Tag Archives: Mentor-Protege Programs

Event: Mentor-Protege Roundtable And Book Signing, Hosted By MAGIC

Posted on by

I am pleased to announce that I will be joining the Mid-America Government Industry Coalition for a roundtable on federal mentor-protege programs on March 26-27, 2013 in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

Each program attendee will receive an autographed copy of my book, The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts.  (If you already have a copy, here’s your chance to pick up gift for that special government contractor in your life).  The program will offer lots of important information on federal mentor-protege programs and invaluable networking opportunities–you don’t want to miss it.

If you are a government contractor in the Midwest, you owe it to yourself to attend a MAGIC event and see what this great organization can do for you.  For more information on the March 2013 mentor-protege event, click over to the event’s page on the MAGIC website.

See you in Oklahoma!

8(a) Mentor-Protege Joint Venture Shielded From “Three-In-Two” Rule Affiliation

Posted on by

According to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, an 8(a) mentor-protege joint venture may be entitled to an affiliation “shield,” even if the joint venture violates the so-called “three-in-two” rule by receiving more than three contracts over a two-year period.

SBA OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Magnum Opus Technologies, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5372 (2012), should reassure 8(a) proteges and their mentors that if the SBA District Office has approved a contract award to an 8(a) mentor-protege joint venture, the joint venturers are very unlikely to be found affiliated as a result of that contract award.

Continue reading →

SBA OHA: Contractors Must Be Permitted To Contest Affiliation

Posted on by

If you have ever gotten a traffic ticket, you know the ticket typically presents you with two options: send in your fine (essentially admitting guilt), or appear in court and contest the ticket.  The second option is available because in our democracy, a citizen accused of wrongdoing–even a minor traffic infraction–has the right to contest the charges.

The same is true when it comes to SBA size protests.  According to a recent decision by the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, a contractor cannot be found affiliated with another company unless the contractor is given the opportunity to respond to the particular basis of affiliation at issue.

Continue reading →

SBA OHA: SBA Cannot Belatedly Oppose Size Appeal

Posted on by

No matter your political persuasion, it’s hard to forget the image of Senator John Kerry windsurfing in the famous 2004 Bush-Cheney ad.  The ad attacked Kerry for supposedly changing his mind too often–“flip-flopping,” in political parlance.

It turns out that the dangers of flip-flopping are not limited to politics.  In a recent SBA size appeal decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, SBA OHA held that if the SBA’s Office of Government Contracting, or OGC elects not to formally oppose a SBA size appeal, it cannot later change its mind and ask SBA OHA to revisit the size appeal decision.  Because the SBA OGC does not formally oppose most SBA size appeals, SBA OHA’s decision forces the SBA OGC to make up its mind quickly about whether it will play a role in the SBA size appeal process.

Continue reading →

8(a) Joint Ventures and SBA Size Protests: SBA OHA Narrows The Scope of Review

Posted on by

When the SBA Area Office reviews a SBA size protest against a SBA-approved 8(a) joint venture, the SBA Area Office must confine itself strictly to size issues.  According to a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, in conducting its review of a SBA size protest, the SBA Area Office cannot examine whether the joint venture complies with the 8(a) program’s regulations.

Although the distinction between size and 8(a) issues may sound like a technicality, it can make the difference between a sustained SBA size protest and an unsuccessful one.  As a result, this SBA OHA decision provides an extra layer of protection to SBA-approved 8(a) joint ventures–any makes filing a successful SBA size protest against an approved 8(a) joint venture that much more difficult.

Continue reading →

8(a) Mentor-Protege Joint Ventures: SBA OHA Confirms Broad Exception from Affiliation

Posted on by

I find Google Trends, which catalogs “hot searches” on any given day, rather fascinating.  Half of the hot searches seem related to one celebrity or another, but others reveal that many folks are spending their time Googling such things as “zombie apocalypse” and “national doughnut day.”  Does anyone remember what office workers actually did all day before the Internet?

If Google Trends had a government contracts subsection, “joint ventures” would be one of the trendiest of search terms.  Joint ventures are a hot topic these days, for small and large government contractors alike.  8(a) joint ventures are perhaps the trendiest of all, thanks to a special exception from the ordinary SBA affiliation rules.  In a recent SBA size appeal decision, SBA OHA confirmed that this exception from the affiliation rules is broad, even allowing an 8(a) mentor-protege joint venture–potentially–to violate the so-called “three in two” rule.

Continue reading →

SBA OHA: VA Mentor-Protege Program Does Not Protect Participants From Affiliation

Posted on by

My parents taught me that it’s not polite to say, “I told you so.”  Mom and Dad are big proponents of being polite, and their lessons (by and large) stuck.  For instance, even in this day and age of abbreviated text messages and quick emails written on handheld devices, I always begin and end every business email with a salutation, and end with “regards,” or something along those lines.  Unnecessary?  Perhaps.  But I like to think I am going the extra mile toward being polite.

Today, however, politeness is going to have to take a little hiatus, because I can’t resist saying, “I told you so.”  For more than a year, I have been warning small government contractors that assistance received from a mentor firm under any federal mentor-protege program other than the SBA 8(a) mentor-protege program or DoD mentor-protege program is probably not shielded from the SBA’s affiliation analysis.

Now, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals has confirmed that participating in the VA’s mentor-protege program does not offer any protection from affiliation.

Continue reading →