SmallGovCon
Small business federal contracting commentary.
Even Rules have their Limits, Says SBA OHA about the Nonmanufacturer Rule
In a recent size appeal, the SBA OHA made it clear that the nonmanufacturer rule has it limits, and will not apply depending on the dollar value of the acquisition. OHA reminded contractors that the nonmanufacturer rule applies only to acquisitions over the simplified acquisition
Koprince Law LLC · May 10, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 6-10, 2024
Happy Friday and Happy Mother’s Day! Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Did you kn
Koprince Law LLC · May 10, 2024
Apparent Conflict: Appearance of Impropriety Enough to Exclude a Contractor from Federal Contract
When a government employee moves from a federal agency to a private contractor, this sort of revolving door can lead to concerns that contractor hiring the ex-agency employee is getting special treatment. To avoid this concern, the ex-agency will sometimes bar the contractor from
Koprince Law LLC · May 8, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 29-May 3, 2024
Happy Friday! And just like that, it’s May! Hope you had a wonderful week and have some fun plans this weekend. This week in federal government contracting news included updates about small business federal contracting dollars (see our blog here) as well as new contracting bills
Koprince Law LLC · May 3, 2024
SBA Scorecard: Largest Small Business Federal Contracting Year, Some Goals Missed
It’s that time of year again! The time of year that all federal government contractors wait for with bated breath to see how well agencies performed in relation to their small business subcontracting goals (or at least how well the metrics show them to be doing). Time for the SBA
Koprince Law LLC · May 2, 2024
Clearing Things Up? A Quick Look at the Proposed Plain Language in Contracting Act
In 2010, Congress passed the “Plain Writing Act,” which essentially requires that federal agency communications to the public must be in language that “the public can understand and use” and is “clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the s
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 30, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 22-26, 2024
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 plant
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 26, 2024
Contracting While Impaired: Court Rejects Overbroad Finding of OCI Based on Impaired Objectivity
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 ev
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 26, 2024
New FAR Final Rule Promotes Sustainability
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 feder
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 25, 2024
Beyond Tax Returns: Federal District Court Says Contractors Must Include Information Outside Tax Returns in Calculating Size
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 & Consu
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 19, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 15-19, 2024
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 sma
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 19, 2024
Govology Webinar: Past Performance: A Critical Factor For Success in the Government Marketplace (2024 Update), April 25, 2024, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
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 governm
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 16, 2024
Why File: A Rule of Two Protest
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 except
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 15, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 8-12, 2024
Happy Friday, readers. Around these parts, we’ve been enjoying some nice spring weather as we try to fill the void left by the end of March Madness. But it will be heating up soon, so enjoy the spring weather while you can and have a great weekend! Here are some recent updates fr
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 12, 2024
SBA: Full-Time Devotion Still Matters for SDVOSBs
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
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 11, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: April 1-5, 2024
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
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 5, 2024
GAO: Don’t Slip Up on SAM Registration, Even for One Day
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 upd
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 4, 2024
Free Webinar! Regulatory Updates in Government Contracting hosted by El Paso APEX Accelerators, April 11, 2024, 10:00-11:30am MDT
In this webinar, John Holtz and I will discuss the most important legal developments for federal contractors in 2023 and the first part of 2024. Specifically, we will discuss important new small business rules, updates to the 8(a) rules and application procedures, joint venture c
Koprince Law LLC · Apr 2, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 25-29, 2024
We hope you had a great week and are enjoying some nice spring weather. Here are some happenings from the federal government contracting world this week, including more updates on the funding package, upcoming information on complying with labor regulations, and new policies on A
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 29, 2024
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 ent
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 28, 2024
Michael Lejeune’s New Book Now Available!
Please check out the new release from my friend, federal contracting expert Michael LeJeune. 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
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 26, 2024
GAO: Small Business Teaming Agreement Must Follow Solicitation Guidelines
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 solici
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 25, 2024
Why File: A Request For Equitable Adjustment
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 change
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 22, 2024
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 18-22, 2024
Hope you are having a good week readers, and enjoying some March Madness. While it looks like spring in our neck of the woods, in this part of the country the weather can change quickly. We joke around that we must always have every type of coat or jacket at the ready on any give
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 22, 2024
Webinar Event! SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program hosted by Connecticut APEX Accelerators, March 21, 2023, 11:00am EDT
Have you ever wanted to learn more about the advantages of the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program? Join Allisa Young, CT APEX – Procurement Specialist, along with the subject-matter experts from Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC to learn how the SBA Mentor-Protégé program can help leverage
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 20, 2024