Search Menu

NDAA FY18 H.R. 1773 – To Clarify Terminology and Improve Uniformity

SBA’s Agenda Anticipates Significant Rule Changes To WOSB, SDVOSB, And HUBZone Programs

A Servant Leader

Popular Now
Guest Author
October 4, 2017
Dark Light
The first of two posts examining the NDAA FY18 changes that will affect small businesses in federal contracting.
confused and angry business man while looking at some documents
© feedough – Depositphotos.com

As we shared in a previous post, on July 14, 2017 the House passed H.R. 2810, the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

Focusing on small businesses, the NDAA is comprised primarily of two main pieces of legislation. We’ll cover one in this post, and follow up with a separate post about the other.

H.R. 1773, the Clarity for America’s Small Contractors Act of 2017

This act amends the Small Business Act to improve reporting on small business goals, achieve uniformity in procurement terminology, clarify the role of small business advocates, and for other purposes.

It modernizes the Small Business Act to ensure that the language used is clear and consistent across federal procurement programs. Heaven knows that the lingo used in legislation is designed for lawyers and lobbyists, and certainly not for the actual small businesses they are addressing.

It strengthens the small business advocates within the Small Business Administration (SBA), who routinely work with Department of Defense contracts by promoting competition and making sure laws are followed, including the NDAA. We know that some small business advocates are not as strong advocates, and legislation that empowers them can only improve things for everyone involved.

The bill implements common sense reforms to ensure transparency and accountability by requiring that important information be provided that clearly shows where taxpayer dollars are being spent on which small business programs. This has always been an issue – small business impact is not easy to track, and then you have complications like mid-tier businesses and sometimes active opposition from the large businesses. Again these are good things – not fixing legislative issues, but strengthening the processes.

Within H.R. 1773, the following bills are found:

  1. R.1597 – Commercial Market Representatives Clarification Act – This bill amends the Small Business Act to specify the principal duties of Commercial Market Representatives, government contracting staff stationed at area Small Business Administration (SBA) offices and reporting to specified senior SBA officers.
  2. R.1641 – To amend the Small Business Act to clarify the responsibilities of Business Opportunity Specialists, and for other purposes. – This bill amends the Small Business Act to declare that the exclusive duties of a Business Opportunity Specialist reporting to the senior official (or designee) appointed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) with certain SBA loan responsibilities, including the procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program, shall be to implement specified SBA loan programs, and complete other duties related to contracting programs.
  3. R. 1693 – Improving Contract Procurement for Small Businesses through More Accurate Reporting Act of 2017 – This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Small Business Administration to report to the President and Congress an analysis of the number and dollar amount of prime contracts awarded by federal agencies each fiscal year to small business concerns.
  4. R.1640 – To amend the Small Business Act to ensure uniformity in procurement terminology, and for other purposes. While this might seem the least important, fixing definitions so everyone is on the same page is a big deal.

All told, these changes are mostly about the processes that govern our small business management, but truly do make incremental improvements that will make a difference.

Stay tuned for a separate post about the other important NDAA FY18 act that affects small businesses.

Related posts:

  1. NDAA FY17 – What’s Ahead for Small Business
  2. Why the NDAA is So Important to Small and Mid-Size Federal Contractors
  3. SDVOSB Programs: 2017 NDAA Sharply Curtails VA’s Authority
  4. 2017 NDAA Changes to Mid-Tier Small Business Contracting
  5. National Defense Authorization Act FY 2017 – Small Business Overview
Related Posts

The All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program

SBA had a well-established mentor-protégé program (MPP) for SBA 8(a) certified firms but lacked an MPP program for other small business concerns and specifically, one for specialized certified concerns such as WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, & HubZone. The 2010 Jobs Act and 2013 NDAA gave SBA the authorization to address this by establishing an all-encompassing mentor-protégé program. Ms. Sandi Clifford, deputy director of the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), visited the Mid-Tier Advocacy (MTA) earlier this year to discuss the program. Here are some of the highlights of this candid and informative discussion: As Ms. Clifford explained, mentor services to protégés include: • Management and technical assistance (internal business management systems) • Financial assistance (in the form of equity investments and/or loans) • Contracting assistance (contracting processes, capabilities acquisitions and performance) • International trade education (learn how to export, international trade business plan, finding markets) • Business development assistance (strategy, finding contracting and partnership opportunities) • General and/or administrative assistance (business processes and support) As administrators of the program, SBA provides: • Central HQ as opposed to 8(a) distributive model • Online application – certify.sba.gov • Online course tutorial requirement • Annual review and evaluation • Template agreements, i.e., MPA (Mentor-Protégé Agreement) Other All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) details: • A protégé may generally only have one mentor at a time; SBA may approve a second (two is the maximum) where no competition exists, or if the protégé registers under a new NAICS or otherwise requires new mentor skills.  • Both protégé and mentor must be for-profit (with exception of protégé being an agriculture cooperative). • A mentor may have no more than three protégés at same time (no lifetime limit). • A participant can be both a protégé and mentor at the same time, if there is no competition or conflict. • The ASMPP is self-certifying and is open to businesses who qualify as small in their primary NAICS code, or who are seeking business development assistance in a secondary NAICs where they also qualify as small.  • SBA will not authorize MPAs in second NAICS in which firm has never performed any work; or where firm would only bring “small” status to Mentor and nothing else. • Existing 8(a) firms in last 6 months of the 8(a) program may transfer their MPA to the ASMPP via the online application process. Coordinate with 8(a) office to fine tune the process but there is no reapplication required. • Application requirements include upload of business plan, but no financial statements or tax returns. • JV agreements: ASMPP will not review and approve joint venture agreements. How to apply for the ASMPP: • Applicants are required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting their mentor/protégé application. • Complete your business profile in certify.SBA.gov. • Evaluate and select your mentor prior to applying. This is not a matching program. SBA will not find a mentor for you. • Begin the ASMPP application process. • Protégés and mentors must complete the online tutorial and have their certificate of completion and all other required documents ready for upload Thank you to Sandi Clifford, Deputy Director, All Small Mentor-Protégé Program, for this helpful overview. TAPE has mentored several small businesses over it’s life as a large business (we’re large in some NAICS codes, though still small in others) and it has been gratifying, satisfying, and integral to our success. As protégés ourselves, we have benefitted from working with some really classy large businesses, and have also had the experience of being a protégé and really getting no tangible benefits. We are currently working with two small businesses, and negotiating ASMPP agreements. You can learn more about the ASMPP on the SBA site. To join MTA and attend future events like this one, please visit www.midtier.org.
Bill Jaffe
August 23, 2017
css.php