on April 3, 2023. The intent of the amendment is to incorporate a template that federal agencies may use to request information from SBIR and STTR applicants that the applicants are statutorily required to disclose. The revisions will be effective May 3, 2023, unless the SBA receives significant adverse comments prior to the effective date. Not sure what the SBIR and STTR Programs are? I’ve provided a very brief overview below. Curious about the required disclosures? Read on to find out!