SmallGovCon Week in Review: January 2-6, 2023

Happy New Year! We hope you were able to enjoy the holidays with friends and family and are now ready to jump into 2023. A recent cold front has moved out of our area, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say we are grateful to get back to our normal temperatures.

There was a lot of activity in the federal government contracting arena this week. Below are some articles that we think are noteworthy. Enjoy your weekend.

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SBA: NAICS Code Must Match the Work Sought, not the Offeror’s Work

We here at SmallGovCon like to spend our free time pondering the intricacies around how and why certain NAICS codes are assigned to the myriad of contracting opportunities posted every day. But we realize others may not have the same appetite for the intricacies of Federal Contracting as us. Luckily, the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) recently issued a great roadmap for understanding NAICS code assignments in a NAICS code appeal decision, which serves as a great refresher for how NAICS codes are applied to a procurement.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 26-30, 2022

Happy Friday Readers! It’s time to say goodbye to 2022 and make plans for the new year. We hope 2022 has been a good year for you. We are looking forward to providing valuable insights for federal contractors in 2023 and we appreciate your continued support of SmallGovCon. This week saw important updates regarding both the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act and government spending bill.

We wish you the best in 2023! Happy new year!

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SBA to Small Businesses: Be Careful with Ostensible Subcontractors on SBIR Awards

In a recent decision, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) examined a company that received two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awards. The SBA Area Office had determined that the awardee was not an eligible small business due to ostensible subcontractor affiliation and other reasons. This decision is an important reminder for SBIR candidates on how they should structure subcontracting teams, as SBA will examine SBIR awardee eligibility.

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Final FAR Amendment Encourages Procuring Agencies to Engage with Industry

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule that amends the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), effectively implementing a provision of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. The rule permits and encourages agency acquisition personnel to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with the industry, provided that such exchanges remain consistent with the applicable law and refrain from promoting any unfair competitive advantages.

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Help on the Way? Proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2023 Grants DoD Discretion to Allow Inflation Relief for DoD Contractors

The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in essence Congress’ annual budget for the Department of Defense (DoD), commonly includes various riders and attachments that amend or create other federal laws. For example, the 2022 NDAA (finally) gave SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals the authority to hear appeals of HUBZone protests (something SBA just recently proposed a rule regarding), and the 2021 NDAA is why SDVOSB self-certification is ending and SBA is taking over the job of carrying out certifications from the VA (SDVOSB contractors, SBA will start accepting applications on January 9, 2023, as we discuss here.) The 2023 NDAA is no exception, and as it is currently proposed, the DoD would get a lot more discretion to help out its contractors in light of inflation.

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