April 2024 Newsletter
Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC
Legal Solutions for Government Contractors
Back to Basics: Similarly Situated Entities
If you are a small business government contractor who ever utilizes subcontractors to complete federal set-aside contracts, knowing what a “similarly situated entity” is for a given contract is vital to your success. So, let’s take it back to the basics of “similarly situated entities.”
Even if you are not sure where this term comes from, don’t fret, a great place to start is this other Back to Basics blog on limitations on subcontracting . Because as you guessed it, the term comes from the SBA’s limitations on subcontracting . And since you can read-up on those at the links above, I will keep my explanation of the limitations on subcontracting pretty simple. Read More Here
Michael Lejeune’s New Book Now Available!
“I’m New to Government Contracting – Where Should I Start?”
by Shane McCall
Bestselling author and GovCon expert, Michael LeJeune is releasing his new book , “I’m New to Government Contracting – Where Should I Start?” on March 26th.?Michael’s new book has all that a growing federal contractor needs to get started on a path to success. I was especially struck by the emphasis on avoiding shortcuts. As a GovCon attorney, we sometimes hear about get-rich-quick schemes involving federal contractors. Michael puts those to bed. For instance, you have to read his takedown of the middleman strategy if you have heard about that online. Read More Here
GAO: Small Business Teaming Agreement Must Follow Solicitation Guidelines
by Shane McCall
As we often tell people, language in a teaming agreement is important for a federal contract. But so is complying with the terms of a solicitation. A recent GAO decision hinged on a very specific portion of the language in a teaming agreement that was required as part of a solicitation. Because the contractor did not include the required language in a teaming agreement, it lost out on an award.
In Global Patent Solutions, LLC , B-421602.2 (Feb. 23, 2024), GAO looked at a solicitation from the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) for professional services to assist the PTO in reviewing international patent applications. Protester Global Patent Solutions, LLC (GPS), challenged award under the solicitation to CPA Global, Inc. (CPAG). Read More Here
Why File: A Request For Equitable Adjustment
by John Holtz
If you are a government contractor, odds are you have faced a situation where some aspect of the contract you were performing changed outside of your control, or you ran into something that neither you nor the government expected. As a result, your work requirements likely changed, and with that, your costs likely changed as well. When this happens, there are multiple paths to getting reimbursements for those new costs, and one of the most common ones is a request for equitable adjustment. Today, we’re going to explore when you should submit a request for equitable adjustment as opposed to the other routes. Read More Here
First Annual MyGovWatch Buyer Survey Results May Surprise You
This post was written by our friend and colleague, Nick Bernardo, president of MyGovWatch , a bid notification and intelligence website offering a free trial to government contractors in more than 200 industries.
Over the years, MyGovWatch has accumulated tens of thousands of buyer email addresses, from Federal government buyers in the DC Beltway all the way down to the tiniest school districts in the remote American hinterlands. In January, we decided to conduct our first-ever survey among buyers to create a dataset to help our users and the govcon community, at large, to better understand how buyers view certain aspects of the source selection process. (You can download a copy by visiting this page and filling out the form.) Read More Here
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Each Friday,?SmallGovCon ?provides a snapshot of some of the week’s top news and commentary from the government contracting community.
领英推荐
GAO Says: SBA’s Rules for Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture Experience Evaluations May Limit Solicitation Terms
Contractors will often enter into mentor protégé relationships and joint ventures to leverage the experience and skills of multiple parties for various reasons. SBA regulations dictate how the capabilities, past performance, and experience of a mentor-protégé joint venture will be evaluated. But at the end of the day, what matters is, whether agencies will follow those regulations in their small business set-aside solicitations and evaluations thereunder. A recent GAO case addressed this issue, providing further guidance on the interplay of solicitation terms for experience evaluations and SBA’s rules for evaluating mentor-protégé joint ventures’ experience. Read More Here
8(a) Program’s Two Years in Business Rule: Requirement or Suggestion?
by Stephanie Ellis
It is no doubt that the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program is a first-class program: there is a reason that some of us around here tend to say that it is one of the most important of federal government contracting programs. And in the past year, there has been a flurry of activity surrounding the 8(a) Program. For the most part, this uptick in activity has had to do with the requirement that all applicants prove they are socially disadvantaged in light of the the Ultima decision that we’ve discussed on the blog. As you may know, applicants must also prove that they are economically disadvantaged , though the requirements to qualify as such are a little more objective. But then there is the requirement that the applicant firm must be able to prove that it has the potential for success . Today we take a closer look at the potential for success requirement’s two year business revenue rule, and delve into whether there is any way around it. Read More Here
Playing Dr. Frankenstein: DoD Memo Tries to Revive Joint Venture Facility Clearance Requirements
by John Holtz
?Back in 2021, GAO came down with a clear decision on whether Department of Defense (DoD) agencies could require a joint venture (JV) to have its own facility clearance level (FCL) if its component members held the required FCL themselves. Infopoint LLC, B-419856 (Aug. 27, 2021) . That decision was “no,” and it was based on a very strong foundation: The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (2020 NDAA), an act of Congress, contained a provision, Section 1629, expressly forbidding DoD agencies from doing such. We in fact did a blog post on this GAO decision and litigated this very matter. Despite this, in October 2023, the DoD quietly released a memorandum describing how they think they can still require JVs to have their own FCL. Today, we look at this memorandum to see what DoD is saying. Read More Here
Why File: A NAICS Code Appeal
by Shane McCall
A NAICS code appeal can be a powerful tool for altering the competitive landscape of a bid by changing what size of business is allowed to submit a bid and thereby either increasing or decreasing the potential competitor pool. This post explores some of the important reasons for considering filing a NAICS code appeal. While NAICS codes appeals are not that common, they have a fairly high rate of success. Read More Here
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Event: Texas El Paso APEX Accelerators
When: April 11, 2024 Time: 10:00am-12:00pm MDT
Topic: Regulatory Updates in Government Contracting
Registration:?Here
Presenters: Shane McCall & John Holtz
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Event: Govology Webinar
When: April 25, 2024 Time: 1:00-2:30pm EDT
Topic: Past Performance: A Critical Factor For Success in the Government Marketplace (2024 Update)
Registration:?Here
Presenters: Nicole Pottroff & Gregory Weber