Imagine spending significant time, effort, and resources to prepare a successful proposal that results in award of a contract. The process could involve long hours negotiating a subcontract, teaming agreement, or joint venture agreement. But after award, you lose the contract.  For reasons you did not anticipate or understand, you did not meet the contract’s size requirements. Your company was too large due to its “affiliation” with one or more other businesses. 

SBA size status affiliation issues can result in loss of your contract, provide a basis for you to exclude a competitor from award, and can serve as the basis for liability under the civil False Claims Act. Affiliation is a critical issue for small businesses, their large business subcontractors and teammates, and fellow joint venture members. This webinar will address essential SBA affiliation issues, including the critical concept of “control,” potential bases for affiliation, and common misconceptions—held by contractors and agency personnel—regarding relationships that do may or may not create affiliation.  Based on extensive practical experience and recent caselaw, the webinar will provide guidance for contractors to successfully navigate SBA affiliation issues.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the webinar, attendees will be able to recognize unique features of SBA affiliation; know how to assess affiliation issues; and become familiar with the SBA process for adjudicating affiliation through the size protest and appeals process. The webinar will include discussion of lessons learned from years of experience advising clients how to avoid affiliation and challenging the size status of competitors and from decisions of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.