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Government Contractor’s Blog

$355M for Women Owned Small Businesses

Over the past 20 years, the government has aimed to award at least 5 percent of contracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). In FY2020, WOSBs received $561.7 million in contracts. However, GSA has only set aside $354.9 million for WOSB contracts in FY2021. (ExecutiveGov, March 4, 2021)

According to GSA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, 10.47 percent of the total FY2020 contracting obligations for women-owned vendors were prime awards. To lend a hand to these vendors, GSA provides support through training resources and Forecast of Contracting Opportunities. These tools and other activities earned GSA a grade of A+ from the Small Business Administration in FY2019 for their work to support small businesses. (ibid)

Are you a Small or Woman-Owned Small Business looking to prime or sub on an upcoming procurement? Give us a call.

FY 2021 SubK Reporting Deadline Extended

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is extending the period for subcontract reporting for fiscal year 2021. The extension allows Federal Contractors (FCs) extra time to correct any issues experienced during the pandemic as well as Federal Agencies (FAs) extra time to review the reports. This will be the final Subcontract Reporting extension. The timeframe for FCs to revise rejected reports is not extended and remains unchanged. (Small Business Administration Notification March 5, 2021)

Extensions provided by the SBA include:

  • 15 days for FC’s report submission due dates and for  the FA’s review periods for the FY 2021 ISRs and SSRs
  • 45 days after the end of the reporting period for FCs to submit their ISR and SSR and 45 days after contract completion if applicable
  • 75 days from the reports’ ending dates for FAs to acknowledge receipt or reject the initial reports
  • 30 days after receipt of a rejection notice, per FAR § 52.219-9(l), for FCs to revise rejected reports
  • 30 days after submittal for FAs to review revised reports

The subcontract report extensions are effective immediately. This pdf contains the formal notice SBA provided for the extension notification. (ibid)

Have questions concerning your ISR or SSR or a rejected report notice? Give us a call.

New ‘Made in America’ EO

On 25 January, President Biden issued a “Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers” executive order. (Government Executive, February 24, 2021)

Before the executive order takes effect:

  • New rules mandating the executive order must go through the formal rule-making process
  • Within 180 days, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council should consider replacing the “component test” (50 percent of a product’s cost must have a domestic origin)
  • The threshold for domestic content requirements for construction materials and end products will be increased, as well price preferences for domestic construction materials and end products

The order directs the FAR Council to assess exceptions from the Act for commercial information technology (IT). Recommendations will likely influence solution strategies. A Made in America office within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be created, which will review waivers to purchase goods from outside the United States. Additionally, the Order mandates a list of actions to be performed within 45 days of the office director’s appointment. (ibid)

Biden’s EO also proposes that GSA create a public website for proposed waivers. Justification for all waivers will be publicly available, giving competitors the ability to weigh-in on waiver requests, likely diminishing the issuance of waivers. Contractors should consider this when determining their sourcing approach. (ibid)

Questions concerning your current as well as future government contracts and how the new order will affect them? Give us a call.

GSA Industry Webinar

GSA Federal Acquisition Services (FAS) is hosting an industry webinar on 24 March via Google Meet and focusing on contract holders of two Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) categories, MAS Travel and MAS Transportation and Logistics Services. These categories were formerly on Schedules 48 and 599, respectively. (GSA Interact, February 19, 2021)

The webinar will highlight the following:

  • GSA Advantage! price lists guidance
  • Required documentation when exercising an option period
  • Responses to vendor questions submitted in advance (ibid)

The deadline for questions and comments is 3:00 PM (ET) Monday, March 1, 2021. Questions must be submitted by email to onthego@gsa.vog with the subject line “MAS TTL March 2021 Quarterly Webinar Question” along with your contract number. Copies should go to lily.thompson@gsa.gov and jeanette.quitoriano@gsa.gov. (ibid)

The meeting will begin promptly at 2:00 PM (ET) with the following meeting id: https://meet.google.com/gwu-jgtq-ism.

Questions concerning MAS changes and updates and how they might affect your current contract or upcoming bid? Give us a call.