Be more. Do more. Advancing the Missions of Others through Community Service
By Kimi Murakami What can you do to give back to the community? What do you have to offer others? Law firms with a conscious, like PilieroMazza, encourage their employees to ask themselves these questions and to participate in giving back to their communities through pro bono services, financial donations, participation of their time and other resources to causes that they believe in. The platforms for giving back to the community take on a variety of forms at PilieroMazza. Finding . . . Read More
Federal Circuit Permits the Department of Veterans Affairs to Ignore the Rule of 2 for FSS Orders
By Alex Levine A recent Federal Circuit decision could have substantial implications on whether the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) choses to set aside work for veteran-owned small businesses (“VOSBs”) and service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (“SDVOSBs”) when ordering goods and services off of a Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”). Under applicable statutory and regulatory authority, the VA is obligated to award contracts of a certain dollar threshold on the basis of a competition restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled . . . Read More
It’s Not Just About Being Disadvantaged: An Overview of the SBA’s Potential for Success Requirement for 8(a) Program Entry
Gaining entry to the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) 8(a) Business Development Program (the “8(a) Program”) is not just about proving a social and economic disadvantage. If you are a small business owner thinking about applying to the 8(a) Program, there is another eligibility requirement you need to understand: potential for success. A business applying for 8(a) status must possess reasonable prospects for success competing in the private sector before it can be admitted to the 8(a) Program. What does that . . . Read More
Recent Supreme Court Decision Reaffirms Tribal Sovereign Immunity for Commercial Activities Conducted Off-Reservation
In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that, absent a waiver or Congressional action to the contrary, the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity applies to lawsuits arising from a tribe’s commercial activities, even if they take place off of Indian lands. Kiowa Tribe of Okla. v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., 523 U.S. 751, 758 (1998). Since that decision, commercial enterprises owned by Indian tribes have entered into increasingly varied lines of business and have enjoyed increasing amount of success. With that success . . . Read More
Inflation Adjustments Coming to Small Business Size Standards
On June 12, 2014, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim rule, which goes into effect on July 14. This new rule increases the size standards applicable to nearly every NAICS code used in Federal Contracting (some were not adjusted, especially cases where the size is set by statue). This was the first time that the SBA adjusted any of the size standards to account for inflation since 2008. Given that many sectors of the economy are starting to . . . Read More
FAR Amended to Clarify Contractor Responsibilities Pursuant to the Defense Base Act
By Nichole DeVries The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and NASA issued a final rule on May 30, 2014, which amended the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to clarify contractor and subcontractor responsibilities to obtain workers’ compensation coverage, or to qualify as a self-insurer under the terms of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), as extended by the Defense Base Act (DBA). The most significant change to the FAR impacts the employer’s responsibility for carrying out DBA . . . Read More
Securing Corrective Action May Raise Further Challenges
By Alex Levine According to the latest statistics available from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), roughly half of all bid protests filed at the GAO are dismissed within 30 days of filing. Of these, the majority of dismissals occur because the procuring agency takes corrective action in response to the protest. Corrective action often involves the agency agreeing to perform a reevaluation or make a new award determination. Corrective action can be an important early victory; it may provide . . . Read More
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Institute a Moratorium
By Nichole DeVries On May 7, 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued Directive 2014-01, instituting a five-year moratorium on the OFCCP enforcement over TRICARE subcontractors. The moratorium applies to health care entities that participate in TRICARE as subcontractors under a prime contract between the Department of Defense (DOD) TRICARE Management Activity and one of the prime contractors providing managed-care contractors. Why would OFCCP stop auditing TRICARE subcontractors? According to OFCCP, there is a “difference in understanding” . . . Read More
Victory in House of Representatives for Improvements to WOSB Federal Contract Program
By Barbara Kasoff, President of WIPP Dear WIPP Members & Friends: It is with great pleasure I write today, celebrating an enormous victory for women business owners. As many of you already know, earlier today the House of Representatives passed their annual defense bill, which included two changes that strengthen the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) procurement program. First, the bill allows sole-source contracts to be awarded through the program. Currently, contracting officers are unable to award sole-source contracts through the . . . Read More
HUBZone Map Changes – New Information Released for Over 100 Non-Metropolitan Counties
By Katie Flood Good news for many HUBZone (or HUBZone-interested) firms: The SBA has just announced that 104 non-metropolitan counties have been designated as newly qualified HUBZones or have had their redesignation periods extended, based on 2013 unemployment data recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the SBA has provided the new information on the counties in the form of PDF and Excel documents, the HUBZone maps have not yet been updated. However, simply because the map has not been updated would . . . Read More