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Small Business / Socioeconomic Issues

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At their best, the mentor-protégé programs administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) are programs whereby large business mentors may partner with small business protégés—providing the small business with resources, knowledge, and an overall enhancement of capabilities. The program also provides that, under certain circumstances, the mentor-protégé team can also jointly venture to compete for…

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) October 15, 2020 elimination of the self-certification process for Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) and Economically Disadvantaged WOSBs (EDWOSBs) is rapidly approaching. A WOSB is a small business (based on the applicable NAICS code determination) that is 51% directly and unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more women. An EDWOSB…

Implementing Section 823 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA FY ‘20), on July 5, 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD) amended the DoD Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to increase the threshold for requiring sole source justifications of awards to Small Business Administration (SBA) certified 8(a) small disadvantaged businesses. …

If you were somehow still wondering whether small businesses really need to be concerned about the affiliation rules in the Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Furthermore, running afoul of those rules can easily lead to liability under the False Claims Act (FCA), as most recently demonstrated by an Oklahoma…

Not being included, or being purposely excluded, may remind some of adolescence, and may remind others of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) simplified acquisition procedures. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in Phoenix Environmental Design, Inc. (Phoenix), B-418304 (March 2, 2020) deals with facing the latter form of disappointment.

The underlying purchase order in…