New small-biz rule may hinder agencies, SBA's Preston says

A new rule requiring small businesses to recertify their size regularly may hinder agencies' current goal of awarding 23 percent of contracting dollars to small businesses, one SBA official said June 4.

GSA seeks bids for telecom deals worth $93M

GSA is seeking indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, firm fixed-price bids for six new multiple-award contracts for wireless telecom expense management services not available through its Networx contract.

Is SBA asleep on minority-owned business issues?

Sen. John Kerry seems to think so, saying that the agency has not updated its net worth threshold for its small-business program that assists businesses with government contracts set-asides in a decade.

GSA seeks vendors for multiple-award schedules

As agencies reorganize their human resources duties, GSA is soliciting contractors to offer related services on its multiple-award schedules.

Contractors becoming DOD mainstay

DOD has increased its reliance on contractors to maintain operations in the past decade because its personnel are away on military duty, a new report said.

DOD has yet to meet veteran contract rule

Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate's Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, is asking for a clear statement on DOD's commitment to meeting the governmentwide goal, instituted in 1999.

House restores small biz contract dollars to 30 percent

After some wrangling earlier this week, the House has decided agencies should give 30 percent of their contracting dollars to small businesses.

Small business contract goal yo-yos in House

The percent of federal contracts that should go to small businesses has changed as different House committees considered a contracting-related bill. Each change has caused concern among officials.

Serco nabs Postal Service technology deal

Serco won a contract to assist the U.S. Postal Service in developing new mail-processing technologies.

SBA wants new mainframe to meet its needs

SBA wants to put its 50-year-old mainframe systems to rest.

Proposal means small businesses learn the rules or suffer the cost

Small businesses may not be ready for the level of scrutiny headed their way under proposed reporting rules and the contracting accountability Web site.

Small businesses see success with SEWP

NASA awarded 45 IT governmentwide acquisition contracts yesterday to 37 vendors, half of which are small businesses.

Report: Fed IT spending will continue modest growth

Federal spending on IT will maintain its modest growth rate over the next two years, as the political climate keeps agencies wary of major new projects, a new report said.

Proposal would require specific subcontracts be made public

Under a newly proposed rule, contractors would have to report specific subcontract awards to a public database to assess the quality of the reported information.

House considers Accountability in Contracting Act

A contracting oversight bill holds to its original intent of limiting noncompetitive and sole-source contracts and requiring disclosure of justifications for such contracts after two House committees have looked at it.

SBA announces new associate administrator

Paul Hsu is the new associate administrator of SBA's Office of Government Contracting and Business Development.

Industry: SARA proposals could be a mistake

A group of industry associations has reiterated its concerns that several draft recommendations from the Acquisition Advisory Panel would cause delays in acquisition and chill innovation in government services.

Sweet success for small-biz owners

The Small Business Administration and the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new Internet tool March 7 that offers small-business owners advice and guidance.

House committee hears industry opinions on small-biz

Root out burdensome overregulation, ban permanent Internet taxes and make research and development funding ongoing, a panel of technology and telecommunications business representatives and owners urged a congressional committee.

Davis wants answers on US-VISIT

Rep. Tom Davis has asked for information on the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program's technological changeovers, along with the latest strategic plans.