OFPP Outlines Steps to Improve Small Business
Transcription
OFPP Outlines Steps to Improve Small Business
VOL. 1, NO. 4 ■ JULY 2012 FederalAlliesNews OFPP Outlines Steps to Improve Small Business IN THIS ISSUE OFPP Outlines Steps to Improve Small Business Contracting ....................1 ■ Federal Allies Institute’s Summer Plans ................2 ■ SBA Proposes Small Business Set-asides on Multiple Award Contracts ........................2 ■ Veteran advocates call for new contractor employment data ...........3 ■ SAM implementation delayed to late July .........4 ©2012 Management Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. ■ Agencies will be undertaking a new, prescribed approach to improving small business contracting, a June 6 memo from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) reads. The memo, released in coordination with the Small Business Administration, is intended to increase the number of contracts issued to small businesses through simplified acquisitions and multiple-award contracts (MAC). The memo is the first directive from new OFPP head Joe Jordan. Under the directive, agencies are required to take the following six steps: (1) Issue a memo to the acquisition workforce reminding them of the tools and authorities available to them, set out in Section 1331 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-240). That law, and the ensuing interim FAR rule issued on November 2, 2011 (FAR Case 2011-024), authorizes agencies to set aside one or more parts of a multiple-award contract, set aside task orders placed against multiple-award contracts, and reserve one or more multiple-award contracts for small business concerns that are awarded using full and open competition. (2) Consider requiring set-asides orders under MACs if an agency is not meeting its small business goals. “Historically, set-asides have been the most powerful small business contracting tool,” Jordan says. “Accordingly, an increased commitment to order set-asides is likely to be a highly effective means to help an agency improve its small business contracting results and meet its small business goals.” The memo also notes that it is up to agencies to undertake the most appropriate application of a required set-aside. (3) Bilaterally modify existing MACs to provide for set-asides. Jordan said that the November 2 interim FAR rule also encourages agencies to modify existing contracts with substantial periods of performances—at least six months—and work is left to do to provide stipulations for small business set-asides. (4) Improve internal controls. Contract files should now document how the tools available under Section 1331 were used or considered. If small business goals aren’t being met by an agency, the memo provides, officials should sample and review contracts to determine what market research approaches were used, and provide an explanation for why the agency bought the product or service on an unrestricted basis. (5) Review SBA’s proposed rule on Section 1331. SBA issued its own proposed rule on May 16, 2012 (77 FR 29130) “to ensure that meaningful consideration of set-asides … is given in connection with the award of multiple award contracts and task and delivery orders placed under them, and that those tools are used in a consistent manner.” (6) Ensure the workforce is trained. GSA provides free online training and has posted a set of frequently asked questions for contracting officers how set-asides can be applied when placing orders under MACs. The FAQ is available at http://www. gsa.gov/portal/content/113371 and the webinar training is available at http://interact.gsa.gov. To ensure that agencies take the six steps laid out by OFPP and SBA, Jordan asks that they report back on what action was taken toward the steps, and if not, provide a full explanation why as well as when the agency expects to complete the steps. Further, Jordan suggests that small business goals may be tied to senior managers’ performance evaluations. “Agencies that have implemented performance evaluations containing small business contracting goal elements report that senior level leadership accountability plays a critical role in ensuring that those agencies meet or exceed their small business contracting … goals,” Jordan says. He asks that agencies submit a report on the actions they have taken to ensure that senior managers are accountable for small business contracting goals. The agency reports are due to OMB by July 9. The full OFPP memo is available at www.whitehouse.gov. ■ FEDERAL ALLIES NEWS ■ JULY 2012 Federal Allies Institute’s Summer Plans Federal Allies is a relatively new national small business and federal contractors association of humble beginnings at Fort Myer, Virginia in 2008. With hard work and perseverance our small business network now deals with most agencies of the federal government and military. For our business members we train, make agency introductions, collaborate, and save money on back office operations. In collaboration with government organizations and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, we help agencies reach small business goals, strive for regulatory flexibility, and when we need to, we convene Congressional meetings of importance to entrepreneurs. © 2012 Management Concepts, Inc. ISSN 2167-4590. Copying prohibited. Federal Allies News is published by Management Concepts Press exclusively for members of Federal Allies Institute. Federal Allies Institute is a national nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to small business and federal acquisition best practices. David T. Boddie, Executive Director, FAI. Publisher: Mary Cowell; Editorin-Chief: Kathleen Landerholm; Editor: Jared Stearns; Legal Corner Writer: Terrence M. O’Connor, Esq. This publication is designed to provide information on federal acquisition and small business. It is not intended to substitute for legal or other professional advice. All rights reserved. Inquiries regarding reprints should be directed to Kathleen Landerholm at (703) 790-9595, ext. 2080; e-mail: [email protected]. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, xerography, recording, or otherwise, even for internal use, without the prior written consent of Federal Allies Institute and Management Concepts, Inc. ©2012 Management Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. Warning: Copyright violators will be prosecuted. Management Concepts will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for actionable evidence of violations. Void where prohibited by law. Contact Kathleen Landerholm to report abuses at (703) 790-9595, ext. 2080; e-mail: KLanderholm@ managementconcepts.com. Confidentiality assured. Federal Allies is an ideal, inexpensive if not—at times—free platform for you to establish new business ties and to learn how to succeed in the federal contracting community. Plus we have formal alliances with U.S. Small Business Administration and other organizations. And finally, we are an entrepreneurs’ organization that seeks more members and businesses and agency leaders for our Board of Directors. Specifically, we seek representation in every state. This summer, Federal Allies reinstitutes a series of networking events within Metropolitan Washington DC to convene federal contractors of all levels of business maturity and from all parts of the country. While many are consumed with summer reading lists and planning family vacations, a significant portion are also focused on the dawn of Sequestration, Simpson-Bowles, and Veterans Entrepreneurial Transition Act and the prescient balancing act of commercial and federal business. With 40 percent of what our federal government spends actually borrowed, the U.S. is on a wrong economic course and the need to renew institutional arrangements is at hand. Federal Allies Institute was born practically on day one of the world’s worst economic decline in any of our lifetimes, so the well-being of this nation and the present state of the economy are not lost on our American business owner members. We appreciate our new sponsors American Airlines, Dell and Zipcar that help make the lives of our members more affordable, more capable and environmentally sound. Federal Allies Institute this fall will offer seminars on Proposals 101 and Business Development. A big topic for small business is how to weather the upcoming uncertainty in federal contracting. For those of you that cannot make it to Washington this Summer, I invite you to tune in on August 8, 11am to 12:30pm EDT for a webinar presented by Defense Daily featuring Federal Allies Institute’s Gary Shumaker. For more information, see FederalAllies.org and DefenseDaily.com. David T. Boddie Executive Director Federal Allies Institute SBA Proposes Small Business Set-asides on Multiple Award Contracts The Small Business Administration has published a comprehensive proposal to allow federal agencies to set aside multiple award contracts for small businesses. The proposal is intended to maximize awards to small businesses while providing agencies the ease and efficiency of multiple award contract vehicles. The rule is based on sections 1311, 1313, and 1331 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-240). to competitions for task and delivery orders issued under certain multiple award contracts (B-400403, Oct. 8, 2008). However, many agencies have been reluctant to pursue small business set-asides on task and delivery orders without specific procurement guidance. Until recently, there has been no clear regulatory guidance on how small business programs may be applied to multiple award contracts. In Delex Systems, GAO held that the small business set-aside provisions at FAR 19.502-2(b) applied ■ The proposed rule seeks to make the following changes. Add a definitions section to part 125 of SBA’s regulations, moving all definitions within the part into the one section, and adding all definitions and terms set forth in the Jobs Act; continued on page three 2 FEDERAL ALLIES NEWS ■ ■ ■ Revise section 125.2 to establish SBA’s responsibility during an agency’s acquisition planning, and establish the procuring agency’s responsibilities. The decision of whether to apply a set-aside, partial set-aside, or reserve to a small business rests with the contracting officer. Establish that if the “rule of two” is met, the contracting officer must set aside the multiple award contract. If the rule of two is not met, the contracting officer may set aside part or parts of the multiple award contract for small business concerns, reserve one or more contract awards for small business concerns under full and open multiple award procurements, or set aside orders for small business concerns under multiple award contracts awarded that are full and openly competed where the rule of two is met for a specific order. Amend the small business size regulations to create an exception to affiliation for teams of small businesses for bundled contracts. ©2012 Management Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. The proposal establishes that there is no order of precedence among set-asides, partial set-asides, or reserves. “[I]f an agency could do a partial setaside or set-aside orders under a full and open competition, there is no preference for doing the former over the latter. Rather, all three should be considered as part of acquisition planning and, if more than one option is available (the circumstances fit the definition of more than one tool), the agency should give careful consideration to the option that works best for the agency.” The proposal also establishes that if the contracting officer decides not to partially set aside or reserve a multiple award contract, or include a clause in a full and open multiple award contract that commits the agency to set aside orders or preserve the right to set aside orders to small businesses, the contracting officer must explain the decision and document it in the contract file. According to SBA, it considered whether the documentation requirement would “create a chilling effect” against using Jobs Act authorities (which are discretionary), but reasoned that the requirement to document a decision to not use small businesses is not new. ■ Veteran advocates call for new contractor employment data Unemployment among veterans is on the rise. And although anecdotal evidence suggests that government contractors are hiring veterans, there is little tangible data on the subject. At a June 5 hearing of the Senate Homeland Subcommittee ■ JULY 2012 on Contracting Oversight, panelists advocated revamping the processes linked to veteran employment, including revising reporting requirements and overhauling the veteran-owned small business certification process. Senator Clair McCaskill (D-MO) opened the hearing by noting that unemployment among veterans is disproportionately higher than the national average: 12.7 percent unemployment among veterans who have served on active duty since September 2001, compared to 8.2 percent unemployment nationwide. Sen. McCaskill noted that many government contractors are known to be major employers of veterans, but found little data on the subject, even though companies with government contracts valued above $100,000 are required to report their veteran hiring and employment numbers to the Department of Labor through the VETS-100A form. When asked to provide data collected from government contractors for the past 10 years, the Department of Labor could produce data for only 2009 and 2010. Ramsey Sulayman, a legislative associate with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, agreed that it is difficult to access data from the VETS-100 and -100A forms, making it nearly impossible to understand the landscape of existing veteran contractors. And even at their best, Sulayman told the subcommittee, the forms only provide a snapshot of how many veterans are employed as prime contractors or subcontractors. Sulayman suggested revising the form to position it for greater analysis, including, for example, adding the North American Industry Classification System categories to determine the level of job opportunities for veterans by industry type. Ted Daywalt, president and CEO of VetJobs, indicated that the Vets-100 and -100A reporting requirements actually serve as a discouragement to hiring veterans, due to potential concerns over the effort and cost of compliance. “From an employer’s perspective, the VETS-100 report is an expensive paperwork exercise draining assets that could be better utilized within the company.” Veterans advocates also suggested easing the certification process required for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses that aim to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sulayman advocated a self-certification program, with enhanced documentation requirements, to ease the process for veteranowned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. A complete copy of the hearing testimony is available online at http://hsgac.senate.gov. ■ 3 FEDERAL ALLIES NEWS SAM implementation delayed to late July Implementation of the System for Award Management (SAM) is being delayed until the end of July, GSA officials announced. The delay is the latest hiccup for the troubled project, which aims to replace nine commonly-used acquisition systems with a single interface. Phase 1 of SAM implementation will replace the Central Contractor Registration, the Online Representations and Certifications Application, and the Excluded Parties List System. Originally set to debut on May 29, the phase 1 implementation date has now been moved to the end of July. GSA made the decision to delay implementation after conducting extensive testing within GSA and in coordination with other federal agencies. According to an announcement released by GSA officials, the additional time is intended to ease the transfer by giving federal agencies more time to prepare their staff and test data transfer processes, as well as to strengthen SAM capabilities in line with the results of the testing. SAM implementation has seen a series of setbacks throughout its development, including ■ JULY 2012 higher-than-estimated costs, schedule delays, and funding shortfalls. Phase 1 of SAM will now debut about seven months behind schedule, while phases 2 and 3 are running about two years behind schedule—and further delays may still occur. To make matters worse, the schedule delays will likely increase costs even further, with GSA footing the bill for the unplanned costs of running the legacy systems longer than intended. After evaluating the project, GAO auditors released a March 15, 2012 report recommending that GSA reassess its business case to determine the most cost-effective strategy going forward (GAO-12-429). GSA’s options, GAO said, are to (1) kill program development altogether and continue with the remaining legacy systems; (2) maintain the current acquisition strategy; or (3) design a new acquisition strategy. In a written response to GAO’s findings, GSA officials agreed with the recommendation to reevaluate the business plan. The agency has appointed an integrated project team to reassess and develop a broad plan covering both SAM and the IAE program as a whole. More information on the System for Award Management is available online at www.sam.gov. ■ The Latest Guidance on all Aspects of Federal Contracting The COR/COTR Answer Book, Third Edition NEW ©2012 Management Concepts, Inc. All rights reserved. Bob Boyd Make sure you know the issues, your roles and responsibilities, and common pitfalls in contract oversight. The best-selling COR/COTR Answer Book has been updated to include the latest and most detailed body of knowledge available for CORs, COs, and other acquisition professionals. This new edition reflects dollar threshold changes, contains critical information on the new COR certification requirements (applicable to all executive agencies, except DoD), and details major updates on government property policies and regulations, and performance based payments. Price: $105 ©2012, 6˝ x 9˝ hardcover, 400 pages ISBN: 978-1-56726-372-5, Product Code B725 Order Today! Call 1.800.506.4450 (Please use promotion code FEDAL0712) www.ManagementConceptsPress.com 4