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 …

The SBA has issued a final rule implementing the changes to the limitations on subcontracting enacted by Congress in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The SBA’s final rule takes effect June 30, 2016–and will significantly change the way the limitations on …

Businesses interested in using the new self-certify option to become a WOSB or a EDWOSB are in a confusing predicament. Stated simply, the SBA has launched a new portal to help women-owned businesses better manage the WOSB self-certification process – …

Did you know that the Alaska PTAC is hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)? For many years, PTAC was a partner program of the Alaska Small Business Development Center (and still is). Then, last year, the University of …

The “Rule of Two” has a well-established place in federal contracting.  Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 19.502-2(a) states: “Each acquisition of supplies or services that has an anticipated dollar value exceeding $3,500…but not over $150,000…is automatically reserved exclusively for small business …

A lot of commercial companies are exploiting people interested in doing business with FEMA and other federal agencies, charging them hundreds of dollars to “help” complete necessary and even optional registrations.  For example, registering with FEMA is optional and you …

Women-owned businesses employ millions of American workers in communities all over the U.S. But when it comes to receiving federal contracts and capital, women are still under-represented. That’s according to a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Small Business Administration. …

Do you provide products or services that federal agencies need when there is an emergency? Do you provide temporary labor services or trucking, construction, water, food, mobile home rental, environmental remediation, tents or office rental? Government agencies need to be …

When a procuring agency asks for details, an offeror better provide those details–or run the risk of exclusion from the competition. Recently, the GAO has confirmed that offerors must provide sufficient detail or run the risk of being eliminated from a …

Beginning in February, the federal definition of what qualifies as a small business will change, the Small Business Administration announced on Thursday. Two final rules were published this week in the Federal Register for measuring the number of employees, along …

Under a new FAR provision effective in February 2016, the Government typically will not enter into a contract with any corporation that has an unpaid Federal tax liability that is not being contested or timely repaid.  The same new FAR provision …

For small federal contractors, it was a busy year, with many ups and downs, and a few surprises. It was a Twitter feed that blasted hundreds of messages each day. It was a networking event that was only half full …