Succeeding in the federal market is not about doubling business
overnight. Experienced contractors know
that if a company grows that quickly they will inevitably make mistakes and
have to give some of that money back.
Still, either your business or partners you work with may insist that
their solution is just what the government always wanted (Jeff Bezos’ credit
card number?) and it’s up to you to manage expectations. Lesson number one: It’s a big government and there has to be
focus to any company’s business efforts.
Even large companies can’t be everywhere at once. Lesson two: There is risk inherent in selling to the
government. This is often difficult for
small businesses and subcontractors to accept, but the phenomena isn’t just
limited to those groups. Risk has to be
managed, no matter what your business size or level of federal experience. It takes discipline and resources to manage
it correctly. Regardless of a company’s
size and federal experience, growth has to be done in a sustainable
manner. That means ensuring that both
your company and your partners have as much of a commitment to compliance as to
driving new business. Large
business primes can be an important link in the chain by educating their
partners not only on business development but on the importance of having good
compliance systems in place. At
the same time, any business needs to be prepared for companies that promise to
deliver huge amounts of new business in a short time. It’s more tempting than you might think. A phone call from a previous partner about an
opportunity to sell masks when you’re a furniture company should make you think
twice, no matter how “easy” the money seems.
Everyone wants to increase their business, but doing it in way
that stays within the rules and protects your corporate reputation is essential
– no matter what your business size.
When was the last time your team had a compliance
refresher? Need the latest on GSA
Schedules, the Trade Agreements Act, or gift-giving guidelines? Allen Federal can help! Contact us today and we can provide a virtual
training experience that will both entertain and scare your team at the same
time. See what we can do for you at info@allenfederal.com
The $3 trillion “relief” package expected voted on in the House Friday
contains plenty of goodies for everyone.
Don’t expect it to ever see the light of day in its current form, however, as the
measure has zero chance of being passed as is in the Senate. Indeed, Senate leaders have expressed
reluctance to pass any sort of additional spending bill related to coronavirus
relief. The most likely scenario,
though, is that a new measure will pass, most likely before Memorial Day
weekend, but that it will be more focused.
Expect more small business loans, aid to states and the District of
Columbia, healthcare funding, and related appropriations. While little of this money is directly
targeted at large business contractors, there will still likely be provisions
such contractors should note. Enhanced telework requirements may mean that
face-to-face discussions will be more difficult moving forward. Hazard duty pay is also likely to be a part
of the measure, though likely not for contractor personnel. Money to stabilize small businesses,
including those doing government business, will be an important feature. That can be good news for larger companies
that rely on small partners for certain federal work. The largest impact of the relief bills will
be felt in future years. Someone
is going to have pay for all of this “relief” in the form of increased payment
on the federal debt. That will likely
reduce discretionary money available for contracting and other “business of
government” operations for several years to come. DOD, for one, is already preparing for such
an eventuality. Contractors should as
well.
Allowing a non-governmental third party to
decide whether a company can bid on a DOD contract conflicts with the
“inherently governmental” function of the awarding government contracts,
according to former DOD Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology &
Logistics Frank Kendall.
Writing in Forbes magazine, Kendall states, “Determining whether
or not a contractor is qualified to bid on a government contract is, in my
view, an inherently governmental function.
Under CMMC, however, a new bureaucracy created outside of government,
takes on that role.” Kendall goes on to
point out that how third-party assessors will, themselves, be accredited is “a
mystery”. He recommends that DOD
delay or cancel the CMMC program entirely. DOD, in the meantime, still seems set on
moving forward with the requirement for contractors to show certain levels of
cybersecurity capabilities if they want to do business with the agency. Draft RFP’s and RFQ’s already contain
such language. It is uncertain
what companies exist now, however, to attest to a company’s ability to meet one
or more of the five levels of CMMC status that will be required. Another area of confusion on CMMC is
its applicability to Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) procurements. Katie Arrington, who oversees CMMC, says that
COTS acquisitions will be exempt, while other say that it depends on whether
the nature of the work to be performed brings the contractor into contact with
sensitive, but not classified, information.
Kendall’s comments also raise questions about the
validity of other third-party accreditation protocols already in use for
government contracting. Both the
FedRAMP and Section 508 compliance programs use outside parties to determine a
company’s ability to meet those standards.
Should Kendall’s view on using this approach for CMMC take hold, it
could have an impact on these programs as well.
Small businesses must
actually be small at the time an agency places an order with them via a GSA
Schedule Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) or Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA)
according to a recent change made to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). FAR
19.301-1, in pertinent part, now states, “To be eligible for an award of an
order under a basic ordering agreement or a BPA issued pursuant to part 13 as a
small business concern identified in 19.000(a)(3), the offeror must be a small business
concern identified in 19.000(a)(3) at the time of award of the order.” The change was made as part of a final rule
issued in February to implement small business size changes initiated by the
Small Business Administration in 2013. This
change is in conflict with a host of small business precedents, perhaps chief
among them being that companies can certify their status based on a rolling 5-year
period. The SBA, though, has sometimes
taken a dim view of the GSA Schedules program, despite the fact that it
routinely exceeds the government’s own small business use goals. While frustrating, it is not entirely
surprising that they would single out Schedule BPA’s. Whatever the reason, though, companies
absolutely must be aware of this new rule and how it could impact their
business. No contractor should
certify to something that it knows it is not or cannot do. Being the target of a False Claims action is
more expensive to your bottom line and reputation than the piece of business
your company would have obtained. Competent
counsel can assist in seeing you through this maze – and at a price far less
than a False Claims Act case. Proceed
accordingly.