Three Big Reasons Government Contractors Should Complete Seller-Side Due Diligence
By Michael de Gennaro and Dana Livne If approached properly, selling your business will rank among the most significant and rewarding moves of your career, representing the culmination of years of patience, hard work and vision. Whether you are planning a sale or just considering it a possibility down the road, there are good reasons as a seller to be proactive about due diligence. Due diligence involves a thorough analysis of your business that will identify not only its assets . . . Read More
How Can My Unpopulated Small Business Joint Venture Get a Clearance?
By Megan Connor When the SBA issued its final rule concerning its new Small Business Mentor Protégé Programs, it adopted a major change for 8(a) and small business joint ventures: no more populated joint ventures. Instead, the rule provides that where a joint venture is formed as a separate legal entity, like a limited liability company, it may not have its own separate employees to perform contracts awarded to the joint venture. For contractors well-versed in the National Industrial Security Program Operating . . . Read More
SBA Will Begin Accepting Applications for the New Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program on October 1, 2016
Late last month, SBA published its final rule establishing a government-wide mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns called the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program. The rule is set to become effective on August 24, 2016. Click here to read our analysis of the final rule and the new program. SBA recently announced that it will begin accepting applications for the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program on October 1, 2016. The application, approval, and monitoring process will be centralized in SBA’s headquarters in Washington, . . . Read More
The SBA’s Two New Recertification Rules
The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has issued two more regulations that will require that small businesses recertify their size when they engage in a merger and/or acquisition (“M&A”). The regulations, published in conjunction with the final limitation on subcontracting regulation and the new mentor-protégé program, further limit the ability of small businesses to engage in acquisitions that could impact their continued performance of small business set-aside contracts. Both are certain to make it more difficult for small businesses to engage . . . Read More
Out With the Old “Mad Men” Era Sex Discrimination Guidelines for Federal Contractors
By Final Rule on August 15, 2016, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) updated its sex discrimination guidelines, in an effort to ensure that companies doing business with the federal government refrain, in accordance with current law and today’s workplace environment, from discriminating against their employees, based on their sex. The OFFCP had previously determined that the original guidelines and regulations, which enforce Presidential Executive Order (E.O.) 11246 and date back as far as . . . Read More
DOJ Doubles Penalties for Violation of the False Claims Act
By Ambi Biggs The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has issued an interim final rule that dramatically increases the dollar amount for civil penalties that can be assessed against an entity or individual who violates the False Claims Act (“FCA”). Under the FCA, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq., anyone who knowingly presents a “false or fraudulent” claim to the government for payment or approval or knowingly makes or uses a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim . . . Read More
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Provide Feedback on the Government’s Strategic Plan for Professional Services
By Michelle Litteken On August 2, 2016, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) released the government’s new Professional Services Strategic Plan for industry comment. The Strategic Plan outlines the actions the government will take to manage spending for professional services. The professional services category is the second largest of the 10 category management categories with $63 billion in spending in FY 2015. This category includes business administrative services, marketing and distribution, public relations and professional communications, financial services, and technical and . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for August 5, 2016
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HUBZone and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Amendments GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Electronic Parts Amendments Related to Sources of Electronic Parts This week’s report follows, click here if you would like to download a copy . SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Small Business Mentor-Protégé Programs The SBA is amending its regulations to the HUBZone Program. The amendments: (1) authorize Native Hawaiian Organizations (“NHO”) to own HUBZone small business concerns; (2) expand the HUBZone Program to assist small businesses in disaster areas and base closure areas; and (3) . . . Read More
The Corporate Designee in Commercial Litigation – the Voice That Binds the Company
A corporate entity is regarded by the law as a “person” for purposes of standing to sue and be sued, but an organization, whether corporation, partnership, governmental organization, or other entity, can act only through its officers, directors or other agents. Accordingly, when a corporate entity becomes a party to a lawsuit, whether as a plaintiff or as a defendant, it will undoubtedly be required, at some point, to provide testimony at deposition in the course of the discovery phase . . . Read More
The SBA’s New Mentor-Protégé Program: The Dilemma of Hiring Project Managers
On July 25, 2016, SBA released its long-awaited final rule creating the new mentor-protégé program for all small businesses. Many aspects of the new rule are very exciting and should be beneficial for the small business community at large. However, buried in the lengthy rulemaking are a few provisions that will be problematic for small businesses when the rules go into effect on August 24, 2016. One of the problematic provisions will adversely effect how many small businesses form joint . . . Read More