Politicians have talked about diversifying Alaska’s economy since long before we became a state. But progress on that front has been only modest. Is a stable and vibrant Alaska economy possible? It will take some changes in the way we …

On September 20, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor published a notice of the minimum wage rate to be paid, beginning January 1, 2017, to workers performing on or in connection with federal contracts covered by Executive Order (E.O.) 13658, …

Not every RFP or contract opportunity requires a go/no-go analysis. Is it a good idea to go ahead with a project that’s underfunded and outside of your business expertise? Of course not! When pursuing government projects, you need to weigh …

  Nancy Porzio has been selected as the new District Director for the SBA Alaska District Office. Nancy is one of the most experienced district directors in the country; and, an ideal fit for this position for three reasons: (1) her …

You’ve likely heard it before or maybe you’ve even said it yourself: “Go ahead and get started, we’ll get you a change order later.” The only thing is, “later” never happens, and after you’ve finished performing the work you find …

Different management teams running your affiliates? Could be a situation where the left-hand doesn’t know what the right-hand is doing, and it could impact your firm’s contracting success. Under new SBA rules there’s a risk that an affiliate’s M&A deal …

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) is announcing its final decisions for adoption of NAICS revisions for 2017 as recommended by the Economic Classification Policy Committee (“ECPC”) in Part IV of OMB’s notice for solicitation of comments published in …

The new Limitation on Subcontracting (LOS) rules became effective on June 30, 2016.  As is usually the case in the realm of small business contracting, there will be a lag time until the FAR “catches up” with the new SBA …

The HUBZone program will see significant changes to its rules as a result of major SBA changes set to take effect in late August.  These changes apply generally to two aspects of the HUBZone program: that relating to the SBA’s …

The WOSB Repository has moved from the General Login System (GLS) to the new SBA One Contracting Portal at certify.sba.gov.  SBA has posted PowerPoint presentations to assist you with the WOSB/EDWOSB self-certification process. In this new portal, WOSB business owners will …

In a unanimous opinion overturning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must consider whether two veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) can perform a proposed contract before …

The federal acquisition councils have published a final rule aimed at reducing situations in which federal prime contractors name small business subcontractors in their bids, but then do not follow through in hiring those subcontractors when the contract is won. …

In its June newsletter PilieroMazza, a law firm specializing in government contracting, noted “hard data and anecdotal evidence indicate that, to reach its full potential, the HUBZone Program needs to be simpler and more business friendly.” Two bills are working …

Two bills are working their way through the legislative process to make a significant change to the HUBZone program. Sen. David Vitter (R-La), chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, has introduced legislation that extends HUBZone redesignation status from three …

An agency’s solicitation was not unreasonably vague where the solicitation defined “relevant” past performance to include projects of “a similar dollar value and contract type.” In a recent bid protest decision, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected a protester’s …

SBA has announced that its final rule implementing the long-awaited expansion of the mentor-protégé joint venture program under the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will be released this month. The new program, available to all categories of small businesses, not …

The Small Business Administration published the final rule to implement requirements for small business federal contractors set by Congress in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The new rules take effect on June 30, according to the Federal Register notice. …

Deltek named the Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Agriculture departments as the top five government agencies for small business contracting, accounting for 80% of small business spend.

The VA’s Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) is closed and there are no plans to reopen it.  Instead, the VA pointed to the SBA’s announcement that they will expand their current 8(a) MPP to other minority groups, to include Veteran-Owned Small …

According to the fed Acquisition.gov website, the primary difference between a statement of work (SOW) and a performance work statement (PWS) is a SOW is written to identify the job and direct the contractor specifically how to do it. “Here’s …