The FAR Council issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) in early May that starts the ball rolling on a regulatory change to which all federal contractors must pay attention.  While the ANPR promulgates no new rules right now, its focus is on banning agencies from purchasing certain products or services that contain or otherwise utilize semiconductors that are produced, designed, or provided by three Chinese entities:  Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”), ChangXin Memory Technologies (“CXMT”), and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (“YMTC”).  The ANPR was issued in response to a provision requiring the ban included in the FY’23 Defense Authorization Act.  The issuance of an ANPR itself, is a sign to contractors that the Council expects this area to be one of significant controversy, and perhaps greatly increased industry costs.  Any proposed or final rule that Read more

Companies on the cusp of outgrowing their small business status sometimes look at their growth as if they are staring into the abyss.  Doing business on small business set-asides can, indeed, be good business.  It is certainly tempting for a company to continue calling itself “small” even if it no longer is.  What’s the problem with that?  A look at the “hot off the presses” GSA IG’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress released late last week provides some clear answers. First up is Jonthan Walker, who not only had to pay fines and restitution of over $90,000 but was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for falsely stating that his company was a Read more