There are some exciting things going on this week. First off, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! And please give recognition to all the small businesses out there contributing to the vitality of our nation. You can buy your mother a gift at a local small business and knock out Mother’s Day and National Small Business Week in one fell swoop.

Before you head out for the weekend, take a look at some of the recent news in federal government contracting. Below, you can read about some of the impressive small businesses that were recognized this week, as well as read about how government contractors were affected by the government shutdown, important changes to how security clearances will be processed, and how the DoD is looking to modernize technology acquisitions. Enjoy!

• Government contractors are changing habits to survive. [VirginiaBusiness]
• Company pays $2 million in kickback, bribery suit involving Fort Bliss construction contract. [ArmyTimes]
• SBA recognizes women-owned firms in govcon this week. [Yahoo]
• Federal IT acquisition leads look to streamline process. [GovernementCIO]
• First QSMOs are ‘proof points’ for new shared services model. [fedscoop]
• Watchdog report: Only 11 percent of federal IT runs on the cloud. [Nextgov]
• Agencies ‘likely’ underreporting cloud spending, savings. [fedscoop]
• Contractors advise lawmakers on how to reduce pain during shutdown. [Govexec]
• GSA taking the bite out of buying commercial products. [FederalNewsNetwork]
• Chris Lynch of the Defense Digital Service defends his legacy as he prepares to hand over the helm. [BreakingDefense]
• Best ways to find a small business mentor. [Forbes]

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