Compliance Stuff

Many joint venture (JV) contractors have spent weeks of painstaking effort developing proposals only to learn later after winning a significant contract award that they are ineligible because of the failure to follow the mandatory regulations for JV agreements under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP). I f a JV agreement fails to include every mandatory provision required by SBA’s regulations, that JV contractor can be determined ineligible for award. Therefore, at the beginning of the proposal process, contractors must review closely SBA’s regulations associated with the ASMPP to make sure that they have a compliant JV agreement.  A failure to do so can result in the loss of millions of dollars in contracts.  In this alert, we provide steps to make sure your JV agreement is compliant.   1. Understand which SBA regulations apply to that particular JV and to the particular set-aside contract that the JV is pursuing.   ...

  The Small Business Administration ("SBA") recently issued a   proposed rule   that changes the effect of a concern's size recertification following mergers and acquisitions ("M&A") activity . Notably, the proposed rule is ostensibly an omnibus proposal as it covers a host of issues under SBA's socio-economic contracting programs. The proposed rule, for example, includes changes to SBA's negative control affiliation provisions ( discussed here ), joint venture rules, mentor-protégé rules, and others. Comments on the proposed rule are due on or before October 7, 2024. SBA's recertification rules have long been the subject of debate, particularly as it relates to eligibility after a concern recertifies as an "other than small business" following an M&A event. Under the current regulatory regime, a small business is generally considered small for the life of the contract, including for orders issued against a long-term contract. Thus,...