Late SBA Size Protest Response Sinks Contractor’s Small Business Eligibility
No matter a company’s actual size, the company will be deemed an ineligible large business if it fails to timely respond to a SBA size protest. Just ask American Blanching Company, which was recently...
View ArticleSBA Affiliation Rules: Directors’ Control “Illusory,” Says SBA OHA
A director does not “control” a company under the SBA affiliation rules when that director can be removed at any time by the majority shareholder, according to a recent size appeal decision of the SBA...
View ArticleOstensible Subcontractor Rule: Lessons Learned From SBA OHA
Avoiding affiliation under the SBA’s ostensible subcontractor rule can be difficult, especially since the ostensible subcontractor rule itself, 13 C.F.R. § 121.103(h)(4), does not provide many examples...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: Timeliness Mistake Proves Costly
SBA size protests are often dismissed when contractors misunderstand the size protest timeliness rules. A recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals decision offers an important reminder that for...
View ArticleFederal Court Enjoins Contract Award Pending SBA OHA Size Appeal
If a contractor ends up on the losing end of a SBA size protest, the contractor has the right to appeal to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals. The problem is that SBA OHA size appeals can take...
View ArticleSBA OHA: Contractor Successfully Fractured Economic Dependence Affiliation
A contractor is not economically dependent upon another firm where it receives only a small proportion of its revenues from the other firm as of the self-certification date for a set-aside...
View ArticleSDVOSB’s Operating Agreement Caused Affiliation
In a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals size decision, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business’s operating agreement caused affiliation under the SBA’s affiliation rules, despite the...
View ArticleSBA OHA: Historic Ties Do Not Equal Affiliation
A history of close ties between companies does not mean that the companies are presently affiliated, according to a recent size appeal decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals. In Size Appeal...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: Agency’s Corrective Action Did Not Extend Deadline
A procuring agency’s decision to take corrective action in response to a GAO bid protest did not extend the standard five-business day deadline to file a SBA size protest. This was the decision of the...
View ArticleSBA OHA Decision Highlights Joint Venture “Individual Size Treatment” Rule
The SBA misevaluated a joint venture by basing its ineligibility decision on the joint venture’s revenues, rather than determining whether each joint venturer, individually, qualified as a small...
View ArticleOstensible Subcontractor Rule: Management Ain’t Enough to Comply
When it comes to the SBA’s ostensible subcontractor rule, managing a contract, by itself, is not enough to avoid affiliation. As demonstrated in a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and...
View ArticleSBA OHA: Favorable SBA Size Determinations Not Binding In Future Cases
A SBA size determination issued in 2007 was not binding on the question of whether the same company was still small in 2013. According to a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals,...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: “Bare Allegations” Are Insufficient
A SBA size protest must contain some basis for the belief that the company being protested is not an eligible small business. As demonstrated in a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: Expressing “Concerns” Is Not Enough
An unsuccessful offeror’s email to the Contracting Officer, in which the offeror expressed “concerns” about the awardee’s small business size status, was too vague to constitute an SBA size protest....
View ArticleSBA OHA: Small Business Size Not Measured By Profits
A firm’s small business size status for federal procurements is measured by the firm’s revenues, not by its profits. As the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals explained in a recent size determination,...
View ArticleSBA Size Protests: COs Not Required To Assist Protesters
Contracting Officers are not required to assist potential protesters by furnishing them with information to use in SBA size protests. According to a recent size appeal decision of the SBA Office of...
View ArticleSBA OHA: No Automatic Size Recertifications For GSA Schedule Task Orders
Submitting a proposal for a GSA Schedule task order does not result in an automatic recertification of the offeror’s size. In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals...
View ArticleGSA Schedule BPA Awards: Size Status Ordinarily Is Based On Underlying GSA...
When a small business submits an offer for a Blanket Purchase Agreement issued against a GSA Schedule contract, the offeror does not automatically recertify its size. Rather, a new regulation...
View ArticleSBA OHA: 42%-49% Of Revenues Did Not Create Economic Dependence Affiliation
A small business was not affiliated with its largest customer under the SBA’s economic dependence affiliation rule, even though the small business earned as much as 49% of its revenues from the alleged...
View ArticleOstensible Subcontractor Rule: Size Determined as of the Date of Final Proposal
For the purposes of the ostensible subcontractor rule, a firm’s small business size is determined as of the date of final proposal revisions. As demonstrated in a recent SBA Office of Hearings and...
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