According to the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner, Tom Sharpe, the General Services Administration (GSA) remains committed to a smooth transition in implementing the final rule governing transactional data reporting, released on June 23, 2016. As we previously reported, the final rule significantly changes reporting requirements for the Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) program – requiring vendors to electronically submit monthly reports providing 11 transactional data elements, and in turn, eliminate Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) disclosures and the Price Reduction Clause (PRC).
Continue Reading GSA Remains Confident in the Benefits of the Transactional Data Reporting Rule
How Trump Might Reform Defense Business
I provided comments for an article outlining the potential impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration may have within the defense industry. As I point out in the article, “[m]any companies have chosen to exit the government market because of the [recent] regulatory burdens. The compliance obligations have piled on. An enormous amount of regulation has
Event: Mentor Protégé Training – Challenges and Solutions
I will be Nashville on Thursday, November 17 speaking at a program organized by The University of Tennessee Procurement Technical Assistance Center. I will speak on the topic of “Mentor Protégé Training – Challenges and Solutions” from 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. CST at Bass, Berry & Sims. I will provide an overview of the
Disagree with a Size Standard? File a Protest!
On October 7, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a proposed rule in response to recent legislation authorizing the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to decide Petitions for Reconsideration of Size Standards. OHA now has the responsibility of reviewing petitions filed by parties adversely affected by a new, revised or modified size standard. Under the proposed rule, the SBA may be forced to re-evaluate its size determination if the petitioner can demonstrate that the decision to change or establish the size standard was not in accordance with the law.
The new legislation grants OHA and businesses greater involvement in setting SBA size standards. The right to file a petition arises only where the SBA has issued a final rule that modifies, revises or creates a new size standard – making existing and proposed size standards exempt from challenge. Further, only businesses that have been “adversely affected” have standing to file a petition in the first place. A party is deemed “adversely affected” if it conducts business in the industry associated with the challenged size standard, and it either qualified as a small business prior to the modified size standard, or it now qualifies as a small business as a result of the size standard determination.Continue Reading Disagree with a Size Standard? File a Protest!
Navigating the Proposed Changes to DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program Alongside the SBA’s New “All Small” Mentor-Protégé Program
Opportunities for small businesses continue to grow as the Department of Defense (DoD) released a proposed rule of changes to its current, pilot mentor-protégé program. The proposed rule, released on Friday, September 23, comes just one month after the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) final rule establishing a government-wide mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns. While the DoD’s proposal is not as expansive as the changes within the SBA’s mentor-protégé program, it will likely further increase small business contracting opportunities within the federal marketplace. This post, along with the comparison chart below, highlight some of the similarities and differences between the programs.
Continue Reading Navigating the Proposed Changes to DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program Alongside the SBA’s New “All Small” Mentor-Protégé Program
Todd Overman and Sylvia Yi Author Article on Regulatory Improvements to WOSB Program
In an article published by SmallBizDaily, Bass, Berry & Sims attorneys Todd Overman and Sylvia Yi provided insight on the regulatory improvements to the SBA’s Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program that helped the federal government finally achieve its goal of awarding five percent of its annual contracts to WOSBs. As Todd and Sylvia point
Everyone Bookmark certify.sba.gov
The Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program moved its certification process from the General Login System (GLS) to the SBA One Contracting Portal at certify.sba.gov in March 2016. This has streamlined the certification process for WOSBs and Economically Disadvantaged WOSBs (EDWOSBs). The website features a checklist to prepare for certification, an “Am I Eligible?” tool, and email notifications for expiration and renewal notices.
Continue Reading Everyone Bookmark certify.sba.gov
Federal Government Restructures Its Approach to Cybersecurity
On July 26, 2016, responding to rising cyber attacks and public criticism, the federal government issued a Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-41), to clarify the role of law enforcement agencies, to increase coordination across the government, and to divide cybersecurity efforts into three categories: asset response, threat response and intelligence support. PPD-41 outlines five key principles for the federal government and federal agencies in complying with the “whole-government” approach to cybersecurity. Although the initiative is directed at the federal government and sector-specific agencies, private entities are also likely to be affected and are instructed on the best practice for cyber incident reporting.
PPD-41 emphasizes unity in the government’s response to cybersecurity incidents, outlining five guiding principles of the directive. In structuring incident reporting and protection mechanisms, the government seeks to emphasize shared responsibility, increased awareness, risk-based responses, respect to entities affected by the incident, unity in governmental efforts in responding to an incident, and allowing effective restoration and recovery following a cybersecurity breach. In distributing the responsibilities of cybersecurity, the government delineates specific agencies to take charge of the three categories of protection. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will lead asset response activities and post-breach recovery needs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) in collaboration with the FBI will be in charge of threat response, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will head intelligence support.Continue Reading Federal Government Restructures Its Approach to Cybersecurity
Mentor-Protégé Expansion Creates Opportunities for all Government Contractors Large and Small
On Friday, July 22, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a Final Rule (Final Rule) establishing a government-wide mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns, designed to increase opportunities in the federal market place and improve development for small businesses. This expansion implements the authority Congress gave SBA in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act to create mentor-protégé programs for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), HUBZone small businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSB), and small businesses.
The new program, which enables these categories of small businesses to benefit from the SBA-approved mentor-protégé arrangements previously only available to certified 8(a) small disadvantaged businesses, goes into effect on August 24, 2016, and will be implemented with the help of a newly formed unit within the SBA Office of Business Development devoted solely to processing and reviewing mentor-protégé applications and agreements. Instead of creating four new and separate programs covering each of the small business contracting programs (i.e., small business, SDVOSB, WOSB, and HUBZone), SBA chose to create a single program for all small business concerns modeled after the existing 8(a) Business Development (BD) mentor-protégé program, which will continue to operate as a separate program. Alongside these regulations, the Final Rule revises guidelines for joint venture agreements between a mentor and a protégé.
Opening the mentor-protégé program to new categories of small businesses creates significant opportunities for both large and small businesses. Because of the expected avalanche of applications from companies wishing to participate in this program, an overview of which is provided below, businesses that anticipate submitting applications for approval of mentor-protégé agreements should do so as soon as possible after the program goes into effect.Continue Reading Mentor-Protégé Expansion Creates Opportunities for all Government Contractors Large and Small
Update: GSA Requests Comments on Releasing Data Obtained through the New Transactional Data Reporting Rule
We recently authored an article outlining the provisions and ramifications of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) final rule governing transactional data reporting, released on June 23, 2016. As the most significant change to the GSA Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) program in the last two decades, the new rule requires each vendor subject to the provisions to electronically submit monthly reports that provide 11 transactional data elements and replaces the current requirements relating to Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) disclosures and the Price Reduction Clause (PRC). While many remain skeptical of the benefits of the new rule, the GSA believes the transactional data clause will reduce the administrative burden on contractors, promote competition and transparency, and benefit small businesses that often lack the necessary resources to devote to business intelligence and development.
Continue Reading Update: GSA Requests Comments on Releasing Data Obtained through the New Transactional Data Reporting Rule