Every GovConFeed story on Small Business Administration — contract awards, policy, enforcement, and protests, newest first.
GAO could not verify whether DOGE teams protected sensitive data at CFPB, Education, NOAA, SEC, SBA and VA after the agencies withheld records. SEC and NOAA challenged GAO's authority. GAO says its access rights are clear.
Read the story →How the four SBA contracting certifications compare: 8(a)'s nine-year sole-source runway, HUBZone's 35% residency rule and 10% price preference, WOSB's NAICS-limited set-asides, and post-VetCert SDVOSB — with current FAR sole-source thresholds, common application mistakes, and how the programs stack.
OMB's Economic Classification Policy Committee is taking comments through Aug. 12 on 2027 NAICS revisions that would merge computer, communications, and tire manufacturing codes and split media-streaming codes, potentially shifting SBA size-standard eligibility for contractors.
DoD suspended CMMC Phase II third-party assessment requirements on July 13, citing only 100 certified assessors for 120,000+ small defense contractors. Phase 1 self-assessment stays in force while a 60-day task force reviews the program.
Sources sought notices and RFIs are where contracting officers build the market-research record FAR 19.502-2 requires before setting work aside for small business. A GAO decision shows agencies must verify real capability, not just count names in a database — making a specific response one of the highest-leverage documents a small business writes.
How joint ventures qualify for small-business set-asides: SBA's eligibility rules, why set-aside JVs must be unpopulated, the mentor-protégé advantages, the two-year rule that limits a JV's shelf life, and the agreement defects that keep costing contractors awards at SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals.
One NAICS code on a solicitation decides whether you can bid a set-aside at all. Here is how size standards actually work — the 5-year receipts average, the 24-month employee count, affiliation traps, the new recertification rules, and the 5-day window to protest a competitor's size.
GSA's June 25 RFI proposes restructuring the Advantage marketplace to spotlight American-made goods through voluntary certification or a dedicated OEM-only Special Item Number, with a 65% domestic-component test rising to 75% in 2029. Industry comments are due July 24, 2026.
Sanford Federal, Inc. and owner Joseph Mandour agreed to pay $3.1 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that the firm faked employee credentials and misrepresented its size to win set-aside work spanning 49 contracts and multiple agencies, DOJ said.
GAO-26-108443 reviewed eight cloud systems across four agencies and found only three had fully implemented continuous monitoring. The watchdog issued 12 recommendations to State, VA, and SBA to tighten provider oversight, service-level agreements, and incident response.
GAO dismissed FedWriters' protest of a $62.6M National Science Foundation communications BPA, ruling that the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul's tougher consolidation test does not reach blanket purchase agreements because the FAR definition of "contract" excludes BPAs.
Broadway Electric, Cornerstone Contracting, and two executives will pay $21.3M to resolve False Claims Act allegations they used front companies to fraudulently capture SDVOSB and small business set-aside contracts from 2017 to 2025.
One free morning email when we publish. Read it in three minutes, act before your competitors do.
You're in. ✓
Check your inbox to confirm your subscription.No spam. Unsubscribe any time. Read our privacy policy.
