§657f. Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans — Inbound Citations
15 U.S.C. § 657f
Cited by 17 provisions in release 119-102.
Citations to 15 U.S.C. § 657f as a whole
-
(III) immediately prior to the death of such veteran, and during the period described in clause (ii), the small business concern is included in the database described in section 657f of this title.
-
(1) The exclusive duties of a Business Opportunity Specialist employed by the Administrator and reporting to the senior official appointed by the Administrator with responsibilities under sections 637, 644, 657a, and 657f of this title (or the designee of such official) shall be to implement sections 636, 637, and 657r of this title and to complete other duties related to contracting programs under this chapter. Such duties shall include—(A) with respect to small business concerns eligible to receive contracts and subcontracts pursuant to section 637(a) of this title—(i) providing guidance, counseling, and referrals for assistance with technical, management, financial, or other matters that will improve the competitive viability of such concerns;(ii) identifying causes of success or failure of such concerns;(iii) providing comprehensive assessments of such concerns, including identifying the strengths and weaknesses of such concerns;(iv) monitoring and documenting compliance with the requirements of sections 636 and 637 of this title and any regulations implementing those sections;(vi) advising on compliance with contracting regulations (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation) after award of such a contract or subcontract;(B) reviewing and monitoring compliance with mentor-protege agreements under section 657r of this title;(C) representing the interests of the Administrator and small business concerns in the award, modification, and administration of contracts and subcontracts awarded pursuant to section 637(a) of this title; and
-
(1) The principal duties of a commercial market representative employed by the Administrator and reporting to the senior official appointed by the Administrator with responsibilities under sections 637, 644, 657a, and 657f of this title (or the designee of the official) shall be to advance the policies established in section 637(d)(1) of this title relating to subcontracting, including—(A) helping prime contractors to find small business concerns that are capable of performing subcontracts;(B) for contractors awarded contracts containing the clause described in section 637(d)(3) of this title, providing—(i) counseling on the responsibility of the contractor to maximize subcontracting opportunities for small business concerns;(ii) instruction on methods and tools to identify potential subcontractors that are small business concerns; and(iii) assistance to increase awards to subcontractors that are small business concerns through visits, training, and reviews of past performance;(C) providing counseling on how a small business concern may promote the capacity of the small business concern to contractors awarded contracts containing the clause described in section 637(d)(3) of this title; and(D) conducting periodic reviews of contractors awarded contracts containing the clause described in section 637(d)(3) of this title to assess compliance with subcontracting plans required under section 637(d)(6) of this title.
-
(A) An otherwise responsible business concern that is in compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (B) shall not be denied the opportunity to submit and have considered its offer for any procurement contract, which contract has as its principal purpose the supply of a product to be let pursuant to this subsection, subsection (m), section 644(a) of this title, section 657a of this title, or section 657f of this title, solely because such concern is other than the actual manufacturer or processor of the product to be supplied under the contract.
-
(k) There is hereby established in each Federal agency having procurement powers an office to be known as the “Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization”. The management of each such office shall be vested in an officer or employee of such agency, with experience serving in any combination of the following roles: program manager, deputy program manager, or assistant program manager for Federal acquisition program; chief engineer, systems engineer, assistant engineer, or product support manager for Federal acquisition program; Federal contracting officer; small business technical advisor; contracts administrator for Federal Government contracts; attorney specializing in Federal procurement law; small business liaison officer; officer or employee who managed Federal Government contracts for a small business; or individual whose primary responsibilities were for the functions and duties of section 637, 644, 657a, 657f, or 657q of this title. Such officer or employee—(1) shall be known as the “Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization” for such agency;(2) shall be appointed by the head of such agency to a position that is a Senior Executive Service position (as such term is defined under section 3132(a) of title 5), except that, for any agency in which the positions of Chief Acquisition Officer and senior procurement executive (as such terms are defined under section 657q(a) of this title) are not Senior Executive Service positions, the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may be appointed to a position compensated at not less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 (including comparability payments under section 5304 of title 5);(3) shall be responsible only to (including with respect to performance appraisals), and report directly and exclusively to, the head of such agency or to the deputy of such head, except that the Director for the Office of the Secretary of Defense shall be responsible only to (including with respect to performance appraisals), and report directly and exclusively to, such Secretary or the Secretary’s designee;(4) shall be responsible for the implementation and execution of the functions and duties under sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title which relate to such agency;(5) shall identify proposed solicitations that involve significant bundling of contract requirements, and work with the agency acquisition officials and the Administration to revise the procurement strategies for such proposed solicitations where appropriate to increase the probability of participation by small businesses as prime contractors, or to facilitate small business participation as subcontractors and suppliers, if a solicitation for a bundled contract is to be issued;(6) shall assist small business concerns to obtain payments, required late payment interest penalties, or information regarding payments due to such concerns from an executive agency or a contractor, in conformity with chapter 39 of title 31 or any other protection for contractors or subcontractors (including suppliers) that is included in the Federal Acquisition Regulation or any individual agency supplement to such Government-wide regulation,4(7) shall have supervisory authority over personnel of such agency to the extent that the functions and duties of such personnel relate to functions and duties under sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title;(8) shall assign a small business technical adviser to each office to which the Administration has assigned a procurement center representative—(A) who shall be a full-time employee of the procuring activity and shall be well qualified, technically trained and familiar with the supplies or services purchased at the activity; and(B) whose principal duty shall be to assist the Administration procurement center representative in his duties and functions relating to sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title,4(9) shall cooperate, and consult on a regular basis, with the Administration with respect to carrying out the functions and duties described in paragraph (4) of this subsection;(10) shall make recommendations to contracting officers as to whether a particular contract requirement should be awarded pursuant to subsection (a) or section 637, 644, 657a, or 657f of this title, and the failure of the contracting officer to accept any such recommendations shall be documented and included within the appropriate contract file;(11) shall review and advise such agency on any decision to convert an activity performed by a small business concern to an activity performed by a Federal employee;(12) shall provide to the Chief Acquisition Officer and senior procurement executive of such agency advice and comments on acquisition strategies, market research, and justifications related to section 657q of this title;(13) may provide training to small business concerns and contract specialists, except that such training may only be provided to the extent that the training does not interfere with the Director carrying out other responsibilities under this subsection;(14) shall receive unsolicited proposals and, when appropriate, forward such proposals to personnel of the activity responsible for reviewing such proposals;(15) shall carry out exclusively the duties enumerated in this chapter, and shall, while the Director, not hold any other title, position, or responsibility, except as necessary to carry out responsibilities under this subsection;(16) shall submit, each fiscal year, to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report describing—(A) the training provided by the Director under paragraph (13) in the most recently completed fiscal year;(B) the percentage of the budget of the Director used for such training in the most recently completed fiscal year;(C) the percentage of the budget of the Director used for travel in the most recently completed fiscal year; and(17) shall, when notified by a small business concern prior to the award of a contract that the small business concern believes that a solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation unduly restricts the ability of the small business concern to compete for the award—(A) submit the notice of the small business concern to the contracting officer and, if necessary, recommend ways in which the solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation may be altered to increase the opportunity for competition;(B) inform the advocate for competition of such agency (as established under section 1705 of title 41 or section 3249 of title 10) of such notice; and(C) ensure that the small business concern is aware of other resources and processes available to address unduly restrictive provisions in a solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation, even if such resources and processes are provided by such agency, the Administration, the Comptroller General, or a procurement technical assistance program established under chapter 388 of title 10;(18) shall review summary data provided by purchase card issuers of purchases made by the agency greater than the micro-purchase threshold (as defined under section 1902 of title 41) and less than the simplified acquisition threshold to ensure that the purchases have been made in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and have been properly recorded in the Federal Procurement Data System, if the method of payment is a purchase card issued by the Department of Defense pursuant to section 4754 of title 10 or by the head of an executive agency pursuant to section 1909 of title 41;(19) shall provide assistance to a small business concern awarded a contract or subcontract under this chapter or under title 10 or title 41 in finding resources for education and training on compliance with contracting regulations (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation) after award of such a contract or subcontract;(20) shall review all subcontracting plans required by paragraph (4) or (5) of section 637(d) of this title to ensure that the plan provides maximum practicable opportunity for small business concerns to participate in the performance of the contract to which the plan applies;5(21) shall consult with the appropriate personnel from the relevant Federal agency to assist small business concerns participating in a SBIR or STTR program under section 638 of this title with researching applicable solicitations for the award of a Federal contract (particularly with the Federal agency that has a funding agreement, as defined under section 638 of this title, with the concern) to market the research developed by such concern under such SBIR or STTR program.This subsection shall not apply to the Administration.
-
(B) whose principal duty shall be to assist the Administration procurement center representative in his duties and functions relating to sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title,4
-
(10) shall make recommendations to contracting officers as to whether a particular contract requirement should be awarded pursuant to subsection (a) or section 637, 644, 657a, or 657f of this title, and the failure of the contracting officer to accept any such recommendations shall be documented and included within the appropriate contract file;
-
(C) The number (expressed as a percentage) and total dollar amount of awards made to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans through sole source contracts and competitions restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans under section 657f of this title.
-
(A) the filing, investigation, and disposition by the Administration of any challenge to the eligibility of a small business concern to receive assistance under section 657f of this title (including a challenge, filed by an interested party, relating to the veracity of a certification made or information provided to the Administration by a small business concern under subsection (a)); and
-
(a) If awarded a contract under section 637(a), 637(m), 644(a), 657a, or 657f of this title, a covered small business concern—(1) in the case of a contract for services, may not expend on subcontractors more than 50 percent of the amount paid to the concern under the contract;(2) in the case of a contract for supplies (other than from a regular dealer in such supplies), may not expend on subcontractors more than 50 percent of the amount, less the cost of materials, paid to the concern under the contract;(A) shall determine for which category, services (as described in paragraph (1)) or supplies (as described in paragraph (2)), the greatest percentage of the contract is awarded;(B) shall determine the amount awarded under the contract for that category of services or supplies; and(C) may not expend on subcontractors, with respect to the amount determined under subparagraph (B), more than 50 percent of that amount; and(4) in the case of a contract which is principally for supplies from a regular dealer in such supplies, and which is not a contract principally for services or construction, shall supply the product of a domestic small business manufacturer or processor, unless a waiver of such requirement is granted—(A) by the Administrator, after reviewing a determination by the applicable contracting officer that no small business manufacturer or processor can reasonably be expected to offer a product meeting the specifications (including period for performance) required by the contract; or(B) by the Administrator for a product (or class of products), after determining that no small business manufacturer or processor is available to participate in the Federal procurement market.
-
(E) with respect to a contract awarded under section 657f of this title, is a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.