On July 19, 2023, the federal district court of the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a decision regarding a case involving the rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage in place under the 8(a) Business Development Program. Ultima Servs. Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 220CV00041DCLCCRW, 2023 WL 4633481, at *1 (E.D. Tenn. July 19, 2023). This decision found that this presumption is unconstitutional as it violates the right to equal protection. This, understandably, has caused a great deal of confusion and concern for current and potential 8(a) Program participants. In this post, we will not be providing our opinion on the correctness of the court’s decision (or analyze it from a policy perspective), as we will leave that to attorneys who specialize in constitutional law. Instead, we will go over the decision, what it means, and what it could affect down the road.
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Govology Webinar: An Introduction to Government Small Business Certifications (2023 Update) July 25, 2023, 1:00pm EDT
Steven Koprince, Govology Legal Analyst and retired founder of Koprince McCall Pottroff (and all around cool dude) will be presenting this webinar providing a big-picture overview of small business certifications in the government marketplace. In this webinar, you will learn about various federal small business certification programs, including Small Business Self Certification, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) & 8(a), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone), Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). Steve will also touch on state and local certification programs and provide information on additional training and resources you can use to develop a deeper understanding and get help with any federal, state, and small business certification program. If interested in this informative webinar, please register here.
Size Standards Applicable to SBA’s Socioeconomic Programs
If you are an avid SmallGovCon reader and a small business government contractor, you are probably no stranger to at least the basics of SBA’s size standards and its size and affiliation regulations (if not, check out some of our other blogs on the subject and keep an eye out for our upcoming new, second edition of the “SBA Small Business Size and Affiliation Rules” handbook). Additionally, most of our readers and most small business government contractors seem to understand at least the basics of SBA’s contract-based size requirements (i.e. that a small business–regardless of socioeconomic designation(s)–must be small under the size standard assigned to any set-aside contract it wants to bid). But did you know, if you are pursuing or participating in one of SBA’s other small business socioeconomic programs (8(a) Program, HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB, etc.), there may actually be some additional size requirements you must meet in order to be generally eligible for such small business socioeconomic statuses?
Continue readingSBA Final Rule Relaxes Change of 8(a) Program Ownership, Allows Limited Populated Joint Ventures
SBA has issued a final rule updating some of its rules relating to the 8(a) Program. The final rule will have an impact on some aspects of ownership and control requirements for the 8(a) Program, including providing some flexibility for change of ownership and making some 8(a) set-aside processes a little cleaner. The rule would also allow for populated joint ventures between similarly situated joint venture members.
We wrote about the proposed rule last year. Below are some of the key takeaways from the final rule and any changes from the proposed rule.
Continue reading8(a) Program and EDWOSB: Are they Economically Disadvantaged Twins or Siblings?
Two of the Small Business Administration’s programs require the applicant to demonstrate that they are economically disadvantaged: the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program) and the Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business Program (EDWOSB). The 8(a) Program requires applicants to be owned and controlled by both socially and economically disadvantaged individuals per 13 C.F.R. § 124.101. Applicants of the EDWOSB program must be owned and controlled by one or more economically disadvantaged women per 13 C.F.R. § 127.200(a)(2). But what exactly does it mean to be “economically disadvantaged,” and do both programs have the same requirements? Below I discuss the economically disadvantaged requirement contained in both programs. Read on to find out whether they are the same, and more.
Continue readingSBA Proposed Rule Relaxes Change of 8(a) Program Ownership, Allows Limited Populated Joint Ventures
The SBA has issued new proposed rules relating to the 8(a) Program. The rules clarify some aspects of ownership and control requirements for the 8(a) Program, including making change of ownership a little easier and cleaning up some 8(a) set-aside processes. The rule would also allow for populated joint ventures between similarly situated joint venture members.
Continue readingFederal Court Confirms Strict SDVOSB Unconditional Ownership Requirements
As we’ve discussed, the SBA will soon take the reins over from VA to run the certification process for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) and Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Self-certification for SDVOSBs will go away on December 31, 2023, so be sure to get your SDVOSB ownership and control documents up to snuff in order to stay compliant with the SDVOSB rules. One of those rules concerns unconditional ownership by the veteran. A recent federal court case sheds some additional light on that topic, as explored in this post.
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