For the second year in a row, Maria Panichelli will be teaching courses on small business contracting at the National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSME) in Minneapolis, MN on November 2nd. The NVSBE directly connects Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) with Procurement Decision Makers (PDMs) from the Department of Veterans Affairs, other federal agencies, state government, as well as large commercial firms with small business needs. NVBSE continues to prove as the most effective way to directly connect VOSBs with potential buyers in the federal and commercial marketplaces.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PROTESTS
November 2, 2016, 11:10 AM
Today’s federal contracting marketplace is extremely competitive. Nowhere is the competition stronger than in the VOSB/SDVOSB arena, where many solicitations ultimately involve bid, size or status/eligibility protests. Understanding these protests and the related procedures can make the difference between getting the contract, or getting left out of the race altogether. In this session, we will cover all aspects of the protest process. Was a contract improperly awarded to someone else? Want to know if there is any way to fight the agency’s decision and get the award after all? Sign up for this session and learn how to use protests as an affirmative tool to get the contract you want. We will also discuss strategies on how to defend against such a protest. Both bid and size and status/eligibility protests will be covered.
AFFILIATION: THE DIRTIEST WORD IN FEDERAL SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING
November 2, 2016, 2:05 PM
As many of you know, “affiliation” is a dangerous word in federal small business contracting. A finding of affiliation can destroy a business’ small business size status, and render you ineligible for future VOSB/SDVOSB set-aside contracts. The good news is, in most cases, “affiliation” is entirely avoidable. In this session, we explain what affiliation is, why it matters, and how to avoid it. We will discuss both ostensible subcontractor and general affiliation, and walk you through the tests used by the SBA when analyzing affiliation. Finally, we will highlight the most common affiliation mistakes that companies make, and provide strategies for avoiding them.