Indian Health Services Buy Indian Act Final Rule

IHS’s final rule on the Buy Indian Act to strengthen its requirements to set-aside contracts for Indian-owned and controlled businesses. The final rule clarifies the preference for Indian-owned and controlled businesses and removes barriers by alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens. IHS is committed to improving economic conditions and providing more opportunities for Indian-owned businesses. Read the fact sheet here.

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United States Joint Certification: How to fill out the DD Form 2345 (USA version)

Basic JCP Certification:

DVIDS: United States Joint Certification: How to fill out the DD Form 2345 (USA version) (open caption) https://www.dvidshub.net/video/826732/united-states-joint-certification-fill-out-dd-form-2345-usa-version-open-caption

YOUTUBE: United States Joint Certification: How to fill out the DD Form 2345 (USA version) (open caption) https://youtu.be/tgT5vGUmE18

Welcome to the United States Joint Certification Office video where you will learn the steps on how to properly fill out the DD Form 2345. This form is the military critical technical data agreement for U.S. vendors who want joint certification. For more information please visit: https://www.dla.mil/HQ/LogisticsOperations/Services/JCP/

Enhanced JCP (EJCP) Needed to sell to DLA:

https://www.dla.mil/HQ/LogisticsOperations/EnhancedValidation/

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​2022 NDAA Makes Significant Changes to Federal Procurement Policy

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, PUBLICATIONS, CLIENT ALERTS 12.27.21, By: Kevin Barnett

On December 27, 2021, President Biden signed the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, authorizing more than $700 billion in defense spending.  The NDAA also contains several provisions that shape federal procurement policies and forecast areas that Congress believes warrant attention in the future.  PilieroMazza examines three themes in this year’s NDAA that contractors should know to take advantage of contract opportunities and maintain compliance requirements. Read more here.

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​WOSB/EDWOSB Certification Renewal

To remain eligible as an EDWOSB or WOSB, program participants must submit an annual attestation to SBA each year, per 13 CFR Part 127.400. Currently, SBA is experiencing technical difficulties with the annual attestation process. As an interim solution and to mitigate negative impact to firms, SBA is suspending annual attestation until 1 Mar 2022. SBA will notify firms when the issue has been resolved to allow participants to complete their annual attestation.

As a reminder, 13 CFR Part 127.401 states, “Once certified, a WOSB or EDWOSB must notify SBA of any material changes that could affect its eligibility within 30 calendar days of any such change. Material change includes, but is not limited to, a change in the ownership, business structure, or management.” Currently, reporting material changes is fully available under beta.Certify.sba.gov and instructions are available within the beta.Certify Knowledgebase. A participant’s failure to notify SBA of a material change may result in decertification and removal from SAM and DSBS (or any successor system) as a designated certified WOSB/EDWOSB concern. In addition, SBA may seek the imposition of penalties under §127.700.

Once a help ticket has been responded to it is moved to a closed status and the help desk is unable to directly view any updated responses. If there is any follow-up question or concern, please create a new ticket and if needed please include the previous ticket’s Case Number for reference. 

Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program Office of Government Contracting & Business Development, U.S. Small Business Administration https://beta.certify.sba.gov/help-csh/ 

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​CMMC 2.0: 7 Key Takeaways to Help Government Contractors Prepare

PilieroMazza’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Team

On November 4, 2021, the Department of Defense (DOD) dropped a bombshell press release stating it plans to retract the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 and replace it with a simplified, streamlined 2.0. The press release does not explain how DOD plans to simplify and streamline CMMC, but an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued concurrently with the press release (and removed later the same day) contains some insights into the key changes DOD intends to make. An archived copy of the notice is available here, which DOD also provided during a CMMC Accreditation Body town hall meeting on November 10, 2021. PilieroMazza’s Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Team offers 7 key takeaways government contractors need to know to prepare for CMMC 2.0. Read more here.

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Current DoD Assistance Award Position Regarding Executive Order 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors”

Executive Order (E.O.) 14042 “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors,” issued September 9, 2021, requires all workers “performing on or in connection with Federal Government contract or contract-like instruments to obtain the [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)] vaccination.” Read the revision here.

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Transfer of the Veteran Small Business Verification Program to the SBA

Previously, veteran-owned small businesses interested in being certified by the Federal Government received their certification through the VA. In order to streamline this process with all other small business certification programs, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2021 officially requested that CVE’s responsibilities be transferred to the SBA by January 1, 2023. Answers to your questions here & Read more here.

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DOD/Navy/NAVSEA SBIR/STTR 22.1/22.A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

2022 is rapidly approaching and so are the latest DoD SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer Research) topics. Check out how your businesses can benefit the US Navy!

On 1 December 2021 the DoD SBIR/STTR Program Management Office will release the SBIR/STTR instructions and topics on DSIP (https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login).

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FAR Issues Final Rule on Limitations on Subcontracting John Holtz, Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC

It has been a long time coming, but the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the GSA and NASA, are finally issuing a final rule amending the FAR guidance regarding limitations on subcontracting. In this post, we are going to explore just what these changes are and what they mean for government contractors such as yourself. The hope is this brief summary and analysis will provide you some insight as to just what the new rules do.

If you can believe it, this latest rule change is based on regulatory changes made by the SBA all the way back in May of 2016 to implement statutory requirements from the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013! In fairness, the DoD, GSA, and NASA did propose this rule back in December 2018, although we wonder why it took another two and a half years to reach this point. In any event, this new rule will come into effect on September 10, 2021. Read more here & MEMORANDUM FOR CIVILIAN AGENCIES

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​Major Changes Proposed to Buy American Rules Peter Terenzio, Michael Wagner and Nooree Lee, Covington & Burling LLP

​On July 30, the Biden administration issued a proposed rule billed as “the most robust changes to the implementation of the Buy American Act in almost 70 years.”

Aimed at strengthening domestic content requirements and bolstering domestic procurement preferences, it comes on the heels of several other actions by the administration to limit reliance on foreign sources of critical components and promote greater economic and national security by supporting domestic manufacturing. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposed three major changes. Read more here.

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​New Developments in President Biden’s COVID-19 Requirements for Government Contractors PilieroMazza’s Labor & Employment Group for Government Contractors

On September 16, 2021, President Biden released new guidance on implementing COVID-19 mandates for businesses working with the federal government. PilieroMazza’s Labor & Employment Group highlights important guidelines government contractors need to follow in order to comply. Read more here & Executive Order UPDATE: Contractor Personnel Must Get COVID-19 Vaccines By December 8, 2021 – GovConBrief

​SBA Announces Moratorium on Bona Fide Place of Business Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development Program

Release Date: August 26, 2021  ~  Release Number: 21-73

​Contact: press_office@sba.gov  ~  www.sba.gov/news

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​WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced a moratorium on the requirement that participants in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program must establish a bona fide place of business in a specific geographic area in order to be awarded any construction contract through the 8(a) Program due to the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.  The moratorium is effective August 25, 2021, and applies to all 8(a) construction contracts offered to the 8(a) Program between August 25, 2021, and September 30, 2022.  Read more here.

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​SBA Issues New HUBZone Guidance and Map Updates

​August 24, 2021, by Jon Williams, Anna R. Wright, PilieroMazza

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has once again updated its HUBZone FAQs—this time with welcome changes for HUBZone firms with principal offices located in Redesignated Areas and / or Qualified Disaster Areas (QDA). The latest FAQs, available here, state that they were effective June 24, 2021, but we saw them for the first time on SBA’s website earlier this month.   Read more here.

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​Everything You Need to Know About CMMC

​Rob Thurston, Chief Technology Officer, Ampersand

With the rollout of the CMMC, contracting with the DoD is more specialized than ever—especially if you’re dealing with controlled unclassified information (CUI). But these new guidelines also means the space will become more lucrative. It’s estimated that 129,810 businesses will likely pursue CMMC certification in the first 5 years.  Read more here.