The SBA published guidelines for the social disadvantage narrative, so all companies that submitted their 8a application relying on the presumption of disadvantage MUST submit a Social Disadvantage Narrative and have the SBA approve it to receive an 8a award.

August 14, 2023 - I posted several weeks ago about a judge’s recent ruling regarding the 8a program (blog post on that here). The SBA paused all 8a applications last week and we’ve been waiting to hear what the solution is. It seems like we finally have some movement. I had a late-night conversation with Robb Wong, former SBA Associate Administrator, Office of Government Contracting & Business Development, last night and he has been working his contacts at SBA and DOJ. Here’s where we are right now based on his conversations with SBA, DOJ, and OSDBUs:

July 24, 2023 - A recent ruling from a federal judge in Tennessee looks like it may significantly change the SBA 8(a) program. The judge has ordered an injunction that prevents the SBA from presuming social disadvantage based on race for program applicants. The immediate implementation of this injunction could be incredibly disruptive to the 8(a) program, although the full implications of the decision are still unclear.

January 4, 2022 - Now that the calendar has officially turned, I want to go out on a limb and make some predictions on a few trends that I think will shape the year to come. Here’s what 8a companies should be ready for in 2023:

December 2, 2022 - Back in June, we shared the exciting news that many of the NAICS codes size standards were increased. This was most notably for 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services) going to $21.5M. In light of the unusual inflation occurring, the SBA has decided to make further adjustments to size standards and issue an interim final rule increasing size standards. Here's the high-level break down of some common professional services NAICS in the 8(a) space and the impact that takes effect as of December 19, 2022: 

November 18, 2022 - Before we drift off into stuffing ourselves next week, you should be aware of a proposed rule that SBA recently put out for the Mentor Protege Program (MPP) that impacts 8a companies...in a positive way!  Under the SBA MPP rules, the Mentor is allowed to acquire up to a 40% stake in the protege, even if they are in the same or similar line of business. However, the 8a rules for additional owners were different (10-20%, depending on which stage of the 8a program the Protege was in) and it wasn't clear which one won out against the other. Now we know!

November 7, 2022 - The M&A market in government contracting continues to be very active. For buyers - they might be looking to get into new Agencies, get on a contracting vehicle to steer/retain work, or simply diversify their revenues. And, for sellers - they might be looking to move on to their next endeavor or retire after a challenging time running a business during COVID-19.  Whatever the case might be, here are three considerations for 8(a) businesses when exploring a purchase (or selling) of a government contracting firm: 

June 27, 2022 - Recently, the Federal Register published a final rule that includes the SBA's increase of size standards across a number of NAICS codes. Here's the high-level break down of the common professional services NAICS in the 8(a) space and the impact that takes effect as of May 2022: