Attract and Retain Top Talent When You Cannot Compete Straight Up on Cash
One of the biggest challenges that a business owner may face is attracting and retaining top talent to help drive value and build their company. There are a variety of employee incentive compensation tools that can be used to attract and retain talent. Business owners need to consider: Which type of employee incentive tools will work best for that particular business owner’s company? To answer that question, a business owner needs to drill down on what goal is to be . . . Read More
Skipping Intervention in a GAO Bid Protest Can Be a “Pound Foolish” Exercise
Virtually everyone agrees that bid protests before the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) are valuable tools to ensure the integrity, fairness, consistency, and predictability of the federal procurement system. However, for awardees of federal contracts, bid protests by their competitors are often a frustrating and costly process that can cause delays and uncertainties for their future operations. Because of the costs and distractions to the business, it is not uncommon for contractors—particularly those who are small—to choose not to intervene or otherwise participate in . . . Read More
Big Jumps Proposed to Size Standards for Environmental Remediation and Other Employee-Based Size Standards
On September 10th, SBA released proposed increases to the small business size standards for many of the industries that use employee-based size standards. The affected industries include some very popular ones for the contracting community, such as Environmental Remediation Services (exception to 562910), Research and Development in Biotechnology (541711), and Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (541712). In many cases, the proposed increases are significant, allowing more and larger firms to qualify as small in these . . . Read More
The Importance of a Formal Document Retention Policy
By Brian Wilbourn As all of us are likely painfully aware, the volume of emails, correspondence and other documents that we generate and receive, whether we’re at home or at work, seem to grow at an ever-increasing rate. At home, we can often dispose of unwanted papers and files with little worry. In business, however—and for government contractors in particular—disposing of the wrong documents can have serious consequences. On the other hand, while contractors do not want to delete the . . . Read More
2013 Federal Small Business Contracting Scores an A!
By Barbara Connell with Aronson LLC On August 1, 2014, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released the Small Business Procurement Scorecard for fiscal year 2013. The annual scorecard is an assessment tool that measures how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals and reports agency-specific progress. Federal agencies scored an A for fiscal year 2013, achieving 100.6% of their 2013 small business contracting goals. For the first time in over 7 years, the . . . Read More
“Justice Delayed?” Not here. Be prepared for the “Rocket Docket”
As you arrive at the front door of the courthouse of the Alexandria Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (“EDVA”), you are met with a sculpture of a blindfolded Lady Justice bearing the slogan “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.” And believe me, they are not kidding. Resolution of your business dispute will occur at breakneck speed, so be prepared! Known nationally as the “Rocket Docket,” the EDVA resolves cases at a pace roughly twice . . . Read More
A Husband’s “Illusory” Control: Recent SBA Decision Clarifies Role of Spouse in EDWOSBs
Since inception of the WOSB Program, the SBA has been sensitive to the involvement of husbands in WOSBs and EDWOSBs. To combat the risk of a husband (or another man) running a WOSB or EDWOSB, the regulations require that the management and daily business operation of the concern be controlled by one or more women. However, the SBA also recognizes that as part of her management and control over the company, a woman may choose to hire her husband. But . . . Read More
Social Media Strikes Back! The Impact of Off-Hours Communications with Employees on Claims of Discrimination
How many of us have stared at a Facebook friend request from a boss or co-worker and wondered if clicking “accept” was a good decision? I know I’ve wondered if I really want my boss to know how many tattoos my sister has or what festival I spent the day at on Saturday instead of churning out more work. I’m willing to bet you’ve wondered something similar and for good reason. There is a massive amount of information stored on . . . Read More
Potential Blacklisting of Government Contractors Based on Labor Law Violations
On July 31, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13673 , which will require companies bidding on federal contracts to disclose to agency contracting officers any violations (whether by administrative merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment) of various federal wage and hour, discrimination, safety and health, labor and other laws (such as OSHA and workers’ compensation laws), as well as equivalent state laws during the previous three years. In addition to violations, the Executive Order requires prospective contractors to disclose . . . Read More
Protests: Timing Is of the Essence
Another federal government fiscal year end is quickly approaching and with it comes the usual uptick in spending, awards…and inevitable protests. If you are considering a protest, it is critical to understand the deadlines for filing. When to file varies depending on a number of factors including: the type of solicitation; whether or not a debriefing is required; the protest grounds; and whether the solicitation was a set-aside that may trigger a size or status protest. Different forums are available . . . Read More