Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Reforms deliver wins for small businesses

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By some metrics, 2017 was a banner year for small business federal contractors. In May 2018, the Small Business Administration announced that, for the first time, the federal government exceeded $100 billion in prime contract awards to small businesses in fiscal year 2017.

Despite reaching this milestone, small business federal contracting still has room for improvement. For example, the SBA’s data also show that the percentage of total federal contracting dollars earned by small businesses declined for the second year in a row, falling to 23.8 percent from a historic high of 25.7 percent for fiscal year 2015.

Given these mixed results, is there a case for near-term optimism for the small business contracting community? Recent changes to federal caps on the use of micro-purchasing and simplified acquisition methods hold the promise of more agile acquisition, benefitting small businesses.

Indicative of the big changes forthcoming is a June 2018 White House Office of Management and Budget memo streamlining small business contractors’ access to federal contracting opportunities.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/7/27/reforms-deliver-wins-for-small-businesses

Official says vendors will have to abide by new IT spending schema too

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As the whole of government moves to adopt an analysis and accounting structure that can map technology investments to business outcomes, federal officials expect the contracting community to come along for the ride.

Included in the President’s Management Agenda is a mandate for agencies by 2022 to implement the Technology Business Management schema — an industry standard for categorizing and tracking IT costs across an enterprise. The aim is to tie IT decisions on spending and operations directly to the value to the government and taxpayer.

Agencies are currently under mandates to report IT spending to the Office of Management and Budget. However, “The TBM piece is different [than other taxonomies] in that the measured outcomes are not in shrinking the number of spinning drives and blinking lights in your infrastructure. It’s more about business outcomes,” David Shrive, CIO at the General Services Administration and an early federal adopter of TBM, said during the TBM Summit on July 11.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/07/official-says-vendors-will-have-abide-new-it-spending-schema-too/149756/

Learn more about Technology Business Management at: https://www.cio.gov/fed-it-topics/sustainability-transparency/tbm/

‘Data + Use = Value’ is the motto for new USASpending.gov

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If there is one thing the USASpending.gov portal always had was data. But what it did not have ever since the Office of Management and Budget launched the site in 2007 was the ability to analyze said data.

That is, until now.

The Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service is launching a series of new data analysis tools to let citizens, businesses, the media and maybe most importantly, so-called “data geeks” have access to a treasure trove of contracts, grants and other spending information like never before.

“We have a new initiative called data lab where we are posting analytics and visualization to help inspire researchers, data scientists and members of the public to understand what this data is and to think of own use cases for it,” said Justin Marsico, a senior policy analyst with the Bureau of Fiscal Service in an exclusive interview with Federal News Radio. “We also have redesigned the USASpending.gov site to be more accessible, friendly and easy to understand and use for members of the public and for federal agencies.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/big-data/2018/04/data-usevalue-is-the-motto-for-new-usaspending-gov/

What should contractors know about GSA’s new e-commerce portal implementation plan?

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One of the most closely monitored provisions of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 846, directed the General Services Administration (GSA) to create a new e-commerce portal for the sale of commercial goods.  Section 846 established delayed implementation of the new e-commerce portal, which is set to occur in phases that each require distinct action items and submissions.

  • Phase 1 requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the GSA, to create an implementation plan and schedule for carrying out the e-commerce portal program.
  • Phase 2 requires OMB and GSA to prepare recommendations for any changes to – or exemptions from – laws necessary for effective implementation of the program within one year of submitting the implementation plan and schedule contemplated under Phase 1.
  • Phase 3 requires OMB and GSA to create guidance for the e-commerce portal program within two years of submitting the implementation plan and schedule contemplated under Phase 1.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=687578

Holland & Knight’s analysis of Section 846 is available here, and the original Thornberry acquisition reform bill that started this is available here.

Employers required to file EEO-1 reports by Mar. 31st — Does this apply to you?

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Private employers with 100 employees or more and federal contractors with 50 employees or more and $50,000 in contract(s) are required to submit and certify an EEO-1 Report with the Joint Reporting Committee, comprised of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), not later than March 31, 2018.

The EEO-1 Report collects data on the race, ethnicity, and sex of workers, by job category.  The employment data used for the 2017 EEO-1 report should be collected using a payroll period in October, November, or December 2017, the fourth quarter of calendar year 2017.  This payroll period is what the EEOC refers to as the 2017 “workforce snapshot period.”

Employers submit EEO-1 reports via the EEO-1 Online Filing System on the EEOC’s website or will utilize this portal to electronically transmit a data file containing the EEO-1 data.  This website is accessible at: https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey/index.cfm.

Questions about this requirement and the process may be submitted via email to: eeo1.suggestionbox@eeoc.gov.

The EEOC had planned to collect additional information this year, including aggregate W-2 pay and hours-worked data.  However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stayed the additional requirements pending OMB’s review.

 

 

 

The next gov’t shutdown: How contractors can prepare

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Congress’ short-term spending bill signed on Jan. 22, 2018 ended the nearly three-day government shutdown. As this spending bill only appropriated funding for government operations for three weeks, however, and does not resolve the underlying political disputes, it is unlikely to put an end to shutdown politics for good, or even for long.

Participants in the federal market would be wise to review the issues and challenges presented by shutdowns in order to remain prepared for what may come.

What Activities Can Continue During a Shutdown?

During a shutdown, federal contractors must determine whether they may continue performing. A government shutdown is not a self-executing stop-work order; a shutdown itself does not suspend a company’s obligations to perform or the government’s obligation to pay for performance. What matters is whether a contractor’s work requires any new appropriation or authorization of spending, and whether critical government personnel, facilities, and resources are available.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=666774

Also see DoD’s Jan. 18, 2018 Shutdown Guidance (Jan. 18 2018) at: https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/GUIDANCE-FOR-CONTINUATION-OF-OPERATIONS-DURING-A-LAPSE-OF-APPROPRIATIONS.pdf,

What federal contractors should do during the government shutdown

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Government employees aren’t the only ones who are wondering what they’ll be doing on Monday if Congress can’t reach a budget agreement; federal contractors are also facing a lot of uncertainty.

Depending on when their contract was funded, what agency they’re with, what they’re doing, and where they work out of, some contractors may continue working as if nothing has changed.

If the federal personnel the contractor works alongside is locked out, the contractor may be too.

There are a lot of variables at play and most of them look to be less than ideal for contractors, who in most cases will lose money during this ordeal. But while everyone hopes this will remain a short-term dispute, there are a couple of ways contractors can use the time away from federal job sites more productively.

Keep reading this article at: https://wtop.com/government/2018/01/federal-contractors-government-shutdown/

 

 

Impact of a shutdown on contractors means lost wages, project delays

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Government contractors are often overlooked when it comes to the threat of a government shutdown. And as the most current threat becomes more and more real, many are waiting for guidance from their agency customers.

“We are hearing there is a lack of communication,” said David Berteau, the CEO of the Professional Services Council, an industry association. “We saw cases in 2013 where the contracting officer and contracting officer representative for a program gave direction to the contractor and put them on the list of cleared individuals, but when they showed up at the base or installation, there was no guard or the guard didn’t let them in. There were a lot of those disconnects in 2013. If a shutdown happens this time, the same thing may happen.”

PSC, the IT Alliance for Public Sector and the Coalition for Government Procurement are offering resources centers for contractors as they plan for a possible partial shutdown.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/government-shutdown/2018/01/impact-of-a-shutdown-on-contractors-means-lost-wages-project-delays/

Government contractor shutdown advisory

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With yet another government shutdown looming, contractors face a number of uncertainties and challenges that warrant close attention — regardless of whether a shutdown takes place or how long it lasts.

Among other challenges, contractors may face:

  • a lack of incremental funding;
  • the inability to enter into new contracts or contract modifications;
  • closed government facilities;
  • furloughed government employees;
  • delayed payments;
  • increased indirect costs; and
  • unexercised and deferred contract options.

Below we offer six suggestions to help address key areas impacted by a shutdown, including contract funding, internal and external communications, recordkeeping, and deadlines.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2018/01/19/government-contractor-shutdown-advisory/

See which government units would get furloughed in a 2017 shutdown

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Government contractors are affected by government shutdowns.  And a slew of federal agencies for the first time since 2015 have updated their shutdown contingency plans, noting who would continue to work and who would get sent home in the event Congress fails to reach a budget deal just before Christmas.

Before President Trump on Dec. 8 signed a stopgap measure to stave off a shutdown for two additional weeks, White House officials warned agencies during a phone call led by the Office of Management in Budget they should begin preparing for a lapse in appropriations. Lawmakers now have through Dec. 22 to pass a measure to keep agencies open.  Another OMB-led phone call will likely take place before the new deadline.

An update to OMB guidance during the Obama administration required agencies to refresh their shutdown plans at least every two years starting in 2015. Nearly all agencies updated their documents spelling out who would or would not be furloughed in September of that year, but — until recently — agencies had not updated their plans this year. As of Monday, 56 agencies submitted their updated shutdown guidance to OMB detailing who they would furlough under a 2017 appropriations lapse.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2017/12/see-who-would-get-furloughed-2017-shutdown/144463 

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