The Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Office of Hearings & Appeals (OHA) recently reaffirmed that SBA Area Offices are precluded from reviewing the substance of an 8(a) Mentor-Protégé’s Joint Venture Agreement (JVA), once such agreement has been approved by the servicing SBA District Office. OHA further held that, while an Area Office has the discretion to refer any concerns the Area Office…
One of the principal advantages of an approved Mentor/Protégé Agreement (MPA) is that the Mentor and Protégé can enter into a joint venture (JV) that can compete as small for any contract for which the Protégé would be eligible (see, e.g., 13 C.F.R. § 125.109(d)(1)). In turn, one of the principal advantages of a JV - now enshrined in statute and regulation - is that in evaluating experience and…
Hopewell Darneille, of the Firm’s Washington, DC office, will be a presenter at the 10th annual Dynamic Networking for Small Business (DYNET) Conference, a federal and prime contracting event in Fairmont, West Virginia, on April 11, 2019 at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center.
Mr. Darneille will co-present a Workshop on “Negotiating and Drafting a Compliant and Workable Joint Venture Agreement…
The Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Office of Hearings & Appeals (OHA) recently reiterated that SBA Joint Venture Agreements (JVAs), including those entered into under SBA’s new All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), must include adequate specific detail as to the respective responsibilities of the parties with regard to, inter alia, performance of the proposed contract, and how the…
In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for calculating a revenue-based small business’s size status to five years. This Act was intended – as implied by its name – to extend the…
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2019.
1.Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes. For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change and…
On September 7, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued 750 courtesy scheduling letters to federal government contractors, notifying them that their affirmative action plans (AAPs) could be audited. The OFCCP published the list of federal contractors that received this “courtesy”.
The letters let contractors know, 45 days in advance, that…
In observance of the July 4th holiday, the Government Contracts Monitor will not be publishing a blog this week. We will resume blogging the week of July 9th.
Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2018.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies…
In May 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) revised its small business regulations to, among other things, amend 13 C.F.R. § 121.103(h) to expand the exclusion from affiliation for small business size status to allow two or more small businesses to joint venture for any procurement without being affiliated for purposes of that procurement requirement. SBA believed this change would…
Sometimes small business offeror’s lack of success in a competitive procurement results from questions about whether it is “responsible” (i.e. has the ability to perform). When a small business’ proposal is found unacceptable due to a responsibility-related issue, the procuring agency must refer the matter to the Small Business Administration (SBA), which has the ultimate authority to determine…
Faced with a short time in which to prepare a protest, contractors sometimes rely too heavily on the notion that the protest clock doesn’t start running until a debriefing is held. Unfortunately, only certain debriefings have that effect. Other types of debriefings, while they may provide useful insight into the procurement process or how to improve future offers, do not extend the timeline for…
