Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

4 ways to avoid suspension or debarment on federal contracts

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The U.S. government appropriated $120 billion for federal construction spending in 2017, covering a range of projects from the construction of a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to building agricultural research facilities, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal, even with its cuts to key federal spending programs and new funds for a U.S.–Mexico border wall, calls for roughly the same level of investment.

Because of the potential for a big payoff, some companies have elected to become experts in the federal contracting field, making it the focal point of their business plans. Other contractors, like international design, engineering and construction firm AECOM, have set up specialized business units to take advantage of government contracting opportunities.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.constructiondive.com/news/the-dotted-line-4-ways-to-avoid-suspension-or-debarment-on-federal-contrac/448789/

 

These are nervous times for contractors

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US DoD logoSpeaking to a room of government contractors recently, Defense Department officials insisted that there is no witch-hunt.

Contrary to industry perception, government overseers are not hammers looking for nails, said Deputy General Counsel for Contractor Responsibility at the Department of the Air Force, Rodney A. Grandon.

Grandon made a case that contractor policing is changing. The emphasis is not on trying to rack up the numbers of suspensions and debarments, he said, but on working preemptively with companies to make sure they have vigorous ethics and compliance programs.

“The focus today is no longer on numbers. The focus today is on contractor responsibility,” he told a federal procurement conference last month in McLean, Virginia, organized by the consulting firm BDO USA.

It is a fact of life that misconduct will occur, so the government is paying more attention to what companies are doing to prevent and respond in such situations, said Grandon. He commended federal contractors that have “invested in very robust advocacy and compliance programs.” The government counts on companies to self-police, he said. “Contractors must have in place procedures and willingness to engage government to take immediate steps when misconduct occurs. Our role is to buy down the risk for our acquisition community so they don’t have to worry that the contractor they’re dealing with has a lack of integrity or past performance problems.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2172

SBA: White House focus, SES visibility help agencies meet small business goals

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The government’s success in meeting mandatory small business contracting goals two years running is due largely to White House focus and new requirements that program managers in the Senior Executive Service pay greater attention to the acquisition process, the Obama administration’s small-business development chief said on Tuesday.

SBA logo smallMany call set-asides for small business “not a handout but a hand-up, but I say it’s a matter of survival for the federal government as a whole,” said John Shoraka, associate administrator of government contracting and business development at the Small Business Administration (SBA). He spoke to contractors gathered for American Express OPEN’s all-day summit with agency acquisition officials working with small businesses that are women- or minority owned or economically disadvantaged.

Outlining the government’s efforts to institutionalize the success of meeting the goal of steering 23 percent of contract dollars to small business, Shoraka said, “I’ve told my staff I could write a book saying that America’s secret weapon is small business procurement — when small business is engaged, the industrial base is preserved. It’s win-win, because companies hire employees, which has impact on the economy.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/08/white-house-focus-ses-visibility-help-agencies-meet-small-business-goals/119043

Contractor alert: Suspensions and debarments keep climbing

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The 2014 numbers are in – and they confirm that Federal marketplace remains volatile for government contractors.

Suspensions - FY 2010-2014

Debarments - FY2010-2014

According to the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (ISDC), Federal agencies saw an uptick of about 14% in suspension and debarment proceedings.  Such exclusion proceedings remain among the chief tactics for combating alleged instances of fraud and misconduct in government contracting.  Overall, the ISDC reports that debarment actions rose from 1,696 in 2013 to 1,929 debarment actions in 2014.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=388574

GAO doubles down on FedBid ruling

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The GAO has sustained a second protest based upon FedBid’s suspension of a contractor from its system.

For the second time in less than one week, the GAO held that the contractor’s suspension from FedBid–and resulting inability to bid on a contract–was improper because the matter was not referred to the SBA under the SBA’s Certificate of Competency procedures.

GAO-GovernmentAccountabilityOffice-SealThe GAO’s decision in Latvian Connection, LLC, B-410981 (April 6, 2015) involved a Department of the Interior RFQ for the fabrication and installation of mobile shelving system components.  The procurement was conducted through FedBid’s electronic reverse auction system.

Latvian Connection, LLC, wished to compete for the award.  However, in July 2014, FedBid suspended Latvian Connection’s FedBid user account.  The FedBid suspension notice stated, in part: “System and Business Integrity: Latvian Connection has taken actions to repeatedly and purposely interfere with FedBid’s business relationships.”

Since Latvian Connection’s FedBid account was suspended, it was unable to compete for the procurement.  Latvian Connection filed a GAO protest.  It argued, in part, that its exclusion from the competition was a negative responsibility determination, which should have been referred to the SBA.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/gao-doubles-down-on-fedbidcoc-ruling/

GAO: Small business FedBid suspension was improper

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The suspension of a small business’s FedBid account was improper because the matter was not referred to the SBA under the SBA’s certificate of competency procedures.

In an important decision for small businesses participating in reverse auctions, the GAO recently held that FedBid could not properly suspend a small business’s user account for a supposed lack of “business integrity,” thereby causing the small business to be ineligible to bid on a federal solicitation, without a referral to the SBA.

The GAO’s decision in Latvian Connection, LLC, B-410947 (Mar. 31, 2015) involved a Department of State solicitation for first aid kits and related medical supplies.  DOS conducted the solicitation as a reverse auction on FedBed.  The solicitation was set aside for small businesses.

Latvian Connection, LLC, wished to compete for the award.  However, in July 2014, FedBid suspended Latvian Connection’s FedBid user account.  The FedBid suspension notice stated, in part: “System and Business Integrity: Latvian Connection has taken actions to repeatedly and purposely interfere with FedBid’s business relationships.”

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/small-businesss-fedbid-suspension-was-improper-says-gao/

SDVOSB fraud: Guilty plea In “rent-a-vet” case

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A Nebraska man has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges stemming from a SDVOSB “rent-a-vet” scheme under which an ineligible business received 45 SDVOSB contracts.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the man faces up to 24 months in prison and financial penalties.  He and his companies also have been suspended from government contracting and face the likelihood of debarment.

 The DOJ press release alleges that beginning in 2007, Ram Hingorani and his companies, Midwest Contracting Inc. and Midwest Paving Inc., engaged in SDVOSB fraud.  According to the press release, Hingorani used the service disabled status of a business partner, Ronald Waugh, to qualify MCI as a SDVOSB.  However, an investigation “revealed MCI was a pass-through and/or front company for Hingorani’s other businesses and that Waugh was simply a figurehead or ‘rent-a-vet’ who was being used for his SDV status.”

The government’s investigation concluded that Hingorani, a non-SDV, controlled MCI and caused MCI to falsely self-certify as a SDVOSB.  As a result of the fraudulent self-certifications, MCI was awarded 45 set-aside and sole source contracts worth approximately $23.5 million.

Hingorani faces a prison term of up to 24 months, as well as financial penalties.  Hingorani and his companies are currently suspended and face the prospect of debarment.  Hingorani’s SDV business partner, Waugh, was initially charged in the case as well, but the government has agreed to drop those charges.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/debarment-and-penalties/sdvosb-fraud-guilty-plea-in-rent-a-vet-case/

 

Agencies get tougher on misbehaving contractors

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Federal agencies are strengthening programs to find and punish unethical contractors, and the efforts may have paid off in increased suspension and debarment activity, according to a new watchdog report.

Governmentwide suspensions and debarments have increased from 1,836 in fiscal 2009 to 4,812 in fiscal 2013, the Government Accountability Office reported (GAO-14-513). And at six agencies that had minimal suspension and debarment activity but made changes to staffing, guidance and the case referral process as recommended by GAO in 2011, the increase was even more dramatic. These agencies went from a total of 19 suspension and debarment actions in fiscal 2009 to a collective 271 actions in fiscal 2013.

The six agencies GAO studied — the Commerce, Health and Human Services, Justice, State and Treasury departments and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — all saw a big jump in their suspension and debarment activity in fiscal 2011, the year they began to address GAO’s recommendations for successful programs. The Justice Department, for instance, went from five actions in fiscal 2010 to 50 in fiscal 2011. Though all six agencies made improvements in the same three general areas GAO pinpointed — “a suspension and debarment program with dedicated staff, detailed policies and procedures, and practices that encourage an active referral process” — they emphasized different reasons for their increased activity level, the report said.

Consultant to veteran-owned small business, once suspended by SBA, says CEO provided inaccurate information

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A consultant for MicroTechnologies LLC, one of the federal government’s most prominent small-business contractors, said the firm’s founder authorized him to submit information to the Small Business Administration in 2005 that the agency later said “appears to be a complete fabrication,” the consultant told The Washington Post.

Alanson R. Anderson said MicroTech founder Anthony R. Jimenez provided the material included in a successful SBA application for entrance into the SBA’s 8(a) program for small, disadvantaged businesses, qualifying for preferential treatment, including contracts awarded without competition.

At the time, Anderson was president of Sourcetec Corp., a small-business consultancy retained to guide Jimenez through the application process.

MicroTech’s application included statements in response to SBA questions about the firm’s ties to two other companies. One of the statements said the firm had “no link, relationship, or partnership of any kind” with a firm owned by two MicroTech investors. SBA rules prohibit small and disadvantaged contractors from being overly affiliated with larger firms.

In December, the SBA suspended MicroTech after agency officials said they had new information that Jimenez had provided “false and misleading statements” about the firm’s ownership, operations and ties to other companies. The suspension was triggered when the SBA began a process known as “debarment” that would block ­MicroTech from future contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/consultant-for-microtech-said-he-vetted-inaccurate-information-with-firms-ceo/2014/01/30/9fb50e9c-89dc-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html 

Contractors concerned about legislation that would centralize suspension process

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Contractor advocates are concerned that new legislation moving through the House could result in a more rigid suspension and debarment process.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has approved a bill known as the SUSPEND (Stop Unworthy Spending) Act, which proposes a centralized board to manage all agency suspension and debarment issues.

The idea is to create a more consistent system — though some agencies would be able to use waivers to maintain their own suspension and debarment processes.

There were 836 discretionary suspensions and 1,722 discretionary debarments in fiscal 2012, according to data provided by the committee. Both figures represent a decrease from the previous year.

A committee spokesman said in past years some agencies have reported very few suspension or debarment actions — despite significant contract spending.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com//business/capitalbusiness/contractors-concerned-about-legislation-that-would-centralize-suspension-process/2013/11/14/277eb12c-4642-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html

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