Hubzone Designation Update
By Katie Flood, PilieroMazza PLLC
As participants in the HUBZone Program were painfully made aware in 2011 and 2012, HUBZone district designations are subject to change based upon economic and demographic shifts. If you are a HUBZone small business concern, it is important to keep tabs on the designation status of your district for purposes of your federal contract forecasting, particularly in light of several recent developments.
Generally, HUBZones are located within one or more qualified census tracts; qualified nonmetropolitan counties; Indian reservation lands; qualified base closure areas; or those areas “redesignated” as HUBZones after losing their qualifying status. If a HUBZone has been redesignated, it may only Continue reading »
UPDATED: GSA OASIS Draft RFP Series, #1 Size Standard NAICS Pools
UPDATE (5/3/13): One important point I failed to mention is that on OASIS SB, GSA intends to award at least three spots in every pool to the following socioeconomic groups-8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone, WOSB, and EDWOSB. This does not mean that only 25 of the 40 spots in a pool are available for other small businesses, though. The top 40 evaluation will proceed “blind” to socioeconomic status. If there are not at least three representatives from a particular socioeconomic group in the top 40 for a given pool, additional awards will be made to the next highest rated qualified bidder(s) in that group until there are three.
Welcome to the first post in a special series about the GSA OASIS draft RFP. First a disclaimer – all posts are based on information obtained from the OASIS draft RFP and the most current Q&A available on the OASIS Industry Community on GSA Interact. Changes are certain to occur between the draft solicitation and the final; Aronson will identify major known changes as soon as we are aware of them. Please subscribe to our RSS feed to follow this series and to make sure that you receive breaking information as it happens!
Today’s post will discuss the use of NAICS code ‘pools’ to determine a contractor’s size status and eligibility to bid on OASIS SB. Initially, GSA had intended to base the size standard for OASIS SB on a single NAICS code (541330 exception, $35.5M) based on market research concerning the preponderance of work likely to be awarded under the vehicle; however, a recent rule proposed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) caused them to change this approach. Due to the provisions of Section 1331 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and concerns about the improper allocation of small business credit under multiple-award contracts, the SBA plans to make significant changes to the FAR. Under the proposed rule, “the contracting officer may divide a multiple award contract for divergent goods and services into discrete categories, each of which is assigned a NAICS code with a corresponding size standard.”
In order to accommodate the probable rule change, GSA Continue reading »
Congress Changes the Method for Calculating Small Business Subcontracting Limits
In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (“NDAA FY13”), Congress amended the Small Business Act and fundamentally changed the method for calculating subcontracting limits on small business set-aside contracts. Previously, the SBA regulations (13 C.F.R. § 125.6) and implementing FAR clause 52.219-14 focused on the cost of performance. However, the NDAA FY13 amendment focuses on the amount paid under the contract. This change eliminates the contractor’s need to rely on cost-based accounting to ensure compliance and will hopefully make it easier for prime contractors to track their efforts to comply with the rule.
Under both the previous and new rules, the subcontracting limits are calculated based on the type of contract: service, supplies, or construction. Under the previous rules for service contracts, the small business prime contractor was required to perform at least 50% of the cost of labor. For supply contracts, the amount required is at least 50% of the cost of manufacturing supplies, not including the cost of material, and for construction contracts, at least 15% of the cost of the contract, not including the cost of materials. Under the new rules, Continue reading »
SBA Increases Size Standards in 3 NAICS Sectors; 18,600 Additional Businesses Qualify As Small
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued three final rules in the Federal Register, effective Oct. 24, 2012, increasing size standards for firms in three North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sectors: Sector 53 – Real Estate and Rental and Leasing; Sector 61 – Educational Services; and Sector 62 – Health Care and Social Assistance.
New size standards will enable more businesses in these sectors to obtain or retain small business status; will give federal agencies a larger pool of small businesses from which to choose for their procurement programs; and will make more small businesses eligible for SBA’s loan programs. Under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Continue reading »
Federal Small Business Contracting Fails to Meet 2012 Goals, Again
Small Business Contractors won $91.5 billion in federal government work in fiscal 2011, or 21.65 percent of the total, according to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard for fiscal 2011 released on July 3rd. During the first three years of the Obama Administration, the SBA report continued, the federal government awarded $286.3 billion or 22.07 percent in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. SBA said this equaled a $32 billion increase over the three preceding years even as contracting spending overall has declined across the federal government. Despite this, the government’s overall small-business contracting goal of 23 percent annually remains just out of reach as the FY2011 figures reflect a drop in dollars and percent from previous years – down from 22.7 percent in FY2010, and 21.9 percent in FY2009.
The government exceeded its five percent goal for contracting with small disadvantaged businesses, but missed targets for the remaining three socio-economic categories: HUBZone small businesses, women-owned small businesses, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Only two departments received an “A” rating, having met all of the small business goals: Continue reading »
White House Memo Details Plan to Award More Contracts to Small Businesses
The Obama administration is pressuring agencies to award more contracts to small businesses. The new small business friendly requirements were included in a June 6, 2012 memorandum signed by Joe Jordan, the recently confirmed Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, (SBA). The memorandum focuses on increasing small business Continue reading »
CCR, ORCA, and EPLS are Going Away. Say Hello to SAM.
Update! SAM is online effective Monday, July 30, 2012. Read our new post!
Update May 2012! CCR/ORCA Transition to System for Award Management (SAM) delayed 60 days until late July 2012.
Under the original plan the SAM transition date was May 29, 2012 – with CCR scheduled to stop accepting data at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. CCR (Central Contractor Registration) / Federal Agency Registration (FedReg), Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) will now transition to SAM at the end of July 2012. Read more for the impact of the SAM transition on government contractors:
Want Help Starting a Business….There’s an App for That!
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Starting a new business or need help taking your business to the next level?
Use the SBA app to find Small Business Administration-affiliated advisers near you and get free, personal, one-on-one help with starting and growing your business. You can also use the app to calculate your starting costs so you know what it is going to take to get your business off the ground.
The SBA app will help you Continue reading »
Your Business May be Small Again! SBA Increases NAICS Sector 54
The Small Business Administration (SBA) reviewed NAICS Sectors 54 and 81 and issued a final rule (13 CFR Part 121) substantially increasing many NAICS code small business size standards, effective March 12, 2012.
SBA establishes small business size definitions (referred to as size standards) for private sector industries using two primary measures of business size—receipts and number of employees. Over the years, SBA has received comments that its size standards have not kept up with changes in the economy – particularly that they do not reflect changes in the federal contracting marketplace and industry structure. The last comprehensive review of size standards occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Continue reading »
Danger Ahead: A Record Number of Contractors Face Suspension and Debarment
In October of 2011 FedPoint blogged about the government increasing it focus on suspension and debarment as tools to fight fraud, waste and abuse (Agencies Increase Focus on Debarments and Suspensions). The 2011 statistics are now available and it is obvious that the ‘focus’ is working. The government has proposed suspending or debarring 1,006 companies or individuals during 2011. That is almost as many suspensions and debarments as were proposed during the full four years of President Bush’s second term, and it represents a 10% increase from 2010. Continue reading »
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- A Marriage of Inconvenience: GSA Schedule Contracts & The Contractor Code of Business Ethics & Conduct Clause
- Emerging Small Businesses: To Grow Your Business, You Must Plan For Growth
- Government Contracting: Look Before You Leap!
- GSA Schedules – Strategies for Success
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- Pay on Display – Understanding the Executive Compensation and Subcontractor Data Reporting Requirements & Ramifications
- The GSA Schedule: Your Ticket to the Federal Market (May 2010)
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- The Seven Deadly Sins (of contract compliance)