SmallGovCon
Small business federal contracting commentary.
Webinar Event: December 15, 2022 at 2:00pm MST: The Do’s & Don’ts of Federal Contracting
Federal contracting rules and laws are complicated, and the rules aren’t always intuitive. Many contractors make legal mistakes routinely, involving everything from completing SAM profiles to calculating small business size to communicating with government contracting officers. I
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 9, 2022
SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 5-9, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you have a great week and are finishing the year strong. There were several announcements in federal government contracting this week. The SBA issued a statement regarding the recent announcement by the Department of Defense (DoD) on the creation of
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 9, 2022
Agencies Do Not Have Unlimited Discretion to Cancel Solicitations, Says the COFC
In its recent decision, the Court of Federal Claims decided whether and when an agency can cancel a FAR part 15 procurement and start from scratch. Agencies have historically been afforded extremely broad discretion in cancelling solicitations. But in this case, the court agreed
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 8, 2022
SBA Provides Answers on Vets Certification Program Roll-Out in Q&A Session
On December 6, 2022, the SBA held a virtual Q&A session to discuss the roll-out of the Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) certification program. They will be assuming responsibility as of January 2023 and the SBA will be
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 7, 2022
SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 28-December 2, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers! December is already here and as we kick off the holiday season, it’s hard to believe that the year is wrapping up already. And speaking of “wrapping” there’s sure to be some of that in the next few weeks. My advice is to pace yourself. The holiday season of
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 2, 2022
GAO Sustains Protest to Best Value Trade Off Where Agency Only Considers “Outstanding” Proposals, Without Weighing Price/Non-Price Factors
The federal government contracting solicitation, proposal, and selection processes are something that all federal government contractors should strive to know. These methods, found in FAR parts 14 and 15, respectively, can be boiled down to two methods: sealed bidding and contrac
Koprince Law LLC · Dec 1, 2022
SBA Issues Final Rule on SDVOSB Certification
SBA has issued its final rule for its takeover of the Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Certification program. The rule will have an effective date of January 1, 2023. We discussed the proposed rule in our post here. Be
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 29, 2022
Govology Webinar Event: 2022 Government Contracts Year-End Review, December 8, 2022, 1:00 pm EST
In this webinar, Govology Legal Analyst Steven Koprince and I will cover the most important legal developments for federal contractors in 2022, including new small business rules, recent domestic preference changes under the Buy American Act, key provisions of the 2023 National D
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 28, 2022
Happy Thanksgiving from SmallGovCon!
Happy Thanksgiving! Here at SmallGovCon, we strive to provide concise, up-to-date, and actionable legal updates and analysis to people in the federal government contracting community and we want to take this opportunity to thank our blog readers. We hope that you will enjoy a few
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 23, 2022
Proposed FAR Regulation Turns up the Heat on Federal Contractor Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting
In an effort to comply with Executive Orders issued by the President, and to lower greenhouse gas effects, the Department of Defense, NASA, and GSA have recently issued a proposed rule that would change the FAR to create further requirements for contractors to report and disclose
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 23, 2022
SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 14-18, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers! We had our first snow this week which was a reminder that winter is blowing in. The birds are flocking to the bird feeders, the geese are flying overhead and there seems to be a red-tailed hawk on every farm fence hunting for food. I say it’s time to snuggl
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 18, 2022
Friendly Inflation: SBA Adjusts Size Standards, Economic Disadvantage Limits, and 8(a) Sole Source Dollar Limits for Inflation
It probably doesn’t need to be said that all of us have been chafing under inflation lately, and federal contractors are certainly no exception. Rises in costs for goods and labor have exerted serious pressure on businesses and households worldwide. However, not all inflation is
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 17, 2022
8(a) Program and EDWOSB: Are they Economically Disadvantaged Twins or Siblings?
Two of the Small Business Administration’s programs require the applicant to demonstrate that they are economically disadvantaged: the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program) and the Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business Program (EDWOSB). The 8(a) Program
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 16, 2022
SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 7-11, 2022
On this Veteran’s Day, our firm salutes veterans. Veterans are extraordinarily modest. They don’t ask for, or expect, a “thank you.” But that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve one. If you are a veteran, thank you very much for your service. If you are not a veteran, take a moment t
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 11, 2022
2022 Bid Protest Report, Success Rate Up, Total Protests Down
GAO’s annual bid protest report is a fall tradition for federal contracting attorneys. It’s perhaps not quite as tasty as stuffing in my book, but always interesting. In it, GAO summarizes its slate of bid protests for the previous fiscal year, and we can glean insights from how
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 9, 2022
Who You Gonna Call? Your Contracting Officer (Part 3)
In our line of work, we regularly litigate protests, claims, appeals, etc., against the Government. But often, procuring and contracting issues can be resolved without the need for litigation–via a little-known method we like to call “talking things out with your CO.” There are a
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 7, 2022
Week in Review: Oct. 31-Nov 4, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers and Happy November! I’m excited to be attending the APTAC Conference in Washington DC next week. It should be a great week to chat with PTAC procurement specialists from around the country. If you are attending, please stop by our table and say hello. We’ve
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 4, 2022
Event: APTAC Fall Conference November 6-9
I’m excited to be headed to the APTAC Fall Conference from November 6-9 in DC. Hope to see many folks there! This event supports PTAC professionals around the country. Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) help small businesses succeed in public sector marketplaces by
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 2, 2022
A Slight Deviation: DoD Implements Temporary Verification Requirement while SAM Updates
On a daily basis, the Department of Defense (DoD) issues innumerable memorandums and orders, as one might expect when dealing with one of the largest institutions in human history. Most of these have little to no impact for most government contractors. However, a recent class dev
Koprince Law LLC · Nov 2, 2022
SBA’s 7(a) and 504 Loans Proposed Rule: Affiliation Based on “Control” Soon to be a Thing of the Past
One of the things the Small Business Administration may be best known for is its small business loan programs, such as the section 7(a) and 504 Loan Programs. These programs have been a staple of the small business landscape for quite some time. Unsurprisingly though, there are m
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 31, 2022
Week in Review: October 24-28, 2022
Hello, Readers. We hope you had a great week and are all stocked up on candy for Halloween. Every year, during this time, our city has a Zombie Walk downtown and let me tell you, some of them are pretty scary! It’s quite a sight to see a hundred Zombies, big and small, walking ar
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 27, 2022
Franchise-Type Agreement Sinks SDVOSB Application
One of the key criteria for being a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) is, as you might expect, that a service-disabled veteran control the company. Under Small Business Administration rules, an agreement similar to a franchise agreement can render an SDVOSB a
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 27, 2022
Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC’s New Joint Venture Handbook Is Now Available!
We are pleased to announce that our updated Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC GovCon Handbook, on Joint Ventures, is now available! This handbook–complete with all of the SBA’s important changes from the past couple years–was co-authored by me and Nicole Pottroff as well as firm found
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 25, 2022
SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 17-21, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers! The fall leaves are absolutely beautiful here in Lawrence, Kansas right now. We’ve had our first freeze and the mornings have been quite chilly. As the seasons change in Kansas, our temperatures can fluctuate drastically. One day it’s 80 degrees and the nex
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 21, 2022
The Anatomy of a Solicitation: How to Read the Standard Sections of a Federal Solicitation
Being familiar with the structure of a solicitation is imperative if you hope to be a successful federal government contractor. However, the solicitations that accompany competitive procurements, in the form of a “request for quote,” “invitation for bid,” or “request for proposal
Koprince Law LLC · Oct 20, 2022