Category Archives: Federal Governement Contracting

Prime Contractors Are on the Hook for Subcontractors’ Prevailing Wage Violations

In the course of my career working with federal contractors, I’ve seen it happen time and time again: a subcontractor violates an applicable prevailing wage statute (either the Davis-Bacon Act or the Service Contract Act) by failing to provide its employees with the required wages and/or fringe benefits. The Department of Labor gets involved, and […]

How to win without being the low bidder

This is a good article.  although it has a construction contractor focus, the principles can be applied to any industry. “But all this customer cares about is low price!” We hear this line daily as a defense of longheld beliefs that their darned customers just don’t care about value over price. Here’s a new belief […]

Why File: A Request For Equitable Adjustment

If you are a government contractor, odds are you have faced a situation where some aspect of the contract you were performing changed outside of your control, or you ran into something that neither you nor the government expected. As a result, your work requirements likely changed, and with that, your costs likely changed as […]

USDA Warns Food Purchase Programs Vendors of Fraudulent Phishing and Spoofed Emails Imitating Bidding Processes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is warning vendors who wish to participate in USDA food purchase programs of a possible phishing scheme using fraudulent email messages. The fake emails look like they are solicitations for bids sent by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which manages USDA’s food purchase programs. The threat actors have been […]

AMS Issues OIG Guidance For Vendors to Avoid Scams

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has become aware of a scam involving disguised or “spoofed” email addresses. Individuals claiming to be senior DOI officials have used such addresses to solicit fraudulent Requests for Quotations (RFQs). These are fake. The fraudsters seek RFQs for electronic equipment (Apple iPhones, […]

CMMC 2.0 and You: A Look at the Department of Defense’s Proposed New Cybersecurity Rules

In 2019, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the development of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program, which was then implemented in 2020 as an interim rule. We blogged about that way back in 2020. This program was designed to give a certification to contractors based on the depth and effectiveness of their cybersecurity […]

Why File: A Size Protest

We at SmallGovCon are excited to announce this first in a new line of blogs we call Why File. Our firm handles a wide variety of federal procurement and contract litigation matters–from SBA size and status protests to contract claims and appeals, and everything in between. One of the most common and important questions we […]

“Extremely Difficult” for Franchises to Obtain VOSB & SDVOSB Certifications, Says SBA OHA

Franchising is a very popular way to own a business: a Census Bureau report indicates that nearly half a million American businesses are franchises. But when it comes to obtaining veteran-owned small business and service-disabled veteran-owned small business certifications, the SBA’s message to franchises is the same one Mr. McGee delivered to Prince: “we don’t like your kind.” […]

Lapse in SAM Registration Disqualifies Government Contractor from Contract Award

The Court of Federal Claims (COFC) recently interpreted FAR Clause 52.204-7, which requires offerors to register in the System for Award Management (SAM), to indicate that even a slight lapse in a contractor’s SAM registration status could disqualify them from potential award.   The Case Before the Court  COFC recently granted a preliminary injunction in Myriddian, LLC v. […]

Get Ready! Enhanced Cybersecurity Standards for Federal Contractors Coming Soon

For years, the federal contracting community has closely monitored the oft-delayed Department of Defense’s (DOD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program—now on iteration 2.0—as the forefront of cybersecurity obligations. That focus may soon be expanding. Contractors outside of DOD’s orbit may soon be subject to similar requirements. Civilian agency contractors should start preparing now for an enhanced […]