Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

FAA updates its rules to embrace HUBZone program

By

Until now, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not participate in the SBA’s Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) Contracting Program.  But as of January 2021, it looks like that may be changing!

Historically, the FAA did not incorporate any HUBZone goals into its Acquisition Management System (AMS) Contract Clauses.  In fact, the FAA website’s FAQ sheet still states, “[t]he FAA has not established a HUBZone goal and is exempt from the SBA Goal Setting Guidelines including the establishment of HUBZone goals.”

But as of January 2021, the FAA has added Clause #3.6.1-18, Notice of HUBZone Set-Aside, to its existing AMS contract clauses.  As set forth in the updated AMS, Clause #3.6.1-18:

“Must be used in SIRs and contracts set aside, either competitive or noncompetitive, for HUBZone small business.  This includes multiple-award contracts when orders may be set aside for HUBZone small business concerns, issued either competitively or noncompetitively.”

As for the contents of Clause #3.6.1-18, they are nearly identical to the corresponding Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause, FAR 52.219-3, Notice of HUBZone Set-Aside or Sole-Source Award.

Continue reading at:  SmallGovCon

Defense companies starting to feel effect of the shutdown

By

As the partial government shutdown moves into its third week, some American defense firms are starting to get multi-million-dollar IOUs instead of payments.

Even though Pentagon projects are unaffected — the Defense Department is already funded for fiscal 2019 — the shutdown is squeezing contractors who do work for NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal agencies. Many companies aren’t getting paid, even as they continue to pay the salaries of employees shut out of closed government offices.

Take SAIC and Engility, two of the government’s largest service contractors. Executives for the soon-to-merge companies say the payroll for workers idled by the shutdown comes to $10 million every week. And just three weeks into the freeze, they say, the government is some $40 million to $50 million behind in payments.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2019/01/defense-companies-starting-feel-effect-us-government-shutdown/154002

Woman in DBE front scheme gets 12 months in federal prison

By

The former owner of a suburban Chicago construction business convicted of acting as an illegal front so another company could secure a lucrative city airport contract was sentenced Thursday (Mar. 16, 2017) to 12 months in federal prison.

Lawyers for Elizabeth Perino had sought probation and home confinement, but U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman said he opted for prison to send a message to “an industry that needs to clean up its act.”

Perino’s conviction is the latest turn in an eight-year saga sparked in 2008 when Perino’s former project manager filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging misconduct in massive projects run by industry giant McHugh Construction, a century-old company that reported more than a half-billion dollars in revenue in 2015.

That sparked a joint investigation by federal prosecutors and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan resulting in the criminal charges.

Perino’s company posed as a legitimate woman-owned business, allowing Chicago-based Diamond Coring Co. to meet its requirements for hiring disadvantaged businesses in order to win a multimillion-dollar runway repair contract at O’Hare International Airport. Perino did no work for the bills submitted by her company.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-phony-woman-business-owner-sentencing-met-20170316-story.html

DBE contracting opportunities under the Trump Administration

By

good-time-for-dbes-01-2017With President-elect Trump’s promise to turn America’s crumbling infrastructure into an opportunity for accelerated economic growth, there are likely to be significant investments in the next four years in transportation, construction, and other similar projects.

The new administration’s plans are likely to have a particularly big impact on the highway construction industry, which stands to ultimately receive billions in federally-financed dollars. State and local governments will be first in line to receive the funds so they can be trickled down to create thousands of new jobs. Those dollars will be filtered through prime contractors and their disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) partners, which will be performing many of these federally-funded projects. With billions of dollars likely to hit the streets, this is a good time for firms to look into the DBE program.

While not as well-known as the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) and other small business programs, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) DBE program has been around for some time. It was established by Congress in 1983 with legislation that required that at least 10 percent of the funds authorized for highway and transit federal financial assistance programs be expended with DBEs. The three agencies with those programs are the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, and Federal Transit Administration.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/dbe-contracting-opportunities-under-the-95974/

Court of Appeals affirms lengthy prison sentences for men engaging in DBE fraud 

By

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced that Joseph W. Nagle of Deerfield Beach, Florida and Ernest G. Fink, Jr. of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, the former owners of Schuylkill Products Inc., (SPI) had their sentences affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nagle was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment on November 30, 2015, and Fink was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment on February 24, 2016, for their roles in a massive conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Disadvantage Enterprise (DBE) program.

According to USDOT, their scheme, which lasted for over 15 years and involved over $136 million in government contracts in Pennsylvania alone, is the largest reported DBE fraud in the nation’s history.

In April 2012, after a four-week jury trial, a jury convicted Nagle on 26 charges relating to the scheme, including conspiracy to defraud USDOT, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.  Fink previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the USDOT in August 2010.

In 2014, three other former executives associated with SPI were sentenced for their roles in the scheme.

  • Romeo P. Cruz, of Westhaven, Connecticut, the former owner of Marikina Construction Corp., which operated as a front for SPI, was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment.
  • Timothy G. Hubler, of Ashland, Pennsylvania, SPI’s former Vice-President in charge of field operations, was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment.
  • Dennis F. Campbell, of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, SPI’s former Vice-President in charge of sales and marketing, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, USDOT’s Inspector General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General’s Office, and the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/third-circuit-court-appeals-affirms-lengthy-prison-sentences-two-men-who-executed

 

Sentence reduced for company president who engaged in fraudulent DBE contracts worth $136 million

By

DBE Fraud HotlineThe former chief operating officer and co-owner of now-defunct Schuylkill Products Inc. will spend 10 fewer months in prison, but pay the same fine, after being resentenced Wednesday in federal court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for his role in the largest fraud of its kind in U.S. history.

Ernest G. Fink Jr., 70, of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, must serve 41 months in federal prison and pay $25,100 in fines, Senior U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo ruled.

Rambo originally sentenced Fink on July 14, 2014, to 51 months in prison and $25,100 in fines after he pleaded guilty to participating in Schuylkill Products’ scheme to defraud the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program.

Federal prosecutors charged Fink and several other Schuylkill Products executives with using Marikina Engineers and Construction Corp., West Haven, Connecticut, as a front under the DBE program from 1993 until 2008 to funnel work to the Cressona company and its wholly owned subsidiary, CDS Engineers Inc.

Keep reading this article at: http://republicanherald.com/news/schuylkill-products-co-owner-resentenced-to-10-fewer-months-in-prison-1.2011402

See our earlier articles on this case:

FAA plans small business matchmaker Jan. 13 in College Park

By

FAAThe Federal Aviation Administration’s Eastern Service Area Small Business Development Program Group is hosting a Small Business Development Program Outreach/Matchmaking Event in College Park, Georgia on Wednesday, January 13, 2016.

Attendance is limited to the first 50 small businesses who register.

Registration and other details follow.

What: FAA Small Business Development Program Outreach/Matchmaking Event

Purpose: Learn how to do business with the FAA and identify qualified small businesses capabilities to support the FAA Mission. Also, participate in matchmaking sessions.

Who May Attend: Small businesses, registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).

Location: FAA Southern Region, 1701 Columbia Avenue, College Park, Georgia 30337

When: Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Time: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Limited Attendance: Limited to the first small businesses (First Come-First Served) that respond by email, received by Friday, December 18, 2015, 4:00 PM.

Registration/Attendance Request: Email Tony Ortiz at Tony.C.Ortiz@faa.gov There is no cost to attend this event, but pre-registration is required. Once maximum attendance capacity (50 small businesses) is reached, registration will be closed. See Required Information below.

Required Information: Name(s) (Limit 2 representatives per small business), Name of Business, and U.S. Citzenship by indicating Yes or No. Foreign National Visitors will be required to provide additional information immediately without delay in order to attend by contacting Tony Ortiz at Tony.C.Ortiz@faa.gov or telephone number: (404) 305-5780.

Point of Contact: Tony Ortiz, FAA Small Business Development Program Group Liaison/Representative, email: Tony.C.Ortiz@faa.gov – Telephone Number: (404) 305-5780

Supreme Court case shines light on veteran-owned business certification, but contractors want more due diligence

By

Service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses are anxiously waiting on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling expected in October to determine whether the U.S. Department of Veterans Affair is doing its part to help vets get government contracts.

But as SDVOSBs (as I’ll call them from here on out) wait for the high court’s decision in Kingdomware v. U.S. Kingdomware v. U.S., higher-level discussions on the certification process for SDVOSBs have been quiet, despite the community’s continued calls for a change.

Right now, there are two sets of rules governing contract set-aside awards for SDVOSBs among federal agencies.

CVE badgeFrom one end, there is the Department of Veterans Affairs’ way. Operating under a “veterans first” mandate outlined in the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, the VA subjects all SDVOSBs to an extensive 90-day, multi-step verification process with the Center for Veterans Enterprise to ensure that they are, in fact, an SDVOSB eligible for those contract set-asides.

Then there is nearly every other agency, not including the Federal Aviation Administration, that requires no formal certification. SDVOSBs vying for contracts in all other agencies need only to submit a self-certification of their status along with their bids.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/fedbiz_daily/2015/08/supreme-court-case-shines-light-on-veteran-owned.html

Top 4 opportunities at FAA

By

In all of the Department of Transportation, no agency gets more budget for IT purchases in a year than the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Out of $3.3 billion requested by the department overall, $2.9 billion is directed to the FAA, essentially because it has the largest IT mission – namely, NextGen, FAA’s initiative to modernize the way in which the United States manages air travel.

NextGen - FAANextGen has been around for more than 10 years, with the aim to revamp the National Airspace System. The goal is to replace the current air traffic system – which relies on radar to track aircraft in flight – with a system that uses satellite and GPS technology, to get a more accurate, real-time view of air traffic in the United States.

Ultimately, the FAA is looking to make better air traffic routing decisions to cut down on travel time, improve responses to potential in-flight emergencies caused by things like bad weather, and reduce the risk of mid-air collisions or other accidents.

It’s a complex initiative that requires considerable investment. Almost 88 percent of the Transportation’s IT budget is projected to fund FAA initiatives. This leaves 6 percent of the IT budget to the office of the secretary and 6 percent to be divided among the other DOT administrations. This is the most skewed share of IT funding for any subcomponent agency in government – all because of NextGen.

Keep reading this article at: http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2015/08/18/insights-shaker-faa-opportunities.aspx

Augusta regional airport hosts small business open house Feb. 26th

By

The Augusta (GA) Regional Airport invites Subcontractors, Suppliers, and Small Businesses to attend a Small Business Workshop and Open House Event on Wednesday, February 26, 2014.

The event is being held at the Augusta Regional Airport Commission Chambers, 1501 Aviation Way, Augusta, GA 30906 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm.

Information will be made available on upcoming bid opportunities in the areas of all trades related to construction, hauling, demolition, furniture suppliers, surveyors, manufactures, automotive suppliers, and engineering.

The airport’s upcoming projects for 2014-2015 include:

  • Taxiway Alpha Extension
  • Apron Rehabilitation
  • Consolidated Rental Car Facility
  • Gen Perry Smith Parkway Utility Corridor
  • Southeast Quadrant Drainage

This is the perfect opportunity for small business owners to come out and meet airport staff. The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise  (DBE) Program staff will be on hand to give out valuable information related to becoming a certified DBE.

For additional information please contact Mrs. Risa Bingham at 706-798-3236.

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More