Happy Friday! In this week in review, we have included some noteworthy articles including the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) proposed rule with significant updates to the HUBZone program and other SBA rules. We dive into this proposal here. Other updates include the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) enhancing its mentor-protégé program and dealing with the end of the fiscal year. You can read more about these changes and other federal contracting news in the articles below.
We hope you have a wonderful long Labor Day weekend! Enjoy!
How agencies evaluate past performance of joint ventures has been a somewhat confusing topic for federal contractors over the past few years. We’ve written about many of the key aspects of the evolution of this rule on SmallGovCon, from the earlier final rule to recent decisions interpreting that rule. The proposed rule would clarify how SBA thinks agencies should review past performance for joint ventures, but it also invites comment from contractors. This is an area where input from the federal contracting community could really have an impact on the final version of SBA’s rule.
The SBA has issued a new proposed rule addressing both the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program and other small business updates. It is titled: “HUBZone Program Updates and Clarifications, and Clarifications to Other Small Business Programs.” In this post, we’ll provide an overview of some of the main highlights of the proposed rule, and will do a deeper dive on some aspects of the regulation in later posts.
Hello and happy Friday! Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, the kids have started school and the college students are busy moving in and preparing to start classes. It always feels like such a big shift in the energy with all the excitement and the many back to school events taking place.
This week in federal government contracting, the recent headlines highlight a wide array of developments within federal operations, emphasizing both accountability and innovation. You can read more about this week’s news in the articles below. Enjoy your weekend!
The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship is hosting this helpful, virtual workshop on August 28 at 10:00am CDT. Joint ventures can be a powerful tool for companies to jointly compete for proposals and combine the best of their capabilities to perform their awards. This webinar, presented by federal government contracts attorney, Gregory Weber, will address the benefits of joint venturing, eligibility, how past performance comes into play, and the differences between a joint venture and a teaming agreement. He will also discuss how to make sure a joint venture agreement is compliant with the latest rules, how to set them up, and how to avoid some common traps in the process. Register here.
The Trade Agreements Act (TAA) (along with its cousin, the Buy American Act) is one of the more complex acts to deal with in federal government contracting. We have taken a look at the TAA before, noting that it does not apply to small business set-asides and discussing how it applies in its related FAR clause, FAR 52.225-5. One of the key requirements under the TAA, as shown in FAR 52.225-5, is that the product has been “substantially transformed…into a new and different article of commerce with a name, character, or use distinct from that of the article or articles from which it was transformed” in one of the qualifying countries: the United States, various “qualifying countries”, and “designated countries”. (These countries are ones that the US has a trade agreement with, hence the law’s name) Of course, when agencies receive offers, they generally can’t go visit the assembly sites. This raises the question: When can an agency rely on a contractor’s offer and when must it do a little more digging?
Happy Friday, blog readers, and welcome to the week in review. Recent legislative and agency initiatives are shaping the landscape for federal contracting, cybersecurity, and support for veterans and small businesses, this week. A bipartisan Senate bill seeks to mandate cybersecurity vulnerability disclosures by contractors, enhancing national security. In parallel, the Pentagon’s release of key Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) contracting rules aims to fortify the defense supply chain against cyber threats.
On the small business front, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are collaborating to promote veteran entrepreneurship, while various committees and task forces are actively addressing regulatory fairness and development support for veteran-owned businesses. These efforts, coupled with the General Services Administration’s (GSA) celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act’s two-year anniversary, underscore the federal government’s commitment to fostering a robust, secure, and inclusive economic environment. You can read more about those topics in the articles below. Have a great weekend!
