Good day and happy Friday! We hope you had a very productive week and are looking forward to the weekend. We have been, and will be, receiving some much-needed rain, so outdoor weekend activities might be a bit hit or miss here. It’s wonderful weather for all those recently planted gardens, however, as long as the storms aren’t bad! In federal government contracting news this week, be sure to check out the stories about the new sustainability rules (and our recent blog), as well as new legislation on solicitation language and buying technology. New rule cements sustainability mandate for fed ..read more

Contracting agencies, and contractors, must always be aware of potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs). An OCI can result in a contractor being kicked off a federal procurement. One type of OCI is an impaired objectivity OCI, typically resulting from a contractor evaluating its own offer or its own performance. In a recent decision, the United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC) said that an agency was overly cautious in rejecting an offeror based on a perceived OCI. In Dist. Commc’ns Grp., LLC v. United States, 169 Fed. Cl. 538 (2024), the Court of Federal Claims reviewed a De ..read more

As many know, a prominent goal of President Biden’s administration has been to promote green initiatives, and help reduce America’s carbon footprint. That initiative has now found its way to federal contracting. In a recent final rule, the FAR is being updated to facilitate federal contracting’s move, closer to net-zero emissions. This FAR update, updates and sets requirements for agencies to procure “sustainable products and services”, outlines what those products and services actually are, and places new expectations on contractors. On April 22, 2024 a final rule was published in the federal ..read more

When it comes to calculating a company’s receipts for size purposes, the procedure for is (or at least was) pretty simple: Look at the company’s tax returns. Indeed, it has long been SBA’s position that they can only consider tax returns, as noted in Nordstrom Contracting & Consulting Corp., SBA No. SIZ-5891 (Mar. 7, 2018) (“[T]here is no authority for an area office to consider any evidence apart from tax returns…when calculating a firm’s average annual receipts.”) among other cases.  In other words, if something was not mentioned in a tax return, it couldn’t be considered by SBA. Th ..read more

Happy Friday everyone! Here in the Midwest we are enjoying some nice spring weather. But along with the beautiful flowers comes the allergies for some folks. In contracting news this week legislators in Washington have been working on bills in an attempt to make it easier for small businesses to work with the government and there is continued movement on cybersecurity for federal contractors. You can read more about that in the articles below as well as other contracting news. Have a great weekend. Former Veterans Affairs Procurement Supervisor Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Pocketin ..read more

Please join us for an in-depth exploration of past performance management in government contracting. Gain valuable knowledge to leverage your past successes for future growth and competitive advantage. Past performance management holds significant weight in the success of government contractors. Government agencies now place a premium on a contractor’s ability to deliver on promises, emphasizing the adage that “actions speak louder than words.” Contractors with a strong track record of past performance gain a competitive edge in the government contracting arena.  Nicole Pottroff and Greg ..read more

The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that could do the work for a fair price. But that rule does have some exceptions. These exceptions can make it difficult to know the situations that would justify filing a Rule of Two protest. Read on to find out. First, a primer on SBA’s Rule of Two. Note that this particular post relates solely to the SBA’s Small Business Rule of Two. The Department of Veterans Affairs has its own Rule of Two for service-disa ..read more

SBA’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) rules include one particular component dealing with the working hours of a service-disabled veteran owner of an SDVOSB business, often called the full-time devotion rule. SBA has recently reviewed its full-time devotion requirement in an SDVOSB protest, and found that the company in question did not establish that a service-disabled veteran met the requirement. In Marathon Indus. Equip., LLC, SBA No. VSBC-342-P (Mar. 14, 2024), a protester challenged the SDVOSB status of Gilk and Sons, LLC (Gilk and Sons) in connection with ..read more

Happy April! We hope everyone had a great week. Yet another beautiful spring Friday for us at SmallGovCon! And you guessed it, it’s time for your week in review.  We’ve included some fascinating articles on what’s happening in the federal government contracting world we think you will enjoy. These included how contractors may be impacted in an election year, as well as a bill to reduce red tape in procurement. Have a wonderful weekend! Small Business Research Programs: Increased Performance Standards Likely Affect Few Businesses Receiving Multiple Awards Women-owned small businesses win ..read more

If federal contracting had a proverbial town square, it would be SAM.gov. So much federal contracting activity flows through or starts there. A large portion of SAM is contractor information. Contractors are required to be on SAM and are expected to keep their profiles on SAM updated. A “hot off the presses” GAO ruling has confirmed that the timing of SAM registration can make or break a contractor’s winning bid. In TLS Joint Venture, LLC, B-422275 (Comp. Gen. Apr. 1, 2024) GAO heard a protest focused on the timing of an awardee’s SAM registration renewal. At the center of the protest is FAR 5 ..read more