Court of Federal Claims Applies a 150 Employee Size Standard to ITVAR Non-Manufacturers
The Court of Federal Claims (“Court”) has issued a bid protest decision which stated, in apparent dicta, that a concern must satisfy a 150-employee standard under the Information Technology Value Added Resellers (“ITVAR”) exception to NAICS code 541519 as opposed to the 500-employee size standard which a concern usually must meet to qualify as a small business under the requirements of the “non-manufacturer rule” (“NMR”). York Telecom Corp. v. United States, No. 15-489 (Fed. Cl. Jan. 11, 2017). According to an SBA . . . Read More
It’s a New Year, Are You Still a Small Business?
By Michelle Litteken It is a new year, and this is the perfect time for a small business to consider whether it still qualifies as a small business. We recommend that small businesses assess their size at least once a year. Because eligibility under a revenue-based size standard is based on a company’s average revenues from the most recently completed three fiscal years, and those revenues generally establish a company’s size for the entire upcoming year, the beginning of a . . . Read More
SBA Corrects Discrepancy in Small Business Joint Venture Rules
By Megan Connor and Julia Di Vito On December 23, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a technical correction to its July 25, 2016 final rule regarding the new mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns to address an inconsistency among the joint venture rules applicable to the SBA’s various small business programs. The SBA’s July 25, 2016 rule provided that when a joint venture is a separate legal entity, the profits of the joint venture must be . . . Read More
Mentor-Protégé Joint Venturing: Friend or Foe?
With the arrival of the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program , the question of how to structure teaming relationships has come to the forefront of many contractors’ minds. This is especially true because companies in approved mentor-protégé relationships may form joint ventures to pursue set-aside work, even if not all the joint venture partners are small businesses or otherwise qualify for the socioeconomic status of the set-aside. Still, recently our clients have questioned why they should form a joint venture when they can pursue the work in a . . . Read More
How to Succeed Under SBA’s New Mentor-Protege Program
By Katie Flood and Megan Connor As of November 1st, SBA’s certify.sba.gov portal is operational and accepting applications for the new Small Business Mentor-Protégé program. By now, you’ve heard of the program and are considering its potential value for your business. However, there are a few key things you should consider before submitting your application, in order to best situate you and your potential partner for SBA approval and to maximize your success under the program. First, it is critical that . . . Read More
More Work Needed to Improve the HUBZone Program
The HUBZone Program needs some TLC. After a peak of 14,000 SBA-certified participants in 2009, the HUBZone Program has seen a significant drop in participation over the past few years due to various factors. This, in turn, has led to a marked downturn in federal spending on HUBZone firms, while other set-aside categories have consistently met or exceeded the federal spending goals. In a 2015 report, GAO recommended ways for SBA to improve HUBZone Program oversight as well as communication . . . Read More
Recent Changes to the 8(a) Program Application Process
“They’re asking for what?” This is a not-so-uncommon response from small businesses applying to SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program (“8(a) Program”), which is notorious for the amount of information – and paper – that applicants are required to provide SBA to demonstrate eligibility. However, a recent SBA final rulemaking implemented changes to the 8(a) Program application process to eliminate certain requirements which, according to SBA, impose an unnecessary burden on program applicants. For example, SBA has done away with the . . . Read More
Missing a Wage Determination in a SCA-Covered RFP? Ask for It.
By Megan Connor I recently participated in a webinar regarding Service Contract Act (“SCA”) compliance and during the webinar, a number of participants noted instances where a request for proposal (“RFP”) or solicitation did not include the relevant wage determination (“WD”), even though the agency otherwise incorporated the SCA clauses into the RFP. If you face a similar circumstance, you should be aware of your rights. First, the applicable regulations make clear that contracting officers—not contractors—are required to determine if the . . . Read More
WOSBs: $17.8 Billion in FY15 Spending and MORE NAICS Codes!
By Megan Connor On March 2, 2016, SBA announced that federal government spending in FY 2015 met the 5% spending goal for WOSBs. According to the SBA, 5.05% or $17.8 billion of all federal small business eligible contracting dollars were awarded to WOSBs. This is the first time in the history of the WOSB Program that the goal has been met. This great news was then followed on March 3, 2016 , by SBA’s publishing of updated NAICS codes list for EDWOSB and WOSB set-aside and . . . Read More
SBA Considers Public Comments on Proposed Size Standard Increases to NAICS Codes 562910 and 541519
As we previously reported, on September 10, 2014, the SBA released proposed increases to the small business standards for many industries that use employee-based size standards. The final rule is scheduled to be published on January 26, 2016; however, a pre-publication of the final rule is available now at www.federalregister.gov . According to the pre-publication, the SBA will adopt most of the proposed changes with two key exceptions. The SBA is not increasing the Environmental Remediation Services (“ERS”) exception under . . . Read More