SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 13-16, 2023

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Historical reports say the Irish have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day for over 1,000 years. They would feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage–not quite sure when the green beer was added into the festivities! The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America on March 17, 1601 in St. Augustine, Florida. Although not as old as St. Augustine’s, our city of Lawrence, Kansas is also preparing for a St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which has been a tradition since 1988. It’s always a fun experience, with 100 floats, and has raised more than $1.2 million dollars for children’s charities.

We’ve included a few articles from this week’s news in federal government contracting to peruse before you head out to your local St. Pat’s Day celebrations, including updates on government budges for the upcoming fiscal year and contractors leaving the federal space. Have a fun day, stay safe, and a have great weekend.

Back to Basics: Debriefings

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Gregory Weber

Debriefings are a crucial part of the complicated world of bidding on Government contracts. They can provide wonderful insight to contractors on where they can improve, where their proposals were strong, and in cases, may provide information that could indicate to a contractor that a bid protest may be warranted. Therefore, it is vitally important for contractors to understand what Debriefings are, what they can and can’t provide you, and why they matter. Previously, we here at SmallGovCon discussed 5 things you should know about Debriefings, but in this post we will do a more detailed dive into Debriefings based on the current regulations and contracting landscape.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 6-10, 2023

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday Readers! If you are a college basketball fan, then I’m sure you are as excited about March Madness as we are here at SmallGovCon. With so many really great teams competing for that national championship trophy, it’s sure to be an exciting tournament.

Before you move your attention to basketball, let’s take a look at the happenings in the federal government world this week, including some information on the new iteration of the GSA OASIS vehicle. Check out those articles, among others, that we have included below and have a great weekend!

Back to Basics: Teaming Agreements

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Nicole Pottroff

Teaming agreements are a great tool for establishing the prime-subcontractor relationship to jointly pursue government contracts. They can protect the parties’ rights, set performance expectations, demonstrate regulatory compliance, and reduce the likelihood of disputes down the line. But no matter how common teaming agreements have become, many still find them to be a bit of a mystery. This is probably because teaming agreements are neither required nor defined by SBA’s regulations or the FAR; and they have no regulatory-required content. But that doesn’t stop procuring agencies from requiring submission of teaming agreements with proposed teaming partners (especially where the offeror requests consideration of its proposed subcontractor’s past performance, experience, and/or capabilities). So, it is beneficial to know some of the “basics” of teaming agreements: what they are, why you should have one, and what should be included.

SBA Turns Spotlight on its Size and Status Protest Process

Posted on March 8, 2023 by Shane McCall

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently took a look at SBA’s recent small business size and status protests to determine “whether the SBA had effective controls in place to (1) ensure protest decisions were properly enforced and to (2) monitor the protest process.” Overall, the OIG had positive things to say about the the protest process. What’s interesting for small business federal contractors are some of the numbers from this report, detailed below.

Govology Webinar: Understanding & Obtaining HUBZone Certification (2023 Update), March 21, 2023, 1:00PM EDT

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Shane McCall

The SBA revamped its HUBZone rules in the last few years, making several changes to the HUBZone program. However, we continue to see updates to how SBA interprets these rules as it puts out policy guidance frequently. In this webinar, government contracts attorneys Nicole Pottroff and John Holtz will discuss these changes and SBA’s related guidance.

If you’re a HUBZone contractor trying to remain compliant or have thought about obtaining a HUBZone certification, please join us. Register here.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 27-March 3, 2023

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday and Happy March Madness. The country sure has been getting some wacky weather this week as spring is set to arrive soon. Here in Kansas, we are starting to see the first green sprouts emerging from the ground and everyone is getting really excited about the NCAA basketball tournament. Time to prepare your bracket and cheer on your favorite team as they fight to advance to the next level.

There were several announcements this week in federal government contracting, including implementation guidance from the Whitehouse on “No TikTok on Government Devices”. You can read about that and other related content in our articles list below. Have a great weekend.