Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Defense contracting fraud remains ongoing issue

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In April Oben Cabalceta pleaded guilty to defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) out of $1.8 million by providing the wrong or incorrect military equipment parts.  The New Jersey resident also admitted to illegally accessing sensitive, technical information despite not even being an American citizen.

Cabalceta, who is a native and citizen of the Republic of Costa Rica and was not lawfully in the United States, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for violating the Arms Control Act.

Continue reading at:  Clearance Jobs

OPM chief to propose legislation for merger with GSA

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Nearly a year after the Trump administration announced its proposal to send the bulk of the Office of Personnel Management’s functions to the General Services Administration, acting OPM Director Margaret Weichert said Tuesday that she will be submitting proposed legislation to Congress authorizing the merger “hopefully by Friday.”

Speaking with reporters, Weichert said that the legislation would transfer the legal authorities currently provided to OPM to an as-yet unnamed office within GSA, akin to its existing Federal Acquisition and Public Buildings services.  Additionally, the bill would create a small policy-focused personnel office within the Executive Office of the President, modeled after the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Continue reading at:  Government Executive

SBA proposes new rule to establish a formal WOSB/EDWOSB certification process

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The U.S. Small Business Administration published a proposed rule that will establish a process by which SBA will formally certify firms as Women-Owned Small Businesses (“WOSBs”) or Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (“EDWOSBs”).  The SBA is seeking public comments on the proposed rule by July 15, 2019.  To submit comments, visit:  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/05/14/2019-09684/women-owned-small-business-and-economically-disadvantaged-women-owned-small-business–certification.

See the SBA Press Release here.

The following proposals are included in the new rule:

  • Allow participation from an expanded list of federal and state entities with existing certification programs, and confirm the continued participation of approved third-party certifiers.
  • Eliminate the self-certification option consistent with the Small Business Act as amended within the  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Public Law 113-291, and require approved third-party certifiers to notify applicants of its fees and the option to use SBA’s free online certification process.
  • Revises the economic disadvantage requirements for the 8(a) BD program to be consistent to the economic disadvantage requirements for women-owned firms seeking EDWOSB status.

Read more at:  The Federal Register

Regional banker says Augusta government contracting boom imminent

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The Augusta metro area is sitting on a powder keg of cybersecurity investment, and the fuse is getting shorter by the day.

Ed Spenceley, a government contracting specialist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said the nation’s growing defense budget and Augusta’s burgeoning cyber industry puts the region on a collision course with companies looking for government contracts.

The retired U.S. Army intelligence specialist, speaking at the Invest Augusta conference Thursday, said he sees Augusta as an “epicenter” for cyber-based industries well beyond the arrival of Army Cyber Command to Fort Gordon next year.

Continue reading at:  The Augusta Chronicle

Key lawmakers introduce bill to reauthorize and improve DoD mentor-protégé program

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A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced a bill to make it easier for small businesses to do business with the Pentagon, through larger defense firms.

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Monday, May 6th announced the Defense Small Business Advancement Act, which is meant to reauthorize and improve the Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program.  One of several such programs the federal government offers, the Defense Department’s program was established in 1991, then repeatedly expanded and renewed until the administration and Congress allowed it to expire last year.

“Small businesses often struggle to overcome the hurdles of bureaucracy and fail to break through the existing network of suppliers to the Department of Defense, which is the single largest department in the federal government,” Heinrich, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, said in a statement.

Continue reading at: Defense News

DoD proposes new rule on performance-based contract payments

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According to a report by the Federal News Network, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) is proposing a new rule which would change how it pays some defense contractors.  DoD is looking to require, whenever practicable, that fixed price contracts be paid out through performance-based contractual payments.  Performance-based payments are a method of contract financing where payments are made on the basis of the contractor’s achievement of objective, quantifiably measurable events, results, or accomplishments that are defined and valued in the contract prior to performance.  Some within the government consider it a preferred method of contracting and claim that it reduces the government’s oversight and compliance costs.  It also may have benefits for contractors, as it should help cash flow, reduce the cost of oversight and compliance, and allow the contractor to focus on technical and schedule progress.  Comments on the proposed rule are due by July 1.

Read the new rule at the Federal Register.

GSA unveils key tenets of governmentwide e-commerce pilot

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The General Services Administration is kicking off the final phase of a multi-year effort to stand up a governmentwide e-commerce platform that would make it easier for agencies to buy commercial products.

GSA on Thursday, May 2nd released the implementation plan for part two of its commercial platforms initiative, laying out the blueprint for the initial version of the portal.  In the months ahead, GSA and the Office of Management and Budget will start hunting for multiple vendors to build a proof of concept of the platform, which is scheduled to launch in late 2019.

The system would allow agencies to quickly purchase a wide variety of commercial products without going through the lengthy government procurement process.  By offering items like office supplies, tools and hardware, the portal would make it easier for industry to do business with government and lower the price of basic goods for federal agencies, according to GSA officials.

Continue reading at Nextgov:  https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2019/05/gsa-unveils-key-tenants-governmentwide-e-commerce-pilot/156714/

Firm to pay $545,000 to settle claims it sold Chinese-made equipment to U.S. government

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A Sunnyvale-based network security company has agreed to pay more than a half million dollars to settle allegations it sold Chinese-made equipment to the U.S. government in violation of the False Claims Act, according to federal prosecutors.

According to a settlement agreement made public Friday, Fortinet Inc. acknowledged that between 2009 and 2016 one of its employees directed the relabeling of products to make them appear as though they were in compliance with the Trade Agreements Act.  The act prohibits government contractors from purchasing products that are not entirely from or “substantially transformed” in the United States or other designated countries.

Prosecutors said the new labels did not include the country of origin and featured phrases such as “designed in the United States or Canada” or “assembled in the United States.” A portion of the products were then resold through distributors and subsequent resellers to U.S. government end users.

“Contractors that supply the U.S. government with Chinese-made technology will be pursued and held accountable when violating the Trade Agreement Act,” said Bryan Denny, Defense Criminal Investigative Service special agent in charge, in a statement.

Continue reading at: East Bay Times

Aluminum supplier linked to NASA rocket explosions pays millions to settle criminal charges

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A Portland aluminum company that sold NASA defective aluminum, which allegedly caused two rockets to explode shortly after launch, has agreed to pay $46 million to settle criminal charges and civil claims.

Hydro Extrusion USA LLC, formerly known as Sapa Extrusions or Sapa Profiles, allegedly covered up substandard manufacturing by altering quality test results over two decades.

These were “tests that their customers, including the U.S. government, depended on to ensure the reliability of the aluminum they purchased,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. “Corporate and personal greed perpetuated this fraud against the government and other private customers, and this resolution holds these companies accountable for the harm caused by their scheme.”

Continue reading at: The Oregonian/OregonLive

New bill wants to speed up small biz payments

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Four House lawmakers have introduced legislation that would shorten the amount of time small business wait to get paid by federal agencies for work done on contract.

Under the proposed “Accelerated Payments for Small Businesses Act,” small businesses working as prime contractors or subcontractors would get paid within 15 days versus the current standard of 30 days.

Reps. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Jason Crow (D-Colorado) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) introduced the bill in a move that comes nearly three months after the end of a five-week partial government shutdown that shuttered many civilian agencies.

Continue reading at: Washington Technology

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