A federal IT contractor and its owner agreed to pay $4.8 million after allegedly paying fees to 8(a) firms to win set-aside work, then doing nearly all the work themselves while telling the government the small firms would. It is a textbook pass-through, and the owner paid personally.
Win a large contract and you often must promise to subcontract a share to small businesses, then report your results. Treat the plan as a formality, or pad the reports, and you move from a missed goal into false-statement and False Claims Act territory.
The service-disabled veteran-owned small business program rewards real veteran ownership and control, verified through certification. Knowing the ownership, control, and VetCert requirements is how you claim the status honestly and defend it.
The Rule of Two requires agencies to set a contract aside for small business when two or more capable small firms will likely bid at a fair price. Knowing how it works is how you claim the opportunities meant for you.
When your company is sold or restructured, your government contracts do not transfer automatically. The Anti-Assignment Act, the novation process, and size recertification can make or break the deal. Here is what to know before you sign.
A joint venture or SBA mentor-protege arrangement lets a small business team with a bigger partner and still win set-asides. But the JV agreement, the work split, and the performance-of-work rules have to be exactly right, or you lose the protection.
The 8(a) program is a powerful runway for disadvantaged small businesses, but it demands genuine ownership, real control, and honest eligibility. Get the rules wrong and you can lose the program or face fraud exposure.
The HUBZone program ties your eligibility to your location and your workforce. Miss the principal office or the 35 percent residency requirement and you can lose your status, and misrepresenting it is fraud.
The women-owned small business program requires real ownership and real control, backed by formal certification. Misrepresenting either is set-aside fraud with False Claims Act exposure. Here is how to stay eligible and clean.
SBA's final rule removing the 8(a) rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage is now in effect — a contested change some call a constitutional fix and others call a retreat. Both sides, explained.
