The Senate voted 88-5 last week to confirm Jovita Carranza to be administrator of the Small Business Administration, a position that has been filled in an acting capacity for nearly a year. Chris Pilkerton has served as the acting leader …

Nextgov reported that GSA released a set of updates as part of the first refresh of the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) consolidation solicitation—the vehicle that will replace the 24 schedules currently in place—to conform to changes in administration policy and clarify some …

This article was provided by Leon Jaimes with Sollievo IT, LLC of Anchorage.  The cybersecurity posture of the United States is undergoing a historical transformation. Department of Defense Acquisition and Sustainment officials have indicated that however painful the transition process …

On December 17, 2019, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2020, sending it to the White House for the President’s signature.  As with prior NDAAs, the 2020 NDAA includes a number of provisions that affect …

The U.S. Small Business Administration today issued a direct final rule that will allow governors to petition the SBA’s Administrator to designate HUBZone status to certain covered areas.  A covered area is an area in a state that is located …

If you are a current user of FBO.gov, make sure you reset your password before Nov. 8 when FBO.gov starts to migrate to beta.SAM.gov. Read more at https://bit.ly/2nBak7x.

Cybersecurity compliance has become an increasingly trending and important area for government review, especially by the Department of Defense (DoD), placing an emphasis on defense contractors and the government alike in ensuring that sensitive government data residing on nongovernment systems …

The General Services Administration announced on Oct. 1 it has released the much-anticipated solicitation consolidating 24 Multiple-Award Schedules into a single Schedule. The solicitation has 12 categories: office management, facilities, furniture and furnishings, human capital, industrial products and services, information …

Good news for small business contractors.  The 809 Panel suggested replacing small business set-asides with a five percent small business price preference. Thanks to work of WIPP (Women Impacting Public Policy) and others, Congress and DOD have indicated they will reject the Panel’s recommendation …

It is called FBO.gov, FedBizOpps, or the Federal Business Opportunities website. Whatever you call it, the General Services Administration announced it will start the process of transitioning the federal opportunities website to http://beta.SAM.gov in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 and to …

On a limited budget, government contractors need to be compliant with a litany of statutes, regulations and industry standards in order to remain competitive. This has become particularly true in the cybersecurity context. With no overarching federal law for cybersecurity …

The General Services Administration’s Integrated Award Environment will transition all functions of the Federal Business Opportunities website to the System for Award Management’s beta website as it plans to retire the former by fiscal year 2020. A GSA Interact blog …

On July 15, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials. If implemented, the change promises to have dramatic implications for government contractors and their supply chains.  Here are four takeaways for government …

One of the complaints regarding SBA’s Women Owned Small Business / Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business Contracting Program was the de facto requirement for a paid 3rd-party verification. No other socioeconomic program has such a requirement, and it appears …

The House Appropriations Committee announced that an upcoming government spending package will include back pay for an estimated 580,000 federal contractors.

The Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER) 673rd Contracting Squadron is looking to expand their knowledge of local businesses for areas of commodity purchases, services and construction for end of fiscal year contracting activities.

SBA has been having ongoing problems with their GLS and DSBS sites

An agency may modify a contract without running afoul of the Competition in Contracting Act, so long as the the modification is deemed “in scope.” An “out of scope” modification, on the other hand, is improper–and may be protested at GAO.

A revised methodology for the Small Business Administration’s size standards went into effect on April 11.

Many contractors are familiar with the well-established processes of federal bid protests.  Less known is the dizzying variety of procedures applicable to state and local bid protests.  Each jurisdiction has its own rules — in terms of timing, protestable issues, …