In today’s competitive government contracting market, small business eligibility gives contractors a huge leg up. As more and more contracts are set aside for small, 8(a), HUBZone, veteran-owned and woman-owned companies, eligibility can be the key to success. Small business eligibility can be leveraged to secure access to contracts that other non-eligible competitors can’t access. But, it also creates additional grounds for competitors to protest a contractor’s set-aside contract award. Specifically, competitors can challenge a contractor’s eligibility to receive contract awards through the use of size and status protests.
In this webinar (after a refresher on the eligibility requirements of various small business programs), Maria Panichelli discusses these size and status protests, how they are made, the common bases supporting them, and the process contractors go through – whether asserting or defending – after a protest has been filed.