Have you heard?

Good News for Small Business and the DoD
"Notice of reinstitution of small business set-asides under the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program."

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IRS Gas Mileage Reimbursement Going Up
"The IRS announced on Tuesday that beginning July 1, the standard rate used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business purposes will be increased to...the highest rate ever"

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House appropriators approve DHS spending bill
"The House Appropriations Committee Tuesday approved an fiscal 2009 spending bill for the Homeland Security Department, after voting on a handful of Republican amendments...$2.3 billion more than President Bush requested."

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Teaming for Growth: Diversity Procurement Fair

The Diversity Fair is an opportunity to participate in a forum for regional companies and professionals, Tuesday, June 24, 2008, to explore the unique and lucrative business of Government Prime and Subcontracting. The day will feature strategic networking opportunities and several educational workshops where TargetGov will present: "New Strategies and Tactics to Win Government Contracts"

Click here for more information on the conference and how to register

Certifications: Learn the Basics and the Crucial Next Steps

Do you qualify for certifications? Attend the Certifications: Learn the Basics and the Crucial Next Steps conference, Thursday, July 17, 2008, sponsored by TargetGov and the Center for Business and Technology Development. This conference is specifically designed to teach the small business owner to use certification as a tool to open the door to increased business opportunities.

Learn to tap into over $15 billion in federal contracts set aside for companies meeting Minority, Disadvantaged and other certifications.

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Diversity Procurement Conference

Teaming for Growth is a Diversity Procurement Fair that you won’t want to miss. The Fair will be held on June 24th, 2008 at the Engineer’s Club beautiful Garrett Jacobs Mansion in the historic Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore City. The purpose of the fair is to create a forum for regional companies and professionals to explore the unique and lucrative business of Government Prime and Subcontracting. The day will feature; scheduled one-on-one matching sessions with purchasing and procurement officers from Government Agencies and Prime Contractors who have small and diversity business goals. It will also include several educational workshops and strategic networking opportunities.

Click here for more information about the conference

We've Got Good News and...

'Churn' Good for Growth and Productivity

"Job losses and business failures are certainly distressing to the individual... the churning process replaces lower productivity businesses with new, more productive ones, thereby increasing productivity and raising living standards."

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Wells Fargo/Gallup: Small Business Confidence at Record Lows

"confidence has been dropping for more than a year...A number of factors are scaring small business owners--especially concerns about future cash flow."

© 2008 The Public Forum Institute and the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

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340 out of 351 Contractors Win Navy IDIQ

The U.S. Navy is awarding indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts to 340 contractors that will provide for their competition for service requirements solicited by Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Strategic Systems Programs, Office of Naval Research, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the United States Marine Corps.

Click here for the entire listing

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS ETHICS GUIDANCE NOW AVAILABLE

"Under new Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 3.10 that took effect last December, all government contractors are now required to establish ethics programs suitable to the size of the company and the nature of their federal contracting to help prevent fraud and drive ethical conduct," said Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG) President, Carole Stern Switzer. "But like similar regulations imposed on other industries and activities, these regulations don't tell contractors how best to comply.” Click here for more details.

Clean Contracting Act

Congressman Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over government contracting, introduced a wide ranging contracting amendment last week called the “Clean Contracting Act” that will affect ALL government contractors.

A sampling of the changes include:

TITLE XLI—ENHANCED COMPETITION
Sec. 4101. Minimizing sole-source contracts.
Sec. 4102. Limitation on length of certain noncompetitive contracts.

TITLE XLII—CURBING ABUSE-PRONE CONTRACTS
Sec. 4201. Regulations to minimize the inappropriate use of cost-reimbursement contracts.
Sec. 4202. Preventing abuse of interagency contracts.
Sec. 4203. Prohibitions on the use of lead systems integrators.

Additional acquisition, fraud and transparency topics are covered as well. Click here for the full text.

I am looking for feedback from contractors regarding the suggested changes. This amendment will be proposed as part of the DOD Authorization bill. Let me know what you think! Deadline for replies to me is June 13, 2008. Email me at info@targetgov.com. Of course, feel free to contact your Congressperson to let them know what you think of the bill as well!