experience | The Contracting Education Academy

December 2, 2020 By cs

New small business rules: Capabilities of small business joint venture members and first-tier subs

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has published a long-awaited rule that made important changes to numerous small business contracting programs and the rules Federal agencies must follow when contracting with small businesses.

These changes went into effect on November 16, 2020. You can read a summary of the rule here and read the rule itself here.

Here, we take a closer look at changes in the way procuring agencies will have to consider the past performance, experience, security clearances, capabilities, and certifications of small businesses and small business joint ventures.

To understand why the new rule is important, it’s useful to consider the current state of affairs. When businesses compete for Government contracts, they often create joint ventures or put together subcontractor teams with different companies complementing each other’s capabilities and experience. In general, procuring agencies have had wide latitude in being able to specify on a procurement-by-procurement basis the extent to which the prime offeror itself must have certain capabilities and experience, and the extent to which the offeror may rely upon subcontractors or joint venture members to fill in any gaps.

There currently is one principal exception to that wide latitude. When an offeror is a small business joint venture, the procuring agency is required to consider the past performance and experience of the joint venture members (including of any large business mentor joint venture member) as the past performance and experience of the joint venture itself. 15 U.S.C. § 644(q)(1)(C); 13 C.F.R. § 125.8(e) (Dec. 27, 2016).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/government-contracts-procurement-ppp/999586/new-small-business-rules-capabilities-of-small-business-joint-venture-members-and-first-tier-subcontractors

June 19, 2020 By cs

Feds spend billions on COVID-19 contracts, often without fully competitive bidding

When nurses and doctors across the country were struggling to treat coronavirus patients without enough protective gear, and the federal government was scrambling to find those supplies, Quedon Baul saw an opportunity.

His three-person company in McKinney, Texas, distributes medical supplies but didn’t have much experience with face shields. Still, he landed two government contracts worth up to $20 million to deliver the personal protective equipment. He couldn’t meet the first deadline, so he found subcontractors to do the job.

“You get an opportunity, you take it,” Baul says. “It wasn’t my first rodeo, but it’s certainly my first big rodeo.”

The U.S. government has granted contracts worth as much as $25 billion as it races to address the COVID-19 public health crisis. NPR reviewed a database of thousands of contracting actions and found more than 250 companies that got contracts worth more than $1 million without going through a fully competitive bidding process.

Some of the companies, such as Baul’s, had little or no experience with personal protective equipment. Others had never worked in the medical field at all. Contractors also included a company that imported vodka and a school security consultant.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/09/869052415/feds-spend-billions-on-covid-19-contracts-often-without-fully-competitive-biddin

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

October 22, 2018 By AMK

Defense acquisition workers seeing a new era in training

The Defense acquisition workforce may see a new era in training, recruiting and retainment as the Pentagon and military services change the way they view the value of their employees.

Both the Army and the Defense Department are making changes in how they evaluate and prioritize the experience and education of the acquisition workforce.

The Army recently released a directive focused on acquisition talent management.

“We want our people to have an appropriate set of experiences,” acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said of the directive during a speech this week at an Association of the United States Army conference in Washington. “We want our program managers and officers to have fellowships with industry, masters degrees within certain disciplines. It’s also about the tenures for people in program management. We’re looking at tours of three-to-four years, so more continuity and the right set of experiences so that they have a broader perspective than the ones we’ve had previously.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2017/10/defense-acquisition-workers-seeing-a-new-era-in-training/

August 1, 2018 By AMK

Agency buyers express rising optimism about workforce skills, communication

Contracting officers around government are feeling more upbeat about their colleagues’ skill levels and ability to execute complicated information technology purchases, according to a survey unveiled last week.

Despite perennial worries about budgets, regulatory restraints and obstacles to hiring, most of the 65 acquisition professionals interviewed are optimistic, according to the ninth biennial survey from the 400-company Professional Services Council and Grant Thornton Public Sector.

Agency contracting professionals—seen as “more seasoned” after a recent hiring spree—also see improvements in regular communication between their teams’ staff and outside contractors.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/07/agency-buyers-express-rising-optimism-about-workforce-skills-communication/149851

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has published a long-awaited rule that made important changes to numerous small business contracting programs and the rules Federal agencies must follow when contracting with small businesses.

When nurses and doctors across the country were struggling to treat coronavirus patients without enough protective gear, and the federal government was scrambling to find those supplies, Quedon Baul saw an opportunity.

The Defense acquisition workforce may see a new era in training, recruiting and retainment as the Pentagon and military services change the way they view the value of their employees.

Contracting officers around government are feeling more upbeat about their colleagues’ skill levels and ability to execute complicated information technology purchases, according to a survey unveiled last week.

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