OHA to Decide VA SDVOSB Status Protests Starting This Week

Starting on October 1st, SBA began hearing protests challenging an apparent awardee’s eligibility for inclusion in the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation (“CVE”) database and, in turn, its eligibility for a VA SDVOSB contract award. Previously, an SDVOSB status protest for a VA procurement was filed with the contracting officer, who then forwarded the protest to the Director of the CVE to render a status determination. To be timely, the protest had to be filed within five business days . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for October 1, 2018

  DEFENSE DEPARTMENT Federal Acquisition Regulation: Evaluation Factors for Multiple-Award Contracts The Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. Section 825 of the NDAA for FY 2017 amends 10 U.S.C. 2305(a)(3) to modify the requirement to consider cost or price as an evaluation factor for the award for . . . Read More

Effective October 1, 2018: A Universal Set of Ownership and Control Requirements for VOSBs and SDVOSBs

Just one week before taking effect, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a  final rule  on verification guidelines for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, found in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA 2017). The final rule implements the NDAA 2017, which placed the responsibility for issuing regulations relating to ownership and control for the VA’s verification of VOSBs and SDVOSBs with SBA. As relevant background, the current VA and SBA regulations regarding ownership and control of . . . Read More

New Receipts Calculation for Federal Contractors?

Congress is considering changing the receipts calculation for small businesses. Currently, a company’s size is determined based on the average annual receipts of the three recently completed fiscal years. However, in the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,  H.R. 6330 , which the House passed on September 25, 2018, the House of Representatives proposes amending the Small Business Act to change this time period to five years. In a  Report  dated September 12, 2018, the House Small Business Committee (“HSBC”) observed that . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for September 21, 2018

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION House Small Business Committee Calls for a Status Update on FAR Revision of Limitations on Subcontracting. Last week, House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot and Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez sent a letter to the acting administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy requesting a status update of Federal Acquisition Regulation Case Number 2016-011, titled “Revision of Limitations on Subcontracting. Section 1651 of Public Law 112-239, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (2013 . . . Read More

NLRB Proposes Rule to Limit Joint Employer Test: Small Businesses Beware

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has taken this proverb to heart when it comes to implementing a new test for what it means to be a “joint employer” under the National Labor Relations Act. Following a failed attempt to change the standard through case law, the NLRB is now attempting to revise it by issuing a proposed rule. Last December, the NLRB endeavored to reverse Obama-era NLRB precedent, which held . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for September 7, 2018

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Boosting small business demands big ideas According to an article in dcma.mil , there are 28 million small businesses in America, and Defense Contract Management Agency’s small business team wants as many of them as possible to join the defense industrial base. “Our mission is to provide small business support to our defense and government customers by ensuring subcontracting compliance and optimizing subcontracting opportunities,” said Tatia Evelyn-Bellamy, the director of DCMA’s Small Business Office and Small Business Compliance . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for August 17, 2018

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Small Business Size Regulations: Correction SBA revised the entry for NAICS code 336999 under Subsector 336 with the addition of “All Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing” under the NAICS’ U.S. industry title and “1,000” under Size Standards for number of employees. 83 Fed. Reg 159, 40660 . GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Federal Supply Schedule, Order-Level Materials; Technical Amendment GSA is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation to clarify the text regarding the application of the threshold for order-level . . . Read More

How to Walk in the Valley of the Shadow of Death: Strategies for Mid-Tier Federal Contractors

It is a well-known fear of many small business federal contractors that, if you are too successful, it may be the death knell for the business. Every small business set aside is restricted to only those companies whose revenues or employees fall below the applicable size standard, some of which are quite small (only a few million dollars a year in some cases). As a result, small businesses that continue to win work soon find themselves classified as a large . . . Read More