Fraud continues in small business preference programs
Contractor fraud in small business set-aside programs is difficult to detect and prove, but its annual costs to government are significant in dollars and damage to legitimate business that deserve the...
View ArticleGDOT audit finds flaws in disadvantaged business certification process
An audit completed amid concerns about airport contracts found flaws in the Georgia Department of Transportation’s process to certify businesses with “disadvantaged” status for government contracts....
View ArticleCOs must verify WOSB/EDWOSB status independent of SAM info
Ever since last year’s launch of the System for Award Management (SAM) — the federal database that replaced Central Contractor Registration (CCR) – there have been a myriad of problems involving system...
View ArticleGroups say veteran-owned contracting still broken
Despite a history of complaints to Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans advocacy groups say VA is still placing far too many hurdles in front of veteran-owned small businesses in...
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New OFPP rule: Program managers must meet acquisition certification requirements
The New Year brings new requirements for federal program and project managers. Under new guidance issued by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) program managers now must meet all Federal...
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Some DOT contracting officers not certified for high-dollar contracts
Nearly a quarter of Transportation Department contracting officers didn’t comply with certification specifications when working on certain high dollar acquisitions, says an April 9, 2015 DOT inspector...
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IG finds both agency implementation and SBA oversight of WOSB program to be...
Federal agencies’ contracting officers are awarding set-aside contracts without meeting the set-aside requirements associated with the Small Business Administration’s Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)...
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COs told to check with SBA on WOSB certifications
On Wednesday, March 23, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on its website that for the next “several weeks” federal Contracting Officers (COs) will need to check with the SBA...
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Academy’s program manager appointed to national academic panel
The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) has invited Donna Bertrand, program manager for The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech, to become an inaugural member of the Association’s...
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Certification process for CORs falls short within GSA
Two years after it offered recommendations to strengthen the workforce charged with overseeing technical aspects of contracts, the General Services Administration’s Inspector General (IG) said the...
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Ineligible SBIR contractor pays $12 million to settle False Claim Act...
TrellisWare Technologies, Inc. has agreed to pay $12,177,631.90 to settle civil False Claims Act allegations that it was ineligible for multiple Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) contracts...
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SBA IG: 89 percent of WOSB sole source contracts were improper
Nearly 90% of women-owned small business sole source contracts reviewed by the SBA Office of Inspector General (OIG) were improper, according to a startling report issued last week. In the study, the...
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Transition to new FAC-C acquisition workforce training requirements begins...
We summarize the changes to the training requirements here. Beginning October 1, 2019, new Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting, or FAC-C, training requirements go into place. The new training...
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Pentagon standing up a nonprofit to assess vendor cybersecurity
The organization would be responsible for running the department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. The Defense Department is looking to stand up a nonprofit organization to measure the...
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Academy provides customized instruction on small business certification to...
The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech provided four hours of intensive instruction to a group of 90 counselors on the topic of “Teaching Your Clients How To Obtain a Small Business...
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Experts praise new acquisition workforce training requirements
Experts welcomed provisions in a defense policy bill that will reform the training requirements for federal procurement officials to better align with those in the private sector. At the time of this...
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SBA issues final rule implementing certification for women-owned small...
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on May 11, 2020, published its long-awaited Final Rule implementing important changes for Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (WOSBs) and Economically...
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SBA looks to tighten up certification process for women-owned small businesses
Women-owned small businesses, take note: the Small Business Administration is changing the certification process for doing business with the federal government. Following a 2015 mandate from Congress,...
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4 lessons from SBA’s $30 million ‘Certify’ platform debacle
Let me know if you’ve heard this one before: An agency hires “experts” to develop an application, spends tens of millions of dollars and the effort falls flat. This easily could be the story to focus...
View ArticleASBCA revisits email “signature” and finds typed name meets the test
In a departure from its prior precedent, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) recently held in Kamaludin Slyman CSC, ASBCA Nos. 62006, 62007, 62008, that a typed name at the end of an...
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