Selecting the Right Employee Incentive Plan Can Be Tricky
The purpose of an employee incentive plan, regardless of the specific type or form that it takes, is to more closely align a key employee’s financial interests with the company’s. The company owners’ challenge when developing and implementing an employee incentive plan is to strike the right balance between allowing key employees to share in the company’s upside success, while at the same time protecting the company’s downside risk in the event one or more of the key employees fails . . . Read More
Dissatisfied with an Unsatisfactory Rating? Contractor Options for Challenging CPARS
By Megan Connor This blog article has been updated due to changes in the regulations. To read the latest version, please click here . Confronted with an unfavorable interim or final Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (“CPARS”) rating, the first question clients ask us is, “What can we do?” The answer: challenge it. The FAR provides that contractors must be given a minimum of 30 days to submit comments, rebutting statements, or additional information upon receipt of a CPARS. If you disagree with anything in a CPARS, . . . Read More
The Benefits of Intervention
By Alex Levine You’ve just secured a high dollar government contract award. After weeks of proposal preparation effort, thousands of dollars in costs, and months of waiting, your business stands to receive a major boon. Then comes the email. The contract award has been protested by a losing offeror and the award is on hold. What should you do? It may seem reasonable to simply trust that the government will adequately defend the award against protest. Such an approach comes . . . Read More
Small Business Construction Contractors Must Voice Their Concerns
Is your construction company in compliance with the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA’s”) limitations on subcontracting requirement? Are you positive? If you are a small business general construction contractor and you feel somewhat skittish of these types of questions, you can take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone. The federal construction industry is undoubtedly popular. However, it is also complicated, particularly when it comes to determining whether your small business is self-performing enough work. Not knowing—at least, not . . . Read More
Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
Nationals Park in Washington, DC is home of the Washington Nationals and the venue for many great concerts and events. But did you know that government contractors across the country may be sharing in the costs for the park? Well it is true and it should be on the radar screen of any contractor generating receipts within the District. The revenues received by the District from the ballpark fee are deposited into the Ballpark Revenue Fund and used for . . . Read More
Right-Sized: How a Contractor and its Outside Counsel Adjusted a GSA Schedule BPA RFQ to the Appropriate Size Standard
Last summer, we helped a contractor with a case that had all of the plot twists of a Hollywood blockbuster. The case involved an RFQ for a blanket purchase agreement (“BPA”) under a GSA Schedule Contract. There were multiple Special Item Numbers (“SINs”) on the schedule, with different NAICS codes and size standards. The procuring agency issued the RFQ as a total set-aside for small businesses, but the terms of the RFQ were unclear as to how size would be . . . Read More
Threat Assessment: Are You Ready for the Cybersecurity Boom?
The government buys a significant amount of information technology (IT) services from the private sector, and this will probably always be true. However, in recent years the government’s overall IT spending has stagnated. IT is still the place to be for many contractors, but understanding the direction of federal IT spending is critical to ensuring you are positioned where the government (and technology) is headed, rather than where it has already been. In fiscal year 2014, IT spending is expected . . . Read More
2014: Year of the WOSB
By Megan Connor If current developments are any indication, 2014 very well may be a banner year for the SBA’s Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program. Recent surveys show the WOSB Program is trending up. WOSBs accounted for 4% of all small business federal contracts in fiscal year 2012, up from 3.5% in fiscal year 2009. WOSBs won $16.2 billion in federal contracts in fiscal year 2012, up from $15.7 billion in 2009, despite a 6% overall downturn in federal . . . Read More
Be a Resolved Employer in 2014
By Nichole DeVries In the spirit of the season, employers should make resolutions on ways to improve their human resource practices in 2014. And beyond simply making resolutions, you should have a plan to ensure you meet your objectives – easier said than done given everything else you must do to run your business. To help you succeed in achieving key employer resolutions this year, this article provides a roadmap to address what we believe are the top five “must-do’s” . . . Read More
Right-Sized: How a Contractor and its Outside Counsel Adjusted a GSA Schedule BPA RFQ to the Appropriate Size Standard
An article by Jon Williams and Alex Levine’s published in February’s Contract Management Magazine. Last summer, we helped a contractor with a case that had all of the plot twists of a Hollywood blockbuster. The case involved an RFQ for a blanket purchase agreement (“BPA”) under a GSA Schedule Contract. There were multiple Special Item Numbers (“SINs”) on the schedule, with different NAICS codes and size standards. The procuring agency issued the RFQ as a total set-aside for small businesses, . . . Read More