In my recent blog post about Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOPS”), I discussed how the plans are treated differently under the Department of Veterans Affairs ’ program (the “VA Program”) for Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses versus the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) program (the “SBA Program”) for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern (“SDVO SBCs”). Just recently, the SBA issued an SDVO SBC status determination which confirms that shares of stock held in an ESOP are treated as outstanding stock under the SBA Program, which is not always the case . . . Read More
Government contractors work hard to please their customers not only to fulfill their contractual obligations but also to establish a solid past performance record and to secure more work. When a company lacks past performance experience, it can find itself at a significant competitive disadvantage against its competitors. Companies without track records often try to address the problem by relying on the experience of an affiliated entity. The affiliate could be a new company they have acquired or, for example, . . . Read More
Chances are that your company, at some point, has entered into a contract that contains a provision requiring that the parties engage in a form of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) either in lieu of, or prior to, instituting a lawsuit to settle a dispute. Contractual ADR provisions usually call for the parties to either engage in binding arbitration, typically under the auspices of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), or to submit the matter to non-binding mediation prior to filing suit. It is a . . . Read More
It has been the common understanding within the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”), and the small business government contracting community as a whole, that the nonmanufacturer rule applies only to contracts for the provision of supplies (i.e., goods) and not to service contracts, regardless of whether or not such service contracts have a supply component. This understanding was even memorialized in a regulatory change that SBA made in 2011 whereby the agency stated that the nonmanufacturer rule did not apply . . . Read More
By Katie Flood In this time of heightened competition on all federal procurements, it is critically important that small business contractors use the tools at their disposal to help them stay competitive and secure work. While agencies are able to “set-aside” work for small businesses, a fundamental aspect of these set-asides ends up being the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes and the corresponding size standards which must be assigned. The NAICS code determines the industry which “best describes” the work to be performed . . . Read More
By Kimi Murakami The answer as to whether 8(a) firms can use the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) joint venture (“JV”) agreement template seems to depend on which SBA District Office your small business is governed by. Recently, some of our small business clients that are governed by the SBA’s Washington Metropolitan Area District Office received notice from their Business Opportunity Specialist (“BOS”) that the agency’s template for JV agreements would no longer be accepted. It is unclear whether this is true for all SBA . . . Read More
