SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 15-19, 2024

Happy Friday everyone! Here in the Midwest we are enjoying some nice spring weather. But along with the beautiful flowers comes the allergies for some folks. In contracting news this week legislators in Washington have been working on bills in an attempt to make it easier for small businesses to work with the government and there is continued movement on cybersecurity for federal contractors. You can read more about that in the articles below as well as other contracting news.

Have a great weekend.

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Govology Webinar: Past Performance: A Critical Factor For Success in the Government Marketplace (2024 Update), April 25, 2024, 1:00-2:30pm EDT

Please join us for an in-depth exploration of past performance management in government contracting. Gain valuable knowledge to leverage your past successes for future growth and competitive advantage.

Past performance management holds significant weight in the success of government contractors. Government agencies now place a premium on a contractor’s ability to deliver on promises, emphasizing the adage that “actions speak louder than words.” Contractors with a strong track record of past performance gain a competitive edge in the government contracting arena. 

Nicole Pottroff and Greg Weber, will discuss the essential components of past performance crucial for building a solid foundation for success. Register here.

Free Event! SBA & DoD Mentor Protégé Webinar hosted by MST Contract Opportunities Center APEX Accelerator, El Paso: January 23, 2024, 10:00-11:30am MST

Touted as a “game-changer” when it was first introduced in 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program isn’t new anymore. Known now as simply the “SBA Mentor-Protégé Program,” it is still extremely useful for large and small contractors alike.

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Please join me and Gregory Weber as we explain the ins and outs of the SBA Mentor-Protégé Program, covering the program’s eligibility requirements, its potential benefits (including the ability to form special mentor-protégé joint ventures), the application process, and common misconceptions and pitfalls. Additionally, we will provide an introduction to the even older DoD Mentor-Protégé Program, which set the stage for the SBA’s program, and compare the two programs.

Register here.

Room for Improvement: Statistics Suggest It is Unclear if Large Businesses are Meeting Small Business Subcontracting Goals.

Just as agencies have established goals to award a certain percentage of their procurements to small businesses and businesses participating in socio-economic programs like the 8(a) Program, large business contractors must establish goals to include small business subcontractors in their pool of subcontractors for unrestricted awards over the applicable threshold in FAR 19.702 ($750,000 for most contracts, $1.5 million for construction contracts). While the specific goal will vary with each contract (or in some cases may be on a company-wide basis), it is rare for a contracting officer to find a large business hasn’t met the given goal. However, an investigation by GAO indicates that large business contractors aren’t meeting their small business subcontracting goals as often as the government would hope. Let’s take a deeper look at these findings.

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Govology Webinar: Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) Rules for Federal Contractors, Sept. 14, 2023, 1:00pm EDT

Steven Koprince, Govology Legal Analyst and retired founder of Koprince McCall Pottroff will be presenting this webinar which covers the Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) Rules for Federal Contractors, including which contracts are subject to FOCI rules, how does the government evaluate whether a contractor is operating under foreign ownership, influence, or control, what responsibilities does a contractor or potential contractor have to identify and report FOCI concerns, and more. Don’t miss your chance to learn all about FOCI, in plain English! Register here today!

SBA Releases New Small Business Award Data Hub

While some federal contractors have (understandably) been focused on the court decision that found the 8(a) Program’s rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage for members of certain racial minorities unconstitutional, the SBA doesn’t just operate the 8(a) Program. It has to look out for all small businesses in America as well. In connection with this obligation, the agency recently released a new web application that allows visitors to discover a great deal about federal small business awards and socio-economic set aside awards. Called the “Small Business Data HUB,” this free program provides some interesting insights on how the government awards contracts. In this post, we’re going to explore this datahub a little and see what’s going on.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 25-29, 2022

Happy Friday, Readers! It’s time for another addition of the Week in Review. This week saw a lot of interesting updates, including lots of programs for small business owners, a little news on CMMC, and some new initiatives to help contractors navigate the federal marketplace.

Catch up on all the latest, and enjoy the weekend!

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