Certification | The Contracting Education Academy

June 27, 2018 By AMK

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 SBA OIG concluded that because of pervasive flaws in the award of WOSB and EDWOSB sole source contracts, “there was no assurance that these contracts were awarded to firms that were eligible to receive sole-source awards under the Program.” And if that wasn’t enough, the SBA OIG reiterated its position that, as a legal matter, it is improper to award any WOSB or EDWOSB sole source contract to a self-certified company.

The SBA OIG studied 56 WOSB and EDWOSB sole source contracts awarded between January 1, 2016 and April 30, 2017. This pool “represented 81 percent of the Program’s contracts awarded on a sole-source basis for this time period.”

The results were startling: SBA OIG determined that “Federal agencies’ contracting officers and firms did not comply with Federal regulations for 50 of the 56 Program sole-source contracts, valued at $52.2 million.” As a result, there was no assurance that these contracts were awarded to eligible WOSBs and EDWOSBs.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/women-owned-small-business-program/sba-inspector-general-89-of-wosb-sole-source-contracts-were-improper/

March 21, 2018 By AMK

Ineligible SBIR contractor pays $12 million to settle False Claim Act allegations

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 it entered into with the Defense Department.

TrellisWare is a majority-owned subsidiary of ViaSat, Inc., a global broadband services and technology company headquartered in San Diego.

The SBIR program is designed to stimulate technological innovation by funding small businesses to engage in federal research and development efforts. To be considered a small business for purposes of SBIR awards, a contractor must not be majority owned by another company.

Between 2008 and 2015, TrellisWare was awarded multiple SBIR contracts to provide the Navy, Army and Air Force with a variety of technology services and products involving communications and signal processing systems, including wireless networks used in military tactical environments. TrellisWare self-certified that it met the small business size requirements for eligibility to receive SBIR funding. But based on certain disclosures that TrellisWare later made about its ownership relationship with ViaSat, the government conducted an investigation into TrellisWare’s eligibility for SBIR awards. The government contends that TrellisWare was not eligible for SBIR awards because it was actually a majority-owned subsidiary of ViaSat at the time it was awarded and performed on SBIR contracts.

This matter was investigated by auditing personnel of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in coordination with Special Agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Army Criminal Investigation Command; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and Small Business Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-communications-company-pays-more-12-million-settle-false-claim-act

August 15, 2016 By AMK

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 agency has still not fully complied.

As part of its recommendations to correct the problem, the OIG said that GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) should put in controls to ensure contracting officer representatives (CORs) were registered in the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) Tracking Application System and develop guidance to ensure the certification was consistently tracked.

The Aug. 3, 2016 report said that FAS had yet to require its regional offices complete spreadsheets detailing certification information.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/acquisition/contracts/2016/08/04/fas-still-hasnt-applied-contract-officer-improvements-oig-says/88067424/

Read the OIG’s report here: https://www.gsaig.gov/sites/default/files/audit-reports/A160081_1.pdf

May 13, 2016 By AMK

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 Academic Advisory Council, spearheaded by NCMA’s Professional Education Committee.

Donna G. Bertrand, The Academy’s program manager, has been appointed a member of the National Contract Management Association’s Academic Advisory Council. — **Donna G. Bertrand, the Academy’s program manager, has been appointed a member of the National Contract Management Association’s Academic Advisory Council.**

NCMA is the world’s leading professional resource for those in the field of contract management. The organization, which has over 20,000 members, is dedicated to the professional growth and educational advancement of procurement and acquisition personnel worldwide. NCMA serves and informs the acquisition profession and offers opportunities for the open exchange of ideas in neutral forums. NCMA provides a robust certification program and sponsors training through two major conferences each year. NCMA’s next educational event is its annual World Congress, to be held in July of this year, which is expected to bring together over 1,800 contract management professionals for three days of education and networking, including keynote speakers who are government and industry leaders in contracting and acquisition, over 100 customized training sessions, and various networking opportunities.

Contract management professionals are well-paid and highly educated, earning an average salary of $103,600 with 46 percent possessing a master’s degree (Source: 2015 NCMA Annual Salary Survey). Typical entry-level personnel have a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 24 hours of business credit. The almost 40,000 government personnel alone who occupy the contract specialist position are required to achieve and maintain three levels of certification throughout their career and oftentimes satisfy the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-mandated requirement to earn 80 continuous learning points every two years through higher education. Industry employees seek certification through NCMA as well.

In accepting NCMA’s nomination to join NCMA’s newly formed Academic Advisory Council (AAC), Bertrand will join other representatives from academia interested in the professional growth and education of the contracting community. The AAC will interact with and advise NCMA’s Professional Education Committee as it supports programs and initiatives aimed at the contract management workforce.

AAC’s first meeting is scheduled for July 25, 2016 at NCMA’s World Congress event in Orlando, Florida.

March 25, 2016 By AMK

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 to verify self-certifications submitted by women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) competing for contract set-asides.

The reason for this temporary change is a planned migration of WOSB records from SBA’s General Login System (GLS) repository to a new portal to be located at https://certify.sba.gov.

SBA says that the on-line repository where WOSBs have been uploading ownership and control documentation has been inactivated. SBA’s notice indicates that the WOSB repository will be replaced within “several weeks” by a new portal that will support the WOSB program.

The new portal is located at https://certify.sba.gov however, as of March 25, the website is marked: “This site is a work in progress.”

SBA’s existing rules stipulate that small businesses interested in responding to a solicitation set aside for WOSBs must first submit a checklist of certification documentation. Once certification uploads are submitted, Contracting Officers are responsible for checking the repository to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

During the period where the new portal is not fully functional, it is unclear how WOSBs that have not previously uploaded their certification documentation will satisfy the 13 CFR 127.300(e) certification requirements.

Until SBA’s new portal is fully functional, the SBA is directing Contracting Officers to contact the SBA to request verification of self-certification compliance by specific WOSBs.

The instructions SBA has issued are as follows:

SBA will review the Repository on behalf of a CO. A CO may request that SBA review the Repository on their behalf by sending an email to wosb@sba.gov(link sends e-mail) with the following in the subject line:

“PENDING AWARD UNDER FAR 19.505(e) VERIFICATION REQUEST- SOLICITATION NUMBER [insert solicitation number].”

In the body of the email, the CO should provide the following: provide the apparent successful offeror’s DUNS, EIN, FIRM NAME, OWNER NAME; indicate whether the pending award is a WOSB or EDWOSB set-aside or sole source award; specify the NAICS code assigned to the procurement; and identify the State where the CO is located. Within 2 business days, SBA will perform the necessary check to determine whether the apparently successful offeror has filed all the required eligibility documents and provide the CO with an email response which either: (a) notifies the CO that all required documents have been provided or (b) identifies which documents are missing in order to allow the CO to file a status protest in accordance with SBA regulations and the FAR.

Emails for this information will be processed only for Contracting Officers.

More information on the WOSB program and the features of the new portal can be found at: https://www.sba.gov/content/women-owned-small-business-program.

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.

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 it entered into with the Defense Department.

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 agency has still not fully complied.

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 Academic Advisory Council, spearheaded by NCMA’s Professional Education Committee.

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