Webinar Event: UTSA SBDC – Top 10 Common Legal Mistakes for Federal Contractors

Join me at the UTSA SBDC Government Contracting Conference – Building Business in Government Markets. I’ll be discussing how federal contractors can avoid common legal mistakes. The event is March 30, 2022 from 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM central, and there are lots of interesting topics, all for free. I’ll be presenting at 2 pm central.

Registration is here. Mark your calendars!

Department of Defense Proposes Rule to Reauthorize and Improve the Mentor-Protégé Program

The Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed to revise the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) to reauthorize and improve the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). The primary purpose of the proposed rule (Proposed Rule) is to reauthorize the DoD MPP, provide incentives to large DoD contractors to serve as mentors to small businesses, and extend opportunities for small businesses to participate in the MPP. In addition, the proposed rule removes restrictions on the eligibility of small businesses by aligning the size of the small business with the size standard associated with its primary NAICS code.

The Proposed Rule is here.

Continue reading…

SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 14-18, 2022

Happy Friday! We hope you were able to get out an enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day festivities this week and the start of March Madness. As the hometown of the #1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks, we are especially excited about the NCAA tournament. We have our brackets locked in and are hoping for another fun ride!

It was also a big week in Federal Government contracting! For one, the Whitehouse and SBA released statements on advancing economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in Federal contracting by promoting pay equity and transparency. Also, a major DoD IT contract award is facing a bid protest.

You can read those articles and more below. Have a great weekend!

Continue reading…

SBA Confirms that Size Status Relates Back to Time of Offer, Even After Sale of Small Business

Over the years, SBA size regulations have included the general rule that the size status of a business generally relates back the time of initial offer on a contract. Therefore, a small business generally stays small for the duration of a federal contract, with some exceptions. However, there was also language in the rule that required small businesses to recertify their size status after being acquired or going through similar transactions. The effect of this recertification requirement was always a little unclear. If you recertify as large, does that have any effect on your small business status for orders under contracts awarded when the business was small? Now, OHA has answered that concern.

Continue reading…

Event: Compliant and Effective Teaming Agreements, Joint Ventures & Subcontracts – 3-Part Series (2022 Update), March 22-24, Hosted by Govology

Koprince McCall Potroff LLC is presenting a 3-part series focused on teaming agreements, joint venture agreements and subcontracts which can be essential to winning and successfully performing federal government contracts. Shane McCall and Nicole Pottroff explain how to develop, negotiate and administer agreements that are both compliant and effective for both small and large contractors. The presentations will cover both the key rules (such as flow-downs and ostensible subcontractor affiliation) and best practices for agreements that go beyond the bare minimum legal requirements.

Continue reading…

Other Transaction Authority? What Other Transaction Authority? – A Look at OTA

Ah, the Federal Acquisition Regulations, or FAR. Quite numerous and complex, yes, but they provide a standardized set of rules and procedures that govern federal government procurements.  Regardless of what contract you’re dealing with (other than a few exceptions such as the FAA, which is not subject to the FAR), you can be sure that the rules of the FAR govern it.

Unfortunately, that last statement is not true.

Continue reading…

SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 7-11, 2022

If March is supposed to come in like a lion and leave like a lamb, we are certainly still in the lion stage this week, with another winter snow storm that arrived here yesterday. No worries, however, because next week the lamb arrives with 70 degree weather and we are ready for it. Hopefully, this will be winter’s last gasp as warmer temperatures are sure to follow and we spring forward into daylight savings time.

There was a lot happening in federal government contracting news this week, such as the new Buy American Act final rule and updates on more cybersecurity requirements being considered for government agencies. We have included those and some additional articles that we hope you will find informative.

Have a great weekend!

Continue reading…