Annie Birney Joins Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC as Associate Attorney and SmallGovCon Contributor!

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Shane McCall

We are excited to announce that Annie Birney has joined the firm and will also be a regular SmallGovCon contributor! She is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law. You can read her full biography here. And check out Annie’s first post here, discussing the small business rule of two.

Annie was very accomplished during her law school days, including plenty of practical experience. This included assisting with tax preparation services for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Additionally, Annie participated in the Elder Law Field Placement Program where she assisted with document preparation for estate planning. Prior to law school, Annie attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she received her B.A. in Journalism.

In her spare time, Annie can be found spending time with her family, friends and her dog, Sir Bruiser and is an avid fan of the KU Jayhawks, especially during basketball season. We are excited to have Annie join our team here at SmallGovCon and Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC!

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 23-27, 2024

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday and happy fall! We hope you had a productive week and are looking forward to the weekend. The federal government contractors have been quite busy wrapping things up at the end of this fiscal year and preparing for a new one to begin. We hope everything is “falling” into place. Have a great weekend!

This week in federal government contracting news looked at a new CR, cloud procurement requirements, and another push towards category management.

SBA Proposed Rule: New Size and Status Recertification Standard

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Gregory Weber

In a proposed rule in August of 2024, SBA has unveiled a brand new regulation related specifically to recertification of size and status. A frequent question of federal contractors is whether they can continue to be small, or maintain a specific socio-economic status (i.e., WOSB, SDVOSB etc.) after a change in ownership or business structure. The SBA’s size and status recertification standards are currently found in multiple places: the size determination timing regulations, each socio-economic status regulation, and of course in case law. But this would presumably create a one stop shop for size recertification questions, while also changing some of the long relied-upon standards.

Predictions: Upcoming Rules on Conflicts of Interest

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Shane McCall

Back in 2023, we wrote about Congress’s late-2022 mandate to update and clarify various rules surrounding organizational conflicts of interest (or OCIs). At that time, Congress, in a short piece of legislation, asked that OCI rules be updated to address a number of areas. In this post, I’ll provide some predictions about how the OCI rules will be updated, as we wait for the new proposed rule to come out. In addition, I’m discussing this topic at the Judicial Conference for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Once the proposed rule is released, SmallGovCon will also do a run-through of those changes.

OHA Reminder: Don’t ignore Program Examination Questions from SBA . . . or Else

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Stephanie Ellis

Most of SBA’s socioeconomic programs (woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, HUBZone) have a requirement for the contractor to go through a recertification process, or program examination, every three years. 8(a) Participants have an annual review process, so they are reviewed even more frequently. But between these routine program recertifications, there is a possibility that the SBA will choose to perform an additional program examination to “verify the accuracy” of certification. And, as one SDVOSB firm found out, failing to cooperate with these interim program examinations can lead to decertification—a fate that no small business wants to risk.

Webinar Event! October 1, 2024 – Limitations on Subcontracting and the Nonmanufacturer Rule hosted by Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Shane McCall

For small businesses and their teammates, few topics in government contracting are as confusing as the limitations on subcontracting for set-aside and socioeconomic sole source contracts. And if that isn’t stressful enough, the “LoS” is an area with heavy potential penalties if a contractor gets it wrong.

The nonmanufacturer rule is the flip side of the LoS, but for supply contracts in the federal government contracting realm. It is also one we encounter quite often in our role assisting federal contractors.

In this course, Greg Weber and I will help you make sense of the limitations on subcontracting and nonmanufacturer rule. Using a step-by-step process and plenty of examples to help bring the rules to life will help you ensure that you understand and comply with these essential rules. We hope you will join us at 10:00 am MDT on October 1. Register here.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: September 16-20, 2024

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday! There has been a flurry of activity here at SmallGovCon, as the government’s fiscal year is ending this month. In the evolving landscape of federal contracting, one needs to stay on top of recent developments. Here are some key ones.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is set to implement new rules for mentor-protégé arrangements. I had the privilege of being interviewed by Tom Temin of the Federal News Network on these new mentor-protégé rules and potential ones on the horizon from SBA. You can read the full transcript below. We hope you have a great weekend!