A little over a week ago I had the privilege of speaking at the Associated General Contractors of America’s national convention in Las Vegas. I was asked by the Director of the Heavy Highway and Federal Division to address a number of “hot topics” in the world of federal contracting. Over the next several weeks,
small business act
New SBA Rule Imposes Severe Penalties for Misrepresenting Size Status
On June 28, 2013, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a Final Rule relating to the penalties involved when a contractor misrepresents its small business size status. While the current regulations provide that a contractor might suffer certain penalties for “knowingly misrepresenting” its small business status, they offer little guidance concerning what those penalties might…
Is the VA Violating the Small Business Act?
It’s not all that surprising when contactors question the Department of Veterans Affairs’ authority, especially those who are denied SDVOSB verification. It’s a little surprising, however, when members of Congress do it. Late last month, two congressmen explicitly challenged the VA’s management structure, which could have an impact on how the verification process operates in…
Veterans Win Significant Procurement Battle
By: Edward T. DeLisle & Craig Schroeder
Last year, the United States Association of Veterans in Business (“USAVETBIZ”) urged Congress for a government-wide preference in contracting and set-aside programs that extended the existing preference for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses (“SDVOSB”) to all veteran-owned small businesses. While that has not happened yet, the set aside…
Congress Acts, Ends HUBZone Priority
By: Edward T. DeLisle
On September 23, 2010, we wrote an article regarding the current status of the HUBZone priority fight between the GAO, the Court of Federal Claims and a number of federal agencies. That article followed another that we wrote on this issue on August 27, 2010. In a series of…
Government Agencies Defy GAO, Court Positions on HUBZone Priority
By: Edward T. DeLisle
On August 27th, we posted an article regarding the recent Court of Federal Claims case, DGR Associates, Inc. v. United States. In that case, the protesting contractor took the position that the government agency, the Air Force, failed to follow the direction of Congress in determining how to set aside…
HUBZone Priority Upheld by the Courts
By: Edward T. DeLisle
On August 13th, the Court of Federal Claims temporarily ended a controversy regarding how agencies go about setting aside contracts for certain qualified small businesses. DGR Associates, Inc. v. United States involved a decision by the Air Force to issue a set aside contract for qualified 8(a) companies. The project involved housing maintenance…