SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals Reaffirms “Unconditional Ownership” Requirement in the SBA SDVOSB Program

A recent case reinforces that, just because the corporate governing documents of an SDVOSB  satisfy the unconditional ownership requirements for VA’s  SDVOSB set aside program, does not mean that the unconditional ownership requirements under SBA regulations will be met. Last month, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals issued a decision, Veterans Contracting Group, Inc., SBA No. VET-265 (2017), which reaffirmed the SBA SDVOSB Program’s requirement that an SDVOSB be 51-percent unconditionally and directly owned by one or more service-disabled . . . Read More

SBA Seeks Comments on Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burden

On August 15, 2017, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released a request for information (“RFI”) seeking input from the public as to which SBA regulations should be repealed, replaced, or modified because they are obsolete, unnecessary, ineffective, or burdensome. The RFI is prompted by various Executive Orders seeking to reduce the number and costs of federal regulations, including Executive Order 13771, signed by President Trump on January 30, 2017, requiring agencies to identify two existing regulations that the agency may cancel for every new . . . Read More

SBA Launches New HUBZone Map

The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently launched a new version of the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (“HUBZone”) map on the SBA website. The new HUBZone map designates areas as eligible HUBZone locations and indicates whether an address qualifies as one or more HUBZone designations, such as census tract, county, Indian land, disaster area, closed base area, or redesignated area. For certain types of HUBZones, like redesignated areas, disaster areas, and closed base areas, the map also indicates the date when . . . Read More

Do the Proposed Changes to SBA’s HUBZone Program Go Far Enough?

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

Borrowing Under the SBA’s 7(a) Lending Program: Three Factors to Bear in Mind

As an entrepreneur or a small business owner, you know that access to capital is a crucial component in both the setting up and growing of your business. Capital is necessary at every stage, for example, enabling your business to order goods before you expect to be paid, paying for accumulating overhead costs, investing in client development and marketing, etc. — having access to capital is the lifeline for your business. However, entrepreneurs and small business owners often find that it . . . Read More

GAO Finds NIH Failed to Refer SDVOSB Offeror’s Capability to SBA

In a recently published  GAO decision , GAO sustained a SDVOSB’s protest of its exclusion from the competitive range by NIH under the CIO-SP3 SB GWAC procurement.  The CIO-SP3 SB RFP required an evaluation of proposals in two phases. NIH evaluated offerors in Phase 1 under four “Go/No-Go” requirements, including factor 2, management approach, subfactor 1, domain-specific capability in a health-related mission. NIH found the protester’s proposal unacceptable under this factor/subfactor because the protester’s proposal was “not sufficient to demonstrate inherent capabilities . . . Read More

Are Agencies Ignoring SBA’s Application of the Nonmanufacturer Rule to Resellers of Major Commercial Software?

Early last year, on January 26, 2016, SBA issued a new requirement that IT Value Added Resellers (“ITVAR”) under the footnote/exception to NAICS Code 541519 have to comply with the nonmanufacturer rule when reselling software under that code.  Thus, according to the rule, any ITVAR must provide software that is manufactured (i.e., developed) by a small business unless a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule is requested by the contracting officer and granted by SBA for each and every ITVAR procurement. . . . Read More

SBA Size Standards Under the Microscope

?SBA’s size standards are one of the agency’s most important metrics. The size standards draw a bright line between small and large businesses for each industry by NAICS code. A firm that is below the size standard for its industry is eligible to pursue federal contracts and programs reserved for small businesses. And small businesses are also exempt from other rules that would otherwise apply to federal contractors. So how and where SBA draws the size line for each industry . . . Read More