Small Business Size Determination: Identifying and Avoiding Affiliation Traps

SBA determines whether an entity qualifies as a small business concern by counting its receipts, employees, or other measure including those of all its domestic and foreign affiliates, regardless of whether the affiliates are organized for profit. The SBA’s complex web of affiliation regulations presents numerous traps for the unwary, including both large and small businesses competing for any share of federal set-aside contracts. In the past two years, SBA’s focus on enforcement (which means, in part, ensuring that SBA’s programs benefit the entities for which they are designed) has increased scrutiny of company affiliation and resulted in the imposition of more severe penalties. As affiliation directly affects a contractor’s status as a small business and its eligibility for award, contractors should ensure that they understand the rules, risks, and best teaming strategies – BEFORE forming business relationships and submitting proposals.

This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of the affiliation rules and factors, as well as how they have been interpreted by the SBA. This webinar will also provide insight into how these regulations impact bid strategies and teaming relationships, including how best to balance compliance with the SBA restrictions against the often-competing interests of a procuring agency in such areas as past performance, experience, and financial resources. Contractors attending the webinar will also learn important steps that they can take to mitigate affiliation factors and assess a potential teaming partner’s or competitor’s status and vulnerability to a size protest.

Learning Objectives

• Identify what affiliation is, the consequences, and the potential penalties.
• Learn the relevant affiliation factors (from the SBA regulations in 13 C.F.R. 121.103 as well as those identified in case law) with fact-specific examples of relationships resulting in affiliation findings.
• Translate the affiliation requirements into guidance for the teaming and proposal process.
• Understand the size protest process and consequences.
• And much, much more!