Four companies and three executives were recognized Monday night as the best in the government contracting field by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Professional Services Council.
Source: Who are GovCon’s best for 2018? — Washington Technology
A Pentagon official said DISA doesn’t want to hear about how your solution worked for industry. If you don’t have a unique pitch for DISA, don’t bother.
Source: DISA Only Wants Tailored Pitches from Vendors – Nextgov
The SBA’s Historically Underutilized Business Zone program intends well—by directing awards to contractors in regions that have been passed by economically, the federal government has tried to lift these areas up. But the HUBZone program has exacting regulations, which (ironically) have helped cause it to be an underutilized tool for contracting officers. This could soon change.
Source: SBA Proposes Big Changes to the HUBZone Program | SmallGovCon – Government Contracts Law Blog
Northrop Grumman has agreed to pay the Government $31 million to resolve criminal and civil charges for over-billing the Air Force on a couple of contracts. The over-billings were a result of employees being paid for work not performed and occurred over a three-year period ending in 2013. In exchange for admitting its employees’ misconduct, making full restitution, and agreeing to cooperate in the ongoing criminal investigation, no criminal charges will be filed against Northrup Grumman. The employees involved in the mischarging are no doubt concerned however.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Northrup Grumman to pay $31 Million for Time-card Fraud
Business capture takes time and money, sometimes with few tangible results. How do you assess capture readiness for each opportunity in your pipeline?
Source: Webinar: Assessing capture readiness | Dec. 5, 2018 | APMP-NCA Chapter Lunch Break | Lohfeld
Back in February 2017, a Presidential Executive Order (EO 13777) established a Federal policy to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burden on the American people. In response to that EO, the Defense Department established a Regulatory Reform Task Force to review and validate DoD regulations, including DFARS (DoD FAR Supplement). DoD established a subgroup within the DoD Regulatory Reform Task Force to specifically review DFARS provisions and clauses.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: DoD Cancels Acquisition Streamlining Contract Clause
Recently, the GAO issued a report discussing the VA’s Veterans First Program, made at the request of several members of Congress. The report focused on addressing ongoing implementation challenges regarding compliance with the Rule of Two following the Kingdomware decision.
Follow these blogs to stay current on the latest news and trends for state government, smart cities, first responders, public libraries, courts and more.
Source: 30 Must-Read State and Local IT Blogs 2018 – StateTech Magazine
Last week, the SBA released a proposal to overhaul the HUBZone Program. The proposed rule will make major changes to almost all aspects of the HUBZone Program, and my colleague Ian Patterson is covering those changes in a series of two posts on SmallGovCon.
Under OMB (Office of Management and Budget), Federal agencies are required to periodically review payments under contracts, awards, grants, and other expenditures for improper payments. Within DoD, many agencies have programs in place to test for improper payments. DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency), for example, checks for improper payments in connection with “Testing of Paid Vouchers“.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: What are Improper Payments?