The Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Office of Hearing and Appeals (“OHA”) rejected a small business government contractor’s 8(a) participation determination appeal as untimely, notwithstanding the contractor’s claim the termination letter at issue was sent to a junk email folder.
Continue Reading SBA OHA Says Small Business on Notice of Email in Junk Folder: Appeal Untimely
Volume VII—Investing in Small Businesses
Numerous government contracts programs support small businesses. There are prime contracts set aside for various categories of small business entities. Agencies have small business contracting goals and take them very seriously. Prime contractors often are incentivized, through evaluation factors, to propose significant small business participation. They can also face liquidated damages for failing to make good faith efforts to comply with their small business subcontracting plans. These programs promote economic growth by incentivizing investment in small business entities.
The primary obstacle to investing in small businesses, from a government contracts perspective, is that it is quite easy to lose small business size status as the result of a corporate transaction. The difficulties arise from the doctrine of “affiliation.”Continue Reading What You Need to Know About Mergers and Acquisitions Involving Government Contractors and Their Suppliers
Nearly three years ago, on September 27, 2010, the President signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (“Jobs Act”), which directed the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to implement a variety of small business size and integrity requirements. As noted in our prior blog posting discussing many of these requirements, many of these provisions posed a significant threat to government contractors – both large and small businesses alike. On October 7, 2011, the SBA published its blueprint for implementing the statutory requirements. See 76 Fed. Reg. 52313 (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule contained language that many industry participants and observers found alarming, particularly the requirements that:Continue Reading Threats and Vulnerabilities – What Every Contractor Should Know About The SBA’s New “Presumed Loss” and “Deemed Certification” Rules
Under the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) 8(a) Mentor-Protégé program, large businesses provide various forms of business development assistance to small businesses participants, including, for example, technical and/or management assistance, financial assistance, and assistance in performing prime contracts. The program, whose governing regulations are set out in 13 C.F.R. Part 124, offers substantial opportunities for large businesses to participate in performance of federal government contracts through partnering with 8(a) program participants on a variety of contractual arrangements, including set-aside procurements, subcontracts, and prime contracts.Continue Reading The 8(a) Mentor Protégé Program: Opportunities for Large and Small Businesses
On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-240). The Act is intended to free up capital by providing tax cuts for small businesses (some of which are temporary) and to promote exports of U.S. products, all with a view to stimulating the small business sector as an engine of job creation. But, as usual, the Administration’s efforts to improve the economy through stimulus measures also give rise to new risks for companies doing business with the federal Government – whether as a prime or a subcontractor, as a large or a small business.
Continue Reading Size Does Matter – Impacts Of The Small Business Jobs Act Of 2010
There is a theory in physics that a seemingly isolated event in one part of the world can have a significant, downstream impact in another. They (the Physics set) call it the Butterfly Effect. It’s a central element of something called Chaos Theory (referenced by Jeff Goldblum in the original “Jurassic Park”), and you can see it in action in all walks of life. Even in Government contracting.
Continue Reading Did A Butterfly Just Flap Its Wings?The Potential Industry-Wide Consequences Of The SBA’s Recent Suspension Of A Premier IT Contractor