Your Annual Performance of Work Report Is Due Soon
If your joint venture (“JV”) was awarded an 8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone, or WOSB set-aside contract in the months following SBA’s July 2016 final rulemaking, you should be getting ready to submit your annual performance of work report (“Annual Report”). The final rule, which became effective at the end of August 2016, amended SBA’s regulations to clarify the conditions for creating and operating JVs. One such condition is to submit the Annual Report to the contracting officer and to SBA, explaining . . . Read More
Why Failing To Intervene In A Bid Protest Could Have Dire Consequences
Imagine that your company has just been awarded a contract after spending significant time and resources identifying a federal business opportunity and developing a winning proposal. Now imagine that just as you are preparing to perform that contract a bid protest is filed by an interested party (e.g., a disappointed competitor). Depending on the facts of the case, you may be inclined to sit back and let the protest play out. No doubt, such a tactic would save the company . . . Read More
The Weekly Update December 1, 2017
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS PROTESTS If the Federal Watchdog Office Works for Contract Protestors, Why the Decline? According to an article posted in the Federal Contracts Report, several reasons could explain the decrease in bid protest filings in 2017 despite an “effectiveness” rate showing that the Federal Watchdog office regularly provides relief to contractors. There has been a 7% drop in filing bid protests in fiscal 2017—from 2,789 to 2,596—and there are various reasons available as likely explanations; including but not . . . Read More
GSA Schedule Contractor Team Arrangements: More Than Meets the Eye
You may have heard it suggested that for an upcoming GSA Schedule task order opportunity, the ordering agency “encourages” contractors to form Contractor Team Arrangements (CTA). What does this mean? A CTA is when two or more Schedule contractors combine their Schedule offerings as a “team” to pursue task orders issued under Schedule contracts. In order to participate as a “team member” in the CTA, each team member must maintain its own current GSA Schedule contract and be otherwise . . . Read More
Megan Connor participates in the House Small Business Committee Roundtable
The House Committee on Small Business held a bipartisan roundtable to hear from advanced small and mid-tier businesses and industry experts on the challenges to growth and success. The roundtable provided a forum for Members to learn about this middle market and the disparities from small to mid-tier business owners, academia, trade organizations, and subject-matter experts. PilieroMazza Partner Megan Connor was invited to attend and give her insight from working with small businesses who face these challenges. Ms. Connor stressed that . . . Read More
Can a Captive Insurance Company Help You Keep Your 8(a) Certification?
At the beginning of 2017, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (“PATH”) Act went into effect. One of the changes implemented by the Act altered how small and medium-sized business owners can use captive insurance companies (“CIC”). A CIC is an insurance company that is owned by the business itself either solo or along with other businesses that have the same insurance needs, rather than owned by a third-party provider. The CIC is a favored device of small and medium-sized . . . Read More
Considerations When Bringing on a New Owner
This article originally appeared in our Fourth Quarter Legal Advisor Newsletter . The attorneys at PilieroMazza’s Colorado office frequently assists businesses in drafting, amending, and negotiating their operating agreements, bylaws, and shareholders’ agreements. When this exercise involves a government contractor, it is a good marriage of our government contracts and corporate practices because we can navigate the corporate governance issues with an eye toward applicable federal requirements. That is especially important when the company is bringing on a new owner, which affects the corporate structure . . . Read More
The Weekly Update November 14, 2017
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS SBA Backlash to SBA Regulatory Research Contract Is Growing Critics are raising significant concerns about the award of a federal contract to study regulatory costs to two researchers whose previous work has been widely criticized. The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy on September 21st awarded researchers W. Mark Crain and Nicole V. Crain a contract worth $136,250 to conduct a study on the disproportionate cost impact of regulations on small businesses, due in December 2018. “We . . . Read More
The Weekly Update October 20, 2017
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS “Conferees Will Determine Fate of Defense Bill Provision to Deter Frivolous Contractor Bid Protest” Government Executive, October 13, 2017. Retrieved from govexec.com Senators, as they have in past bills, inserted language in their fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that would affect the three-decade-old bid protest process in two ways: Companies with more than $100 million revenues in the previous year’s which file unsuccessful protests against contract awards to a competitor would be required to pay the Defense Department . . . Read More
Has the Government Solicited Bids Under the Correct 2017 NAICS Code? Here’s How to Make Sure That It Does!
On October 1, 2017, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) updated its table of the North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) codes, which resulted in numerous changes, including additional industries, the merger of industries, and increased and decreased size standards. For example, NAICS 452210 (Department Stores) was combined into one industry from two 2012 NAICS Codes: 452111 (Department Stores except Discount Department Stores) and 452112 (Discount Department Stores). Additionally, NAICS 452210’s size standard increased from 29.5 Million to 32.5 Million. . . . Read More