Category Archives: Government Contracting

House Small Business Committee on a Roll, Passing Eight Bipartisan Bills

Posted on by
Reply

The House Small Business Committee continued its streak as one of the most productive and bipartisan committees in Congress, with the passage of eight bills after they held a markup.  A number of the bills addressed issue impacting government contracting.  Below highlights some of the bills of importance to women business owners:

This bill gets rid of the requirement that the sole source award can only be $4 million for the life of the contract, allowing sole source awards to now be $4 and $7 million per year. Additionally, for WOSBs and SDVOBs, the bill implements a new eligibility determination process for sole source awards. In addition to the current requirement that contracting officers must verify eligibility before awarding the contract, this bill requires SBA to also verify eligibility.

There was an amendment to the legislation that extends elimination of option years to the 8(a) program as well and will get rid of WOSB eligibility verification once SBA comes up with their own process to verify, which is in the works.

  • Incentivizing Fairness in Subcontracting Act of 2018 (R. 6367) – introduced by Rep. Al Lawson (D-FL) and Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS)

This bill creates incentives for prime contractors to reach their subcontracting goals by receiving credit. Prime contractors will be required to keep records of subcontracting credit claimed at lower tiers. It also designates the OSDBUs in agencies to resolve issues of non-payment of subcontractors.

One amendment was made to this bill requiring subcontractors to tell the primes that they are doing dispute process for non-payment and if primes want to get credit, they have to report on what work is actually going to the small businesses.

  • Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act of 2018 (R. 6382) – introduced by Rep. Alma Adams (D- NC) and Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH)

This bill creates a reporting requirement on small business participation on Best in Class (BIC) vehicles.  An amendment added to this legislation puts an effective date that the data must be reported, which is once it is available in SAM.

  • Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018 (R. 6330) – introduced by Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY)

This bill would modify the SBA reporting requirements to have businesses report their average earnings over the last five years, rather than three which will provide more certainty to small businesses as they ramp up their operations and grow over time. This is important for growing businesses who may slow their growth to avoid being pushed out of the “small” category before they have the capacity to compete with larger businesses.

  • Encouraging Small Business Innovators Act (R. 6368) – introduced by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC)

This bill makes a series of changes to the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, making them easier for small firms to use and allowing experienced firms in the SBIR/STTR programs to mentor younger companies.

For the full list of bills passed, click here.

WIPP Statement Regarding the SBA Inspector General’s Audit Report on the WOSB Procurement Program

Posted on by
Reply

The SBA Inspector General (IG) issued an audit report late last week that found 50 of the 56 sole source awards the IG chose to review were done incorrectly, either by the contracting officer or the woman-owned business.  They found paperwork problems, such as self-certifying WOSBs that did not have all of their required documentation in place, contracting officers that awarded a sole source with a NAICS code that was not in the WOSB program or awarded a sole source under a NAICs code that the WOSB had not indicated they were eligible to perform the work.

To read the full report visit:  https://bit.ly/2tyir3G

To those of us who have been involved with the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Procurement Program from the inception, this is not the first time the SBA Inspector General has aggressively advocated to do away with self-certification in the WOSB program. The Congress passed legislation in 2015, instructing the SBA to stand up a certification program, replacing self-certification. The SBA has stated that it is in the process of putting together this directive sometime later this year.

There is history behind this effort – when the program was put in place in 2011, it would have taken decades and further delays for an SBA certification program to be put into place.  Therefore, the SBA opted to allow self-certification and third-party certification in its stead.  The IG was directed to aggressively investigate fraudulent companies, but we are not aware of any such efforts or reports from the IG issued with that focus.  In fact, WIPP sent a letter to the IG asking for status of investigations into fraudulent companies and is not aware of a response.

Specifically, the IG makes the following recommendations:

  1. Conduct eligibility reviews for the firms identified in this report that lacked the required documentation in Certify.SBA.gov and require those firms to remove their designation in the System for Award Management.
  2. Initiate debarment proceedings, if warranted based on the results of eligibility reviews in Recommendation 1.
  3. Implement a Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program certification process as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2015.
  4. Conduct quarterly reviews of firms with newly obtained WOSB or EDWOSB status, to ensure that they have the required documentation in Certify.SBA.gov, until SBA implements a Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program certification process.
  5. Conduct quarterly reviews of Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation data for Program set-aside contracts to ensure Federal agencies’ contracting officers used the appropriate North American Industry Classification System codes and take the necessary action(s) with identified exceptions.
  6. In coordination with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the General Services Administration, strengthen controls in the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation to prevent Federal agencies’ contracting officers from using ineligible North American Industry Classification System codes.

SBA Response

At the end of the report, the SBA provides a rebuttal to the IG’s recommendations.  The SBA reiterates its intention to establish a certification program sometime this year with implementation next year.  The SBA questions the IG’s data conclusion saying that miscoding on FPDS does not necessarily mean that the sole source contract was improperly awarded and rejects the recommendation that SBA should check quarterly reviews on women new to the program and on contracts awarded through the program, ensuring contracting officers used the proper NAICs codes.  The SBA also disagrees with the IG interpretation that sole source contracts should only be awarded when SBA has a certification in place.

WIPP Perspective

WIPP led a 13- year effort to put in place the WOSB Procurement Program garnering the support of women-owned companies nationwide.  The SBA’s IG audit found much of what we already know antidotally – that the program is complex, that contracting officers and women alike are confused by the requirements, and more education is needed.  We do not agree with the IG that it was the intention of Congress to require an SBA certification before any sole source awards could be issued.  We know this to be true because we were there when it happened – leading the charge on this effort. Furthermore, we find the recommendation that WOSBs should be monitored quarterly for compliance as demeaning given the recommendation is specific to WOSBs only.

We agree that the WOSB program should be better utilized by the contracting community.  The government has only met its 5% women-owned goal once.  Since 2013, WIPP has educated tens of thousands of women on federal contracting opportunities via the WOSB procurement program through our ChallengeHER and Give Me 5 programs.  We call on Congress and the SBA to encourage federal agencies to use the WOSB program and simplify the requirements, which have proven to be confusing.  We will continue to promote federal contracts to women-owned companies both in our advocacy and our programming.

If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact WIPP’s Chief Advocate, Ann Sullivan at asullivan@madisonservicesgroup.com.

House Passes FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act With Important Small Business Provisions

Posted on by
Reply

The House of Representatives passed the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 351 to 66, prior to congressional recess. The annual defense spending measure would allow the Pentagon to spend $686 billion in the 2019 fiscal year. The legislation included important small business provisions:

Technical Assistance for Small Business: The Department of Defense (DOD) is directed to develop a small business strategy that would include a unified management structure for small business programs. DOD would also be responsible for outlining how they will engage in outreach and technical assistance to facilitate small business participation in defense programs.

Prompt Payment: The Department of Defense (DOD) is directed to accelerate payments to small business prime contractors and subcontractors, with the goal of making payment within 15 days of receiving an invoice.

Adjustments: Solicitations for small business contracts would have to include information about the agency’s policies and performance in responding to requests for compensation changes.

Expansion of Microloan Program: The loan limit in the SBA’s microloan program would be increased from $5 million to $6 million after a recipient’s first year of participation. The program allows intermediary lenders to provide loans for business development, as well as marketing, management, and technical assistance, to minority-owned or disadvantaged small businesses. Another change is the time allocation for technical assistance providers. Intermediaries could spend as much as 50% (instead of the current 25%) of their grant funds to provide information and technical assistance to prospective borrowers.

Increased Investment Limit for Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs): Banks and savings associations could invest as much as 15% of their capital and surplus in small business investment companies (SBICs) if approved by federal banking regulators. The limit is currently 5%. The maximum amount of leverage available to SBICs would be increased to $175 million from $150 million.

SBIR/STTR: Federal agencies are directed to set aside a share of their research budget for the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR). Agencies with larger research budgets must also set funds aside for the Small Business Technology Transfer program (STTR). This provision would allow federal agencies to use as much as 3% of reserved funds for program administration. It would also allow all agencies with SBIR programs in FY2018 through FY2022 to provide phase II grants, which focus on development and delivery of an innovation, regardless of whether a small business had first received a phase I grant for initial research.

Broadband & Information Technology: The SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation is directed to designate an employee as the broadband and emerging information technology coordinator. They would be responsible for connecting small businesses with financing programs, and advising these businesses on how to acquire broadband and new information technology.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved their FY2019 legislation. The full Senate is expected to begin debate on the bill in the next week or two.

Federal Government Falls Short of Meeting Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Goal in FY2017

Posted on by
Reply
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released their FY2017 Small Business Procurement Scorecard this week, which shows that the federal government failed to meet the 5% goal of prime federal contracts awarded to woman-owned small businesses (WOSBs).  Only 4.71% of prime contracts – down from 4.79% in FY2016 – went to women-owned small businesses, though the amount of contracting dollars slightly increased from $19.7 billion to $20.8 billion.

2018-05-23_14-19-00

The Small Business Procurement Scorecard is released annually by SBA as a tool to measure how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals as well as report agency-specific progress.  The only year the federal government met the 5% goal of prime contracts awarded to WOSBs was in FY2015.  

On a positive note, SBA highlighted that the federal government overall met its 23% small business federal contracting goal for the fifth consecutive year, awarding 23.88% in federal contract dollars to small businesses totaling $105.7 billion.  Additionally, the 5% goal on subcontracting to woman-owned small businesses was exceeded, with 6.2% of subcontracts going to WOSBs, up from 5.7% in FY2016.

Learn more here.

 

Seven Small Business Bills Approved by the House of Representatives

Posted on by
Reply

This month, the House voted to pass seven of nine small business bills under suspension of the rules— a procedure used to quickly pass non-controversial bills. The seven bills that passed:

  • Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act (H.R. 3170):  The Small Business Administration would offer cybersecurity and related planning assistance. The bill would require the SBA to train Small Business Development Center employees in counseling small businesses on cybersecurity questions.
  • Change Order Transparency for Federal Contractors Act (H.R. 4754):  Small business contractors and subcontractors seeking bids for federal construction projects would receive improved information from agencies including performance data and policies on change orders.
  • Women’s Business Centers Improvements Act (H.R. 1680):  The Office of Women’s Business Ownership’s responsibilities would be modified and it would be authorized to make larger grants to women’s business centers.
  • Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act (H.R. 1702): The SBA’s Small Business Development Center grant program would be modified and given new reporting requirements.
  • Spurring Business in Communities Act (H.R. 4111):  The creation of new Small Business Investment Companies in underserved states would be promoted under this bill.
  • Main Street Employee Ownership Act (H.R. 5236):  Employee cooperatives would become eligible for loans backed by the Small Business Administration. The bill would also allow loans to be made to a small business to facilitate employees’ purchase of the firm. The measure also would require additional agency outreach to promote employee purchase of companies.
  • Small Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act (H.R. 4743):  The Small Business Administration’s Office of Credit Risk Management would be codified and given new oversight responsibilities for the 7(a) program.

The two bills that did not pass were Small Business Advanced Cybersecurity Enhancements Act (H.R. 4668), which would create a central small business cybersecurity assistance unit and small business cybersecurity assistance units in each small business development center, and the SCORE for Small Business Act (H.R. 1700), reauthorizing the SCORE program.

WIPP Action Alert: Urge Your Members of Congress to Support the Accelerated Payments for Small Business Act!

Posted on by
Reply

Contact Your Members of Congress to Support the Accelerated Payments for Small Business Act (H.R. 5337)!

House Small Business Committee member, Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA) recently introduced the Accelerated Payments for Small Business Act of 2018 (H.R. 5337) which would direct federal agencies to make payments to small business prime contractors within 15 days of sending an invoice. This important legislation needs to move quickly to maintain assurance of prompt payment for small business contractors in the federal contracting arena.

Please contact your Representative and urge them to support the Accelerated Payments for Small Business Act of 2018.

Not sure what to say? Use this sample script:

My name is _____________, I am a constituent and [owner/founder/president] of [business name]. As a woman-owned small business contractor, I am calling to urge the Congress[woman/man] to co-sponsor H.R. 5337, the Accelerated Payments for Small Business Act of 2018. This bill is crucial for small business contractors, like me, because it would direct federal agencies to make payments to small business prime contractors within 15 days of sending an invoice. This is a common issue for small business contractors who rely on a consistent flow of income in order to be able to continue to serve their customer – the federal government. Ensuring prompt payment for small business contractors will help provide stability for companies who suffer large consequences when payments are delayed. Please ask the Congress(man/woman) to support H.R. 5337 and consider cosponsoring the bill. Thank you for your time.

Visit WIPP’s Legislative Action Center to Call Your Representative!

WIPP Works in Washington – May 2018

Posted on by
Reply

“Grow – Don’t Grow”

Ann Sullivan, WIPP Chief Advocate

We’ve all experienced a difficult friend or boss who tells you “do this” and then when you do it, they say “no I didn’t mean it that way.”  Then you spend the next hour trying to undo the thing they told you to do in the first place. Frustrating, right? 

That is largely what the federal government has been telling small businesses who enter public sector contracting.  The message to small businesses is “grow.”  The SBA and its stakeholders pour significant resources into helping small businesses succeed.  Those range from SBA District offices in every state, lending and counseling programs and support for programs like ChallengeHER that WIPP sponsors.

Organizations like WIPP encourage their members to think about federal contracting as a complement to commercial business.  We have spent an inordinate amount of resources promoting policies such as the women-owned small business contracting program, subcontracting and acquisition strategies designed to provide more opportunities for the government to buy from women-owned firms.

But then, the government says “wait don’t grow” by implementing a pretty rigid system of determining when a company is too big to be small.  SBA determines this by a system called size standards.  The government determines the average size of business revenue in industry categories and sets a size that a business cannot exceed in order to take advantage of small business contracting programs.  The SBA then takes the average of the last three years of your revenue, deciding whether you are small or have exceeded the size standard, bumping you into being a midsize company.  Ouch.

This is exactly the position WIPP Chair, Lisa Firestone finds herself in.  She testified at a House Small Business Committee hearing on the challenges larger small businesses face when approaching the top of their size standard. Lisa testified on behalf of WIPP, telling her story of watching her company, Managed Care Advisors go from a small boutique healthcare consulting company to the leading provider of Federal Workers’ Compensation Case Management Services. She grew a four-person company to facing a daunting dilemma of growing beyond the $15 million size standard for her industry.

Witnesses at the hearing, “No Man’s Land: Middle-Market Challenges for Small Business Graduates,” discussed the issue of options available to small businesses who reach the top of their size standard.  Should they stay small, sell their business or venture into a midsize company that has to compete for government business with the 110 very large companies? According to Bloomberg Government’s recent report, Mid-Tier Market Report: 2018, only 325 companies have made the decision to be a midsize vendor to the federal government.  This is in contrast to the 118,000 small businesses who sell to the federal government.

How can this trend be reversed?  The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, a WIPP partner in the initiative, “Pathway to Growth” proposes the following recommendations:

  1. Agency: Bring Multiple Award Contracts (MAC) requirements in line with the capabilities of midsize firms. It is essential to sustain midsize businesses participation on these MACs to diversify the types of businesses engaging in the federal market.
  2. Regulatory: Require a five-year look-back for the purpose of Small Business Administration (SBA) size determination. Due to the long contract award process and significant size of task orders, small businesses can quickly outgrow their size standard without having the time and resources to invest in firm infrastructure. This change would allow businesses a smoother transition by changing the receipt calculation by using the lowest three of these preceding five years of receipts, to determine the average.
  3. Legislative: Deduct research and development (R&D) expenses and expenditures from total revenue for size determination. This recommendation supports the government’s initiative to stimulate innovation and allows companies to pursue and develop new products and processes, without undue penalty.

The execution of these proposals would set the record straight: small business owners should grow their business – and those that do should not be penalized for that growth but supported by our federal government. It’s time to end the mixed signals.

How Can My Unpopulated Small Business Joint Venture Get a Clearance?

Posted on by

When the SBA issued its final rule concerning its new Small Business Mentor Protégé Programs, it adopted a major change for 8(a) and small business joint ventures:  no more populated joint ventures. Instead, the rule provides that where a joint venture is formed as a separate legal entity, like a limited liability company, it may not have its own separate employees to perform contracts awarded to the joint venture.

Megan Connor.jpg

By Megan Connor, Partner PilieroMazz

For contractors well-versed in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (“NISPOM”) and who otherwise pursue and perform cleared contracts, the SBA’s move away from populated joint ventures in favor of unpopulated joint ventures raises some eyebrows. A joint venture without any personnel of its own cannot obtain a facility clearance (“FCL”) because an FCL always depends on the personnel security clearance (“PCL”) of the company’s key management personnel, including the facility security officer (“FSO”). In other words, the only way a contractor receives an FCL is if it has cleared employees.So how, then, can a small business comply with the SBA’s regulations requirement for an unpopulated joint venture (if a separate legal entity) and the requirements of Defense Security Service and NISPOM?

By “populating” the joint venture with administrative personnel. This is expressly allowed under SBA’s regulations. While the SBA does not want separate legal entity joint ventures populated with direct labor, the regulations expressly allow a joint venture to have “its own separate employees to perform administrative functions.”  13 C.F.R. § 121.103(h). Thus, a joint venture may be populated with employees and still be considered an unpopulated joint venture so long as these employees are not performing the contracts awarded to the joint venture.

The administrative personnel employed by an unpopulated joint venture can be the individuals upon whom the joint venture’s FCL is based. For instance, the joint venture could employ a single management position, the FSO, and the joint venture’s FCL would be contingent on the FSO’s PCL. Although the NISPOM requires the FSO tobe an employee of the cleared entity, there is no requirement for the FSO to be a full-time employee, so the FSO could split his time as the FSO of the joint venture and as the FSO of one of the venturers. The FSO could not perform direct labor on the joint venture’s contracts, but could (and should) be performing administrative functions, like supervising the joint venture’s compliance with the NISPOM and maintaining the joint venture’s records in the Joint Personnel Adjudication System.

____________________________________________________________________________________________Megan Connor is a partner with PilieroMazza and focuses her practice in the areas of government contracts, small business administration programs, business and corporate law, and litigation.  She may be reached at mconnor@pilieromazza.com.

Entrepreneurs shine during National Small Business Week

Posted on by
By Linda McMahon, SBA Administrator

Through awards ceremonies, media interviews and community events, we honor entrepreneurs whose achievements stand out. As an entrepreneur myself, I know the hard work that goes in to starting and building a small business – efforts that don’t often get the attention they deserve.

Honorees in this week’ spotlight do not cast a shadow that dims the efforts of others; rather they serve as a beacon – to competitors, up-and-comers and communities as a whole. They show what is possible. They are innovators and problem solvelinda-mcmahon-high.jpgrs, creating products and services that are better, smarter or more efficient than what came before. They are risk takers. And through their success, they inspire others to dream and to create small businesses of their own.

Small businesses contribute so much to our communities and economy. They create two out of every three net new jobs in the private sector. More than half of all Americans either work for or own a small business. Entrepreneurs are not only making a living for themselves, they are making their neighborhoods vibrant places to live and work and contributing to our nation’s economic strength.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is so proud to have been a part of small businesses’ success for 65 years. Since 1953, the SBA has been supporting entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed. The Agency – through its headquarters in Washington, DC; its 68 district offices nationwide; and resources partners like Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Opportunity Centers and SCORE chapters – serves entrepreneurs at every stage of their lifecycle. It guarantees loans for entrepreneurs who can’t get capital from other sources, mitigating a lender’s risk. It offers counseling on starting and scaling a business, from how to draft a business plan to how to export products overseas. It trains small businesses to compete for government contracts. And it helps those recovering from a declared disaster get back on their feet.

Whether they are starting up, expanding or getting through a tough time, the SBA is the nation’s only go-to resource for small business backed by the strength and resources of the federal government. It powers the American Dream. And the SBA is working to make that dream accessible to more Americans by modernizing its application processes, improving online resources, and streamlining how technology is used to deliver services more efficiently and effectively.

National Small Business Week honors entrepreneurs who have used these resources to make their lives and their communities better. And the SBA shines a light on their achievements, I hope it will illuminate the path for even more aspiring entrepreneurs following in their footsteps.

Linda McMahon serves as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. As a member of President Trump’s cabinet, she advocates on behalf of the 30 million small businesses in America, which employ nearly half of all American workers and account for 56.8 million jobs.

 

April Policy Watch #HillUpdate: The House Has Been Busy Tackling IRS Reforms, Financial Rules, the Next NDAA & More

Posted on by

HSBC Chairman Chabot Urges Inclusion of Small Business Bills in FY19 NDAA

Last week before the House Committee on Armed Services, Chairman Steve Chabot of the House Small Business Committee urged members to incorporate a package of 13 bipartisan small business bills in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The bills include legislation addressing SBA loan programs and technical assistance programs such as Women Business Centers, small business lending, cybersecurity, government contracting, and other issues impacting small business.

Read a full accounting of bills included in the package can be found here.

Watch Chairman Chabot’s testimony.

Legislation to Reform & Modernize the IRS Makes it Out of House Ways & Means

The House Ways and Means Committee last week approved the passage of the Taxpayer First Act (H.R. 5445), legislation sponsored by Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and ranking member John Lewis (D-GA). The bill would improve the independent appeals process, taxpayer services and enforcement. It also updates the IRS and Tax Court structure.

Click here to learn more about the legislation and other recent bills relating to IRS reform passed out by the House Ways & Means Committee.

House Passes Bill to Ease Financial Regulations with Goal of Improving Lending

The House approved H.R. 4790, the Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act by a vote of 300-104. The legislation would exempt banks with total assets of $10 billion or less and comprised of 5% or less of trading assets and liabilities from the Volcker Rule. The rule prohibits banking agencies from engaging in proprietary trading or entering into certain relationships with hedge funds and private-equity funds. The bill would also grant exclusive rulemaking authority under the Volcker Rule to the Federal Reserve Board. The intent of the legislation is to alleviate the compliance burden on small banks, which would help improve capital markets and lending, especially to small business.

Read more

With Possible Trade War Looming, HSBC Holds hearing on the State of Trade for Small Business

The House Small Business Committee heard from a panel of business owners and experts on the state of international trade for small businesses. The hearing’s focus was the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant Program and the federal government’s overall efforts to increase small business exports. However, with tariffs proposed by the administration and discussion of a possible trade war with China, witnesses highlighted how recent activity would impact their businesses and small business exporters at large.

Read submitted testimony or watch the full hearing here.