Office of Government Contracting Who We Are, What We Do & How We Can Help 1
Basis for SBA Programs Small Business Act ď Ż Implements Congressional Policy to aid, counsel, assist & protect the interests of small business concerns ď Ż Goal of policy is to ensure that a fair proportion of purchases, contracts & subcontracts be placed with small businesses 2
Small Business Contract Assistance Programs
Prime Contract Assistance
Small business set-aside program Procurement Preference Goaling Size Determination Program Waivers to the Non-Manufacturer Rule Natural Resources Program Certificate of Competency (COC)
Subcontracting Assistance 3
Procurement Programs Small business Small disadvantaged business (SDB) Women-owned small business (WOSB) HUBZone small business Veteran-owned small business (VOSB) Service-disabled VOSB (SDVOSB) 4
PCR Procurement Center Representatives 5
What PCRs Do Promote SBA Programs/8(a) BD Review Acquisitions, Bundling Cases & Solicitations Recommend Set-Asides Perform Market Research Provide & Attend Training Events Perform Surveillance Reviews Counsel Small, “Other Than Small” & Federal Agencies Perform Outreach 6
PCRs and Appeals An appeal is a 3 step appellant process: PCR issues a Form 70, “SBA Recommendation” to contracting officer (CO) If CO denies, writes a letter of appeal to the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) If HCA denies, PCR forwards to SBA HQ SBA Administrator appeals to the Agency Secretary or Administrator 7
What PCRs See
Small Business Review Form Government Estimate Sole Source Justifications (J&A) Statement of Work Acquisition Plan Market Survey Procurement Request Purchase History Synopses
Source Selection Criteria A-76 Information Sensitive Information Set-aside appeals Certificate of Competency Request Subcontracting Plans Bid Abstracts
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PCRs are Unique! Small Business Advocate Adversarial Relationships Small Business Specialist Support Special Authority Insider-Outsider 9
Certificates of Competency When determined to be non-responsible, a small business is entitled to an independent review by the SBA. This is on a case-by-case basis. Non-responsible includes areas of Capacity, Credit, Capability, Competency, Integrity, Perseverance & Tenacity, Limitations on Subcontracting Written referrals must be sent to the SBA Area Office responsible for the geographic location of the small business. The following website has the addresses for each area office - www.sba.gov/GC/ 10
Set-Asides & Parity 8(a), HUBZone & SDVOSB set-asides are considered before a small business set-aside. Current regulations state that 8(a), HUBZone and SDVOSB set-asides are equal in nature. It is up to the Contracting Officer’s discretion on which set-aside is used based on qualifications, goaling, etc. (parity) A HUBZone set-aside will take precedence over a small business set-aside if there are two qualified HUBZone firms
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Small Business Competitive Demonstration Program Certain industry requirements cannot be set-aside for small business – A&E, construction, refuse service, non-nuclear ship repair, pest control and landscaping. However, 8(a), HUBZone and SDVOSB must be considered before going full and open 12
Natural Resources & Sales Assistance Program SBA provides counseling & assistance to small business on government sales and leasing in the following federal resources: Timber & related forest products Strategic materials from the National stockpile Royalty Oil Leases involving rights to minerals, coal, oil and gas Surplus real & personal property
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Natural Resources & Sales Assistance Program Point of Contact: Tom Clarke 721 19th Street, Suite 426 Denver CO 80202-3607 Voice: (303) 844-2607 Ext. 266 Fax: (303) 844-0514 E-Mail: thomas.clarke@sba.gov 14
CMR Commercial Market Representative 15
Subcontracting Assistance Statutory Subcontracting Goals Small Business Act: Section 15(g)
Small Business (SB) - negotiable Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) - 5% Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) - 5% HUBZone Small Business - 3% Veteran-Owned Small Business - negotiable Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned SB - 3% 16
Subcontracting Assistance Determining the Need for a Subcontracting Plan Dollar Threshold: contract or contract mod is expected to exceed $550,000 ($1,000,000 for construction)
Note: $500,000 was just bumped to $550,000
Subcontracting possibilities: contract appears to offer subcontracting possibilities 17
Subcontracting Assistance Determining the Need for a Plan Subcontracting plans are not required: From small business concerns For personal services contracts For contracts or mods that will be performed entirely outside of the U.S. For contracts that do not contain 52.219-8 (e.g., contracts awarded prior to PL 95507) 18
Subcontracting Assistance Pre-Award Subcontracting Plan Reviews SBA’s PCRs review subcontracting plans prior to contract award (advisory)
Post-Award Compliance Reviews SBA’s CMRs monitor goal achievement after contract award 19
Subcontracting Assistance Elements of a Subcontracting Plan A subcontracting plan must contain goals expressed in both dollars and percentages. Other required elements are set forth in the FAR at subpart 19.704 and in the clause at 52.219-9. SBA provides a Fact Sheet on Subcontracting that explains goals, flow-down, and reporting requirements. 20
Subcontracting Assistance What SBA Can and Cannot Do SBA Can:
Conduct compliance reviews and SOARS (Subcontracting Orientation and Assistance Reviews)
SBA Cannot:
Prescribe the amount of subcontracting Require the prime contractor to use a particular small business
T0P 5 QUESTIONS How do I get a certification as a small business? Am I a small business? How do I sell to the government? Why am I not showing up in CCR as a small business? Who do I market to? 22
Top 5 Questions Question – How do I get a certification as a small business? Answer – There is no certification for a small business. It is a self-certifying process. You check the box either “yes” or “no”. Note: CCR is not to be used as a formal certification that a business is small. 23
Top 5 Questions Question – Am I a small business? Answer - Meet size standard for NAICS code that is associated with your industry either by number of employees or overall average annual receipts for the last three years. Helpful Aids – 1. Know your codes – www.naics.gov 2. Know your size – www.sba.gov/size
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Top 5 Questions Question – How do I start to sell to the government? Answer – You must first register on several databases including CCR, DSBS, ORCA and FedBizOpps. Helpful Aid – Provide small business owner with the “12 Steps On How To Do Business With The Government” (handout – make copies for clients) 25
Top 5 Questions Question – Why am I not showing up in CCR/DSBS as a small business? Answer – CCR - You may have checked a wrong box. The majority of errors have to do with a firm checking “taxexempt” “educational institution” “non-profit” Helpful Aid – Assist the small business by pulling up their CCR profile and checking for those mistakes. 26
Top 5 Questions – cont’d Answer – DSBS – You may have checked a wrong box. Helpful Aid – When a firm is shown as small, CCR asks them if they want to continue to the DSBS. It also asks if they want their profile to be shown. If they check the wrong box, their profile will not come up when you do a search. Also check to see if the firm has completed the remainder of their profile, i.e, keywords 27
Top 5 Questions Question - Who do I market to? Answer – After completing your registrations, visit the Small Business Specialists at the federal agencies and Small Business Liaison Officers at the prime contractors. Helpful Aid - Your local PCR and CMR can provide you with current listings. The following website not only will give you a listing of every PCR and CMR in the country, but it will also give you a subcontracting directory which is a listing of the prime contractors in every state. 28
http://www.sba.gov/GC/indexcontacts.html
The Office of Government Contracting is here to assist you !!
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Valerie J. Coleman, PCR/CMR U. S. Small Business Administration Office of Government Contracting 2101 NASA Parkway, MC: BD35 Houston, TX 77058 281-483-1549, 281-483-4326 (fax) valerie.j.coleman@nasa.gov valerie.coleman@sba.gov 30