SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION “SBA Launches New HUBZONE Maps and Partners with U.S. Digital Service to Streamline and Enhance Online Services for Small Businesses” U.S. Small Business Administration Press Release, July 31, 2017. Retrieved from sba.gov The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that it has launched a new Historically Underutilized Business Zones map . The HUBZone map is the first step in the modernization effort of SBA’s federal contracting programs. SBA has partnered with the U.S. Digital Service to streamline and enhance online services for small . . . Read More
In the small business government contracting world, one of biggest advantages to winning a GWAC, like Alliant, CIO-SP3, OASIS or SEWP, is that you will be considered a small business for the contract and any orders awarded to you, despite your natural growth. This is because the general rule is that a contractor’s size for purposes of a multiple award contract is established at the date of proposal with price. Effectively, a contractor is locked in as a small business . . . Read More
Effective August 1, 2017, the Service Contract Act (“SCA”) health and welfare (“H&W”) benefit amount increased from $4.27 per hour to $4.41 per hour. See, Department of Labor (“DOL”) All Agency Memorandum Number 225, issued on July 25, 2017. A different H&W rate of $4.13 per hour is now applicable to employees performing work on contracts covered by Executive Order 13706 (“EO”). This EO mandated that certain federal contractors provide up to 56 hours of sick leave to employees. The . . . Read More
FEDERAL AGENCIES “Class Deviation 2017-O0006, Increased Micro-Purchased Threshold.” Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, July 17, 2017. Retrieved from acq.osd.mil . The Department of Defense issued a memorandum regarding the issued class deviation 2017-O0006, implementing provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The class deviation addresses increases the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000 for DoD procurements and to $10,000 for DoD basic research programs. “Presidential Executive Order on Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply . . . Read More
In this Issue: The All Small Mentor/Protégé Program, One Year Later: Lessons Learned and a Key Milestone Protecting Your Employees and Confidential Information when Working with Teaming Partners Employee Refusal of Medical Treatment – Tips to Avoid Costly Claims Sustainability Through Cost Control
Subcontracts contain a number of important provisions that shape the relationship between a prime and its subcontractor. However, there is one that overshadows the rest in terms of its significance to the parties’ agreement: work share. The work share provision dictates the amount and types of work the subcontractor will perform. In addition, it is through the work share provision that the parties decide how best to divide the work between themselves to achieve the agency’s objective. Given its importance . . . Read More
The U.S. Senate has proposed a provision in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that, if adopted, would raise the stakes for larger firms in filing bid protests. The provision would apply to protests against DoD procurements to the GAO. If GAO denies all elements of such protests, the protesting company would be required to pay to DoD the costs the government incurs for processing the protest at the GAO and DoD. It is unclear how the government would track . . . Read More
H.R. 3294, the HUBZone Unification and Business Stability Act of 2017, proposes several changes to the HUBZone program that are intended to reduce certification timelines, stabilize the program, and collect and report on performance metrics designed to measure the success of the HUBZone program. While this is a step in the right direction, the proposed changes do not go far enough to provide a meaningful impact to the deficiencies in the program. To analyze the positive impact the proposed bill . . . Read More
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING “Proposed Information Collection Request; Federal Contractor Veterans’ Employment Report VETS-4212.” Federal Register, July 18, 2017. Retrieved from federalregister.gov . The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) issued a notice soliciting public comments concerning a request to extend the currently approved VETS-4214 information collection form. Federal contractors and subcontractors track and report the number of employees in their workforces, by job category and hiring location, who belong to the specified categories of protected veterans. This information is sent annually to the . . . Read More
