Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Judge issues nationwide injunction halting enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandate

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As set forth in more detail in its Order, a Georgia federal district court judge today issued an injunction halting enforcement of Executive Order 14042, which requires that federal contractors and subcontractors with specific types of covered contracts ensure that their covered employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 18th, 2022.

As the Order states,

Accordingly,  the Court ORDERS that Defendants are ENJOINED, during the pendency of this action or until further order of this Court, from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States of America.

In a brief 28-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker found:

it necessary, in order to truly afford injunctive relief to the parties before it, to issue an injunction with nationwide applicability.

The case was initially filed by the states of Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.  However, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. a nationwide trade organization “representing tens of thousands of contractors and subcontractors that regularly bid on and work on federal contracts for services” petitioned to intervene in the suit and joined the states in their request for a preliminary injunction.

Continue reading at:  JD Supra

Nondisplacement of qualified workers is back, but with changes

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On November 18, 2021, President Biden issued a new Executive Order entitled “Executive Order on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts.”  A similar Executive Order had been issued under the Obama Administration.  Many of the same concepts and requirements have returned, but there are also several notable changes.

President Obama issued Executive Order 13495 on January 30, 2009, creating the original nondisplacement requirement for federal contractors.  President Trump revoked EO 13495 on October 31, 2019 through Executive Order 13897.  In President Biden’s Executive Order issued last week, he revoked EO 13897 and kept EO 13495 revoked.

Last week’s Executive Order maintains all of the basic requirements from the original Obama Administration version.

Continue reading at:  The Contractor’s Perspective

Contractor minimum wage to increase on January 30th

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The new floor is $15 an hour.

The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor published its final rule implementing regulations under Executive Order 14026 (Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors).  These regulations require that certain contracts include a clause requiring covered employees to be paid no less than $15 per hour.  In addition to applying to new contracts, the final rule requires that existing contracts be updated to include the minimum wage contract clause when an agency exercises an option to purchase additional services.

For details on which contracts are subject to the new regulation, please read the final rule.

Continue reading at:  JD Supra

Georgia defense contractor agrees to $900,000 payment to settle False Claims Act allegations

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Two Georgia companies and their owners have agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve allegations that they provided unapproved substitute parts to the U.S. Army and that they violated the Buy American Act.

The settlement, by Southeastern Equipment Co., Inc., SECO Parts and Equipment Co., and their owners, B. Roy Smith and Byron M. Morris (collectively, “SECO”), resolves allegations under the False Claims Act that SECO knowingly provided unapproved substitute parts through the U.S. Army’s Simplified Nonstandard Acquisition Program (SNAP) and violated the Buy American Act by providing parts manufactured in a non-qualifying country, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

“Defense contractors have an obligation to provide the government what they say they will,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes. “We will continue to vigorously pursue contractors that do not honor their word and follow the law when doing business with our armed services.”

Continue reading at:  U.S. Department of Justice website

GAO rules that DoD may not require small business Joint Venture itself hold facility security clearance

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In an August 27, 2021 decision, GAO sided with protester InfoPoint LLC (“InfoPoint”), and the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) which was invited to submit comments, in finding that a Department of Defense (“DoD”) solicitation provision requiring a small business joint venture offeror to itself hold a facility clearance was inconsistent with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (“2020 NDAA”) and SBA’s regulation at 13 C.F.R. §121.103.

GAO ruled that the 2020 NDAA “clearly and unambiguously prohibits DoD agencies, like the Air Force here, from issuing solicitations that require a joint venture, rather than the members of the joint venture, hold the required facility clearance.”

Continue reading at: Crowell & Moring

Economist sees full recovery for Georgia next year

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Georgia’s economy will bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic next year, despite inflation and the latest COVID-19 variant, the dean of the business school at the University of Georgia predicted Monday.

“We’ve made tremendous progress getting back to normal,” Benjamin Ayers of UGA’s Terry College of Business, told an audience of about 475 business leaders at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.  “By late 2022, Georgia’s economy will fully recover from the COVID-19 recession.”

In fact, Georgia’s forecast economic growth rate of 4.3% next year will outperform the predicted increase in the nation’s gross domestic product of 4.0%, Ayers said during Terry College’s annual Economic Outlook luncheon.

Continue reading at: GPB

VA direct access program events in 2022

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) provides support and resources for Veteran small businesses, looking to do business with the federal government.

Recently, they formed a Direct Access Program (DAP) that offers unique opportunities for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) to build partnerships, maximize networking, and gain access to Procurement Decision Makers (PDMs) through structured, screened, and periodic events.

Examples of activities that may occur at a DAP event include Business Opportunity Sessions (BOS), Networking Roundtables (NRT), and education sessions.  The VA OSDBU Direct Action Program is planning several important events in 2022.

You can learn more about the Direct Access Program and view the schedule of upcoming DAP events on the VA’s website.

Click Here to view the schedule of upcoming DAP events.

Sandia National Laboratories seeks small business suppliers

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Sandia National Laboratories is one of three National Nuclear Security Administration research and development laboratories in the United States and is located in Albuquerque, NM.  The number of employees who work at the lab is roughly 13,000.

The lab is currently seeking capable small, small disadvantaged (SDB), women-owned (WOSB), HUBZone, veteran-owned (VOSB), and service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB) businesses to support its mission.

Once a month (every third Wednesday) they host 1:1 supplier engagement sessions to meet with small businesses interested in learning how to do business with the Sandia.

Their January 1:1 supplier engagement session is 1/19/2022.

If you are interested in requesting a 30-minute appointment for your business, please email: supplier@sandia.gov to schedule an appointment.

Date: 1/19/2022

Time: TBD

Register:  Email supplier@sandia.gov to schedule a 1:1 appointment.  Be prepared to share your capability statement and good luck!

Navy OSBP hosting DCAA overview (part 2) event Jan. 12, 2022

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On January 12, 2022, at 1:00 PM ET, The Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs is hosting part 2 of its DCAA small business audit series with Mr. Joseph Greger of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).

The Defense Contract Audit Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that was established in 1965 to perform all contract audits for DoD.  If you want to learn about the contract audit process this would be a great event to attend.

Date:  Jan. 12, 2022

Time: 1:00 PM ET

Location: Online (virtual)

Registration link:  https://www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness/Lists/PastEvents/DispForm.aspx?ID=72

Navy OSBP hosting cybersecurity “ask me anything” event Dec. 16th

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The Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs is hosting a “Ask Me Anything” cybersecurity event with DAF SBIR/STTR Chief Technology Officer, Ms. Kelley Kiernan.

The event is being held online (virtual) Dec. 16th at 1:00 PM ET.

You can register for the event at the DON OSBP website at this link:  https://www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness/Lists/PastEvents/DispForm.aspx?ID=71

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