SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 30-September 3, 2021

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Happy Labor Day weekend, Readers! Here are 5 fun facts about Labor Day according to Google:

-The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

-By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.

-Some records show that in 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a day for a “general holiday for the laboring classes” to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

-Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

-According to the New Jersey Historical Society, after President Cleveland signed the law creating a national Labor Day.

Have a great, relaxing, long weekend and here are some newsworthy articles in federal government contracting this week.

  • SBA Awards Funding for Veteran Federal Procurement Entrepreneurship Training Program [SBA]
  • The Goldilocks principle: Getting rapid contracting ‘just right’ [DefNews]
  • Hicks says DOD will take ‘meaningful action’ to remove barriers for small contractors [FedScoop]
  • Strong Growth Expected in Federal IT Spending [NatDefMag]
  • Lawmaker to Propose Bill to Incentivize Industry Cybersecurity Cooperation Within Days [NextGov]
  • Air Force Software Chief Provides Update on DOD’s Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative [NextGov]
  • FASC has opportunity to bring supply chain efforts under its umbrella [FedNewsNet]
  • Businessman Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Paying Bribes to Federal and D.C. Employees [DoJ]
  • General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR); Extending Federal Supply Schedule Orders Beyond the Contract Term [FedReg]
  • GSA awards coworking space contract in bid to rethink federal office space [FedNewsNet]
  • Department of Defense 5G lead Evans steps down [FedScoop]
  • New Jersey Healthcare Staffing Company Pays $263K to 46 Workers at Veterans’ Medical Centers Following US Department of Labor Investigation [DoL]
  • Obituary: GSA’s Rob Coen [FedNewsNet]