The Defense Department announced it had raised the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000, up from $3,500, this month, and the new threshold is now in effect.  In addition, the micro-purchase threshold for DOD basic research and science and technology laboratory work …

A contractor’s performance of extra work outside the scope of the contract may go uncompensated if a contractor does not receive appropriate authorization in accordance with the contractual terms. A Court of Federal Claims decision reinforced that a contractor should …

Joint ventures can be extremely powerful in helping small businesses capture larger government contracts. Yet, few small businesses know how they work, and even fewer understand the critical timeline and milestones required to have everything in place in time to …

The Defense Dept. has asked Congress for several legislative changes in acquisition. One of DOD’s requests is to raise the micro-purchase threshold to $10,000, up from the current $5,000 for defense agencies and $3,500 in civilian agencies. The micro-purchase threshold …

In the government contracting industry, compliance related issues tend to take place. With administration and party changes, 2017 promises to offer additional complexities. Confusion amongst government contracting professionals includes: compliance with the Service Contract Labor Standards, DOD source selection procedures …

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that it has launched a new Historically Underutilized Business Zones map (via Google Chrome) at www.sba.gov/hubzone-maps . The HUBZone map is the first step in the modernization effort of SBA’s federal contracting programs.  SBA has partnered …

Reps. Neal Dunn, R-FL, and Jimmy Paneta, D-CA, introduced legislation (HR 2781) that seeks to increase veteran-owned small business participation in strategic sourcing. If the veteran-owned are found to be underrepresented in strategic sourcing contracts, the Veterans Affairs Dept. and …

Small businesses upped their efforts to bid on federal contracts, reporting a 72 percent increase in time and money devoted to winning a share of the government’s $90 billion procurement budget, according to the latest annual survey from the American …

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that the federal government reached its small business federal contracting goal for the fourth consecutive year, awarding 24.34 percent in federal contract dollars to small businesses totaling $99.96 billion, an increase of over …

The difficulties faced by new small businesses lacking past performance ratings in winning federal contracts are well-known.  For small businesses that lack past performance ratings as federal prime contractors, and that perform as first-tier subcontractors under federal contracts for which …

If you missed JBER’s 673d Contracting Squadron presentation on an upcoming requirement for Base Operations Support Services (BOSS),  the power point is posted below.  The event was held in Anchorage on  May 24, 2017. JBER BOSS Industry Day Slides20170516 (1)

By Mark Amtower Depending on where one starts his or her journey of doing business with the government, they can hear things that may not necessarily be accurate, and in some cases, intentionally inaccurate. When you register at SAM.gov, you …

There is no cost to register in SAM or other government contracting databases–but that hasn’t stopped some companies from charging would-be contractors hefty fees for assistance in the registration process.  Some of these companies are out-and-out frauds, like the Tampa …

Section 820 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Pub. L. No. 114-238, 130 Stat. 2000 (NDAA), makes three significant changes to the federal government’s future use of cost accounting standards (CAS).  First, it empowers contractors to …

Federal contractors frequently find themselves in the position of needing to establish their past performance credentials to secure future contracts – the government’s form of a reference check. The government often performs these reference checks by requesting completed past performance …

The wait for formal certifications for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) in federal contracting has become longer.  Congress, as part of the fiscal 2015 national defense authorization, approved sole-source authority for WOSBs, but also ordered the establishment of a formal certification …

The attached infographic walks through the allowability of costs for certain in-house legal services.  It provides a quick guide to when a contractor’s legal costs may, and may not, be charged to the government.  The infographic is produced by Morrison & Foerster …

With major data breaches and system hacks dominating the headlines over the past few years, cybersecurity has become a top consideration for anyone operating a business. Although these breaches affect companies from all industries, the government remains a top target …

For Federal Supply Schedule procurements, agencies are not required to evaluate past performance references of subcontractors, unless the solicitation provides otherwise.  As one offeror recently discovered in Atlantic Systems Group, Inc., B-413901 (Jan. 9, 2017), unlike negotiated procurements, where agencies …

The departments of Education, State and the Army are among those with the most documented bids for contracts expiring in 2017, providing industry with actionable insight on just how competitive the procurement process will be. This and other facets of …