Happy Thanksgiving & Native American Heritage Day from SmallGovCon

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Shane McCall

It’s that time of year to gather with friends and family and feast on some wonderful comfort food. We have been polling our staff on their favorite holiday dish and the answers have ranged from pumpkin pie to turkey to the traditional green bean casserole. They all sound good to me!

We have a lot to be thankful for and we are grateful for all of those readers who have been reading our blogs. We hope you have found them informative and we will continue to provide relevant content in regards to federal government contracting into the coming new year. Our office will be closed Thursday and Friday for our staff to recharge the batteries and connect with family and friends. Have a great holiday weekend!

Five Things I’ve Learned as a Government Contracts Lawyer

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Steven Koprince

As many readers know, I am retiring from private legal practice to focus on teaching, writing, and other interests. The wonderful team of government contracts professionals here at Koprince McCall Pottroff will continue assisting contractors with their legal needs. I couldn’t be prouder of our wonderful team of attorneys and staff!

For my last SmallGovCon blog post, in the tradition of our “Five Things You Should Know” series, here are five big-picture things I’ve learned in my years as a government contracts attorney. Oh, and whether this is the first post of mine you’ve read or the 1,200th (yes, I’ve written that many here on SmallGovCon), thank you!

The SBA Proposes New Rules to Help Small Businesses in Obtaining Past Performance

Posted on November 23, 2021 by SmallGovCon Contributor

The SBA proposes to amend its regulations to implement new provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021 that provides small business contractors with new tools to establish past performance when bidding on prime contracts for Government procurements. The proposed rules would add two new methods for small businesses to obtain qualifying past performance. One proposed rule would allow a small business with no relevant past performance of its own to use the past performance of a joint venture in which it took part. The second proposed rule would require prime contractors to provide, to small businesses that served as a first-tier subcontractor, a record of the business’s past performance for use by the small business in future proposals.

The proposed rules are here.

2021 GAO Bid Protest Report Reveals Nearly Half of Protests are Successful

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Shane McCall

GAO has released its annual bid protest report. Along with mashed potatoes and stuffing, it’s one of our favorite holiday traditions at SmallGovCon. This report came over a month earlier than last year, making this more of a Thanksgiving treat than Christmas this year.

A couple key takeaways are (1) the key effectiveness metric, showing numbers of sustains and corrective actions at GAO, was 48% for the 2021 fiscal year and (2) total bid protest numbers are down slightly, continuing a trend from the last few years.

SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 15-19, 2021

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Shane McCall

Happy Friday, Readers! Next week is Thanksgiving and we have a lot to be thankful for here at Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC, especially with everyone remaining healthy this year. It’s time to break out the stretchy pants and feast on the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie along with watching a few football games, a parade or two and, if we are lucky, we might just get in a nap, as well.

There was a lot of news in federal government contracting, this week. Here are some articles we found particularly interesting, including updates on cybersecurity (including CMMC), some new GSA GWACs, and a potential Stopgap Spending Bill.

Have a great weekend.

Franchise Agreement Terms Sink Company’s SDVOSB Application

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Steven Koprince

It’s a refrain that my colleagues and I have often heard: if you’re a franchisee, it can be really, really hard–perhaps almost impossible–to be verified as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business.

A recent case demonstrates the difficulties in obtaining SDVOSB status as a franchisee. In the case, the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals held that the Center for Verification and Eligibility had correctly denied a company’s SDVOSB application because, in the eyes of the CVE and SBA, the terms of the franchise agreement impeded the veteran’s control of the company.

Picking Your Team: Joint Ventures Versus Prime/Subcontractor Teams (Part Two, Past Performance)

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Nicole Pottroff

Federal contractors often ask: “Is it better to team up for government work with a prime-sub arrangement or with a joint venture?” Well, (spoiler alert) the answer is: it depends. But I won’t leave you with just that. This three-part series will provide insight on some of the major differences between these two types of “teams” that offerors should consider when making the decision between a joint venture or prime/subcontractor team in competing for and performing federal contracts. While this series will not provide a comprehensive list of all the differences between these two types of teams, it will cover some of the big ones that seem to come up more frequently in this decision-making process. The focus of the first article in this three-part series was work share considerations. This second article will focus on evaluations of a team’s past performance.