SmallGovCon
Small business federal contracting commentary.
The HUBZone 35% Residency Requirement in Between Certifications
It is well established that, in order to be eligible for HUBZone certification or recertification, one of the requirements is that 35% of a company’s employees must reside in a HUBZone. That part is (relatively) straightforward. But, as we all know, employees might come and go at
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 27, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 20-24, 2023
Happy Spring, Readers! I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to warmer temperatures and a lot more sunshine in the coming months. We have had a lot of grey, gloomy weather here in Kansas lately and I feel that we are all ready for some fun, outside activities. Spring is
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 24, 2023
GAO Sustains Protest Based on Faulty Past Performance Evaluation
Past performance is a key part of most government proposal evaluations. Generally, a federal agency gets a lot of discretion in evaluating past performance. But that discretion is not without limits. In a recent decision, GAO sustained a protest where the agency failed to properl
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 24, 2023
Third Time’s the Charm: Protest Sustained by COFC Due to Failure to Conduct Discussions and Flawed Price Reasonableness Evaluation
Proving that an agency acted improperly in its source selection process can be a difficult task for any protester. In theory, for a best value tradeoff decision, the agency’s decision and the process to come to that decision seems easy: the agency does a tradeoff between cost and
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 20, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 13-16, 2023
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Historical reports say the Irish have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day for over 1,000 years. They would feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage–not quite sure when the green beer was added into the festivities! The first St. Patrick’s D
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 17, 2023
Back to Basics: Debriefings
Debriefings are a crucial part of the complicated world of bidding on Government contracts. They can provide wonderful insight to contractors on where they can improve, where their proposals were strong, and in cases, may provide information that could indicate to a contractor th
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 15, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: March 6-10, 2023
Happy Friday Readers! If you are a college basketball fan, then I’m sure you are as excited about March Madness as we are here at SmallGovCon. With so many really great teams competing for that national championship trophy, it’s sure to be an exciting tournament. Before you move
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 10, 2023
Back to Basics: Teaming Agreements
Teaming agreements are a great tool for establishing the prime-subcontractor relationship in order to jointly pursue government contracts. They can protect each party’s rights, set performance expectations, demonstrate regulatory compliance, and reduce the likelihood of disputes
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 9, 2023
SBA Turns Spotlight on its Size and Status Protest Process
The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently took a look at SBA’s recent small business size and status protests to determine “whether the SBA had effective controls in place to (1) ensure protest decisions were properly enforced and to (2)
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 8, 2023
Govology Webinar: Understanding & Obtaining HUBZone Certification (2023 Update), March 21, 2023, 1:00PM EDT
The SBA revamped its HUBZone rules in the last few years, making several changes to the HUBZone program. However, we continue to see updates to how SBA interprets these rules as it puts out policy guidance frequently. In this webinar, government contracts attorneys Nicole Pottrof
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 7, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 27-March 3, 2023
Happy Friday and Happy March Madness. The country sure has been getting some wacky weather this week as spring is set to arrive soon. Here in Kansas, we are starting to see the first green sprouts emerging from the ground and everyone is getting really excited about the NCAA bask
Koprince Law LLC · Mar 3, 2023
GAO Sustain: Agency Failed to Document Prior Experience Evaluation
Source selection decisions are often a point of contention for federal government contractors, and rightfully so. Contractors spend large amounts of time and resources putting together a bid in a competition that likely doesn’t have room to make an award to each bidder. This usua
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 28, 2023
Showing Your Work: Protest of Evaluation Sustained for Lack of Explanation by Agency
We at SmallGovCon have explored some examples of protests where an unfortunate oversight by a contractor has been the difference between winning and losing. This, of course, can be very frustrating to contractors, especially considering that federal agencies often get leeway wher
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 27, 2023
Free Virtual Workshop: Legislative Changes that May Affect Your Small GovCon Business, February 28, 3:00-5:00PM CST
The government contracting legal landscape has gone through many important changes in 2022 and the first part of 2023, including new small business rules, SDVOSB certification requirements, recent domestic preference changes under the Buy American Act, key provisions of the 2023
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 24, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 20-24, 2023
Happy Friday, Readers! Can you believe that February is almost over? I guess that means we are one month closer to Spring. Stay safe if you are in the areas of the country getting pounded by more snowfall. In the middle of the country, the thermometer has been going up and down s
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 24, 2023
SBA Says Goodbye to Reasonable Commute Rule for SDVOSBs
SBA, without much commentary, recently removed the so-called reasonable commute requirement for service-disabled veterans (SDV) who owned or managed service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). This rule used to require that veterans live near the principal office or
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 23, 2023
SBA Final Rule Updates Employee-Based Size Standards, but not for Nonmanufacturer Rule
This month, SBA issued a final rule updating its size standards for multiple NAICS codes in the manufacturing industries and industries with employee-based size standards in other sectors (except wholesale trade and retail trade). As the final rule explains in great detail, SBA i
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 21, 2023
Webinar Event: Regulatory Updates in Government Contracting, February 23, 10:00-11:30am MST
The government contracting legal landscape has gone through many important changes in 2022 and the first part of 2023, including new small business rules, SDVOSB certification requirements, recent domestic preference changes under the Buy American Act, key provisions of the 2023
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 20, 2023
UTSA Apex Accelerator Webinar: Government Contracts Legal Update 2023, February 21, 2023, 10:00-11:30am CST
The government contracting legal landscape has gone through many important changes in 2022 and the first part of 2023, including new small business rules, SDVOSB certification requirements, recent domestic preference changes under the Buy American Act, and much more. In this sess
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 20, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 13-17, 2023
Happy Friday and happy belated Valentine’s Day. We hope you had a great week and found some time to celebrate with your loved ones. We have certainly been in celebration mode with the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl on Sunday. What an exciting game and what a great seas
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 17, 2023
DoD to Utilize Category Management for Procurements, But this time to Increase Small Business Contracts
Last month, the Department of Defense (DoD), released a memorandum to its contracting specialists asking them to utilize the popular but controversial category management tactics to attempt to increase small business participation in DoD procurements. Some have said that category
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 16, 2023
New Report Unveils Magnitude of Fraud in SBA COVID-19 Relief Programs
Whether we want to or not, the country will continue to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for years to come in a multitude of ways. Many actions were taken by the government in the early days to help United States’ citizens through the largely unprecedented times, particu
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 14, 2023
SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 6-10, 2023
Happy Friday, Readers! We hope you had a great week and are looking forward to a fun Super Bowl Sunday. If you aren’t a Chiefs or Eagles fan, there’s always the food and halftime show to look forward to! Enjoy the weekend. This week in federal government contracting saw an intere
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 10, 2023
Back to Basics: Registering in SAM.gov
SAM.gov, short for System for Award Management, is the entry point for federal contractors to interface with the government. So, it is a basic starting point for every federal contractor. But your SAM.gov profile also needs to stay up to date and be up to date at time of bid subm
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 9, 2023
Govology Webinar: Eligibility Criteria and New Rules for SBA Veterans Certification Program, February 21, 1:00pm EST
The SBA took over certification of service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses on January 1, 2023. Soon, all companies will require an SBA certification to qualify as an SDVOSB or VOSB. In this course, Govology Faculty Instructor, Legal Anal
Koprince Law LLC · Feb 7, 2023