BLOG: How Government Contractors Can Take Advantage of CPARS Trends to Win (and Maintain) Federal Contracts
On July 18, 2019, the Professional Services Council hosted an important event covering Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) trends, their impact on contractor past performance ratings, and the consequence they have on winning federal contracts. As one of the speakers at this event, PilieroMazza’s Samuel Finnerty offered recommendations on what government contractors can do now to proactively engage and manage their CPARS ratings and position themselves for future growth. One of the most interesting trends discussed was the sharp decline . . . Read More
BLOG: SBA Issues Proposed Rule Changing Receipts Calculation to 5 Years, Implementing Small Business Runway Extension Act
On June 24, 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published its long-awaited proposed rule changing the period of measurement for a receipts-based size calculation from three years to five years. This change was prompted by the Small Business Runway Extension Act (the Runway Act), which became law on December 17, 2018. SBA was slow to implement this change because SBA believes that the Runway Act amended a section of the Small Business Act that does not apply to SBA. “Nevertheless,” SBA says, . . . Read More
BLOG: SBA Proposes to Implement Certification Requirement for WOSB/EDWOSBs and Revise Economic Disadvantage Criteria for 8(a) Eligibility
A few years ago, we wrote about how through the 2015 NDAA, Congress directed SBA to end self-certification for WOSBs and EDWOSBs and implement a certification process. On May 14, 2019, SBA issued the proposed rule which, if finalized, would implement a certification requirement for WOSBs and EDWOSBs. In this proposed rule, SBA has also proposed revising the economic disadvantage criteria for 8(a) companies, particularly for initial eligibility purposes, and to make these consistent between the 8(a) and EDWOSB programs. WOSB/EDWOSB . . . Read More
BLOG: Thinking of Forming a Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture? Timing Matters
If you are thinking of forming a mentor-protégé joint venture to pursue a particular set-aside contract, it is critical that your timing has enough built-in cushion to ensure that all of the necessary approvals and entity-formation steps are accomplished before you submit your proposal. There is a fairly rigid sequencing of the steps involved in putting together the mentor-protégé application and subsequent joint venture agreement—make sure you do not fall into the trap of skipping a step, or otherwise you may put . . . Read More
PilieroMazza’s Commitment to Advocating for All Small Businesses and Our Clients
A recent blog has come to our attention that discusses a nearly year old case involving an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) entity. In that case, we appealed a size determination and argued that an ANC entity was too reliant on the experience of its two subcontractors, one of which was its sister company. This situation indicated that the prime contractor may have violated the ostensible subcontractor rule by its undue reliance on its subcontractors to qualify for the contract at . . . Read More
SAM Registration Update: Notarized Letter Requirement Change and New Deadline Looming
As most government contractors may know by now, in order to proactively fight against alleged fraudulent activity in the System for Award Management (SAM), the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a rule that required all entities to “provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that you are the authorized Entity Administrator before your registration will be activated.” On June 11, 2018, GSA issued an update to the notarized letter requirement in two parts. The first, which went into effect on . . . Read More
Pre-Award Notifications in a Set-Aside Procurement: Can I Get a Debriefing Now?
If you pursue contracts that are set aside for small businesses, you have probably noticed that if your proposal is not successful, you will get what is called a “pre-award” notification from the agency informing you of the identity of “apparently successful offeror.” If you receive such a notice, you may be eager to get a debriefing to find out why your company was not identified as the “apparently successful offeror.” However, receiving a pre-award notification on a set-aside contract . . . Read More
HUBZone Definition of “Employee” Not So Black-and-White
In a recent decision, HUBZone Appeal of Q Services, Inc., the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) clarified that the number of hours worked by a person does not bar SBA from examining the totality of the circumstances to determine whether that individual qualifies as an employee for HUBZone program eligibility purposes. Under SBA’s HUBZone regulations, if a person works a minimum of 40 hours per month (whether employed on a full-time, part-time, or other basis), that individual will be treated as . . . Read More
VA Amends Rules on Price Adjustments, Comments on Its Use of the Vets First Authority and Cascading Set-Asides
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued final rules to amend its regulations that pertain to Economic Price Adjustment clauses for firm-fixed-price contracts, identifying VA’s Task-Order and Delivery-Order Ombudsman; clarifying the nature and use of consignment agreements; adding policy coverage on bond premium adjustments and insurance under fixed-price contracts; and providing for indemnification of contractors for medical research or development contracts. These final rules adopt the proposed rule published on March 13, 2017, and will . . . Read More
SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals Clarifies the (Not So Obvious) Effect of Size and Status Recertifications
In a recent case with wide-ranging implications, the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) confirmed the broad nature of SBA’s general rule that a contractor maintains its size and socio-economic status for the life of a contract. See In the Matter of Analytic Strategies, Inc., SBA No. VET-268 (Jan. 29, 2018) . As a quick primer, SBA regulations provide that, where a concern represented itself and qualified as small and/or for a certain socio-economic status (e.g., SDVOSB, HUBZone, EDWOSB/WOSB) at the time of its initial offer, it maintains that . . . Read More