Walter Cotton III  

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims Explains Why Joint Venturing Works Where Teaming Fails.

By: Walter Cotton III

For years, I have told our SDVOSB community to "Stop Teaming & Start Joint Venturing to secure Federal Contracts."  The following COFC Ruling makes it official.

Had these SDVOSBs utilized the Joint Venture Business Model they would have won this case, and the $55, 000,000 Contract it speakes to would have been awarded to a SDVOSB…

If you are not completely sure why a Joint Venture would have worked in this situation – you need to immediately sign-up to become a participant in the Billion Dollar Round Table. (see BDR Blog On The Home-Page)

Here is the case law:

12-01-08: COFC finds cancellation of SDVOSB set-aside proper.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) has found for the government in a protest involving the cancellation of a service-disabled-veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) set-aside solicitation after receipt and evaluation of offers.  The contracting officer determined that none of the 13 offerors that met proposal submission requirements had acceptable relevant past performance, and that the solicitation should not have been an SDVOSB set-aside because 11 of the proposals submitted were teaming arrangements wherein SDVOSBs with little to no relevant experience teamed with more experienced subcontractors.  

The solicitation was canceled, and the agency resolicited under the General Services Administration schedules.

The four plaintiffs, who had submitted proposals under the set-aside, asked that the government be directed to:

(1)   refer the SDVOSB offerors to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a certificate of competency (COC), asserting that the agency's rejection of the bids constituted responsibility determinations that may be made only by SBA

(2)   reinstate the solicitation, review the SDVOSBs' proposals, and award the contract to one of the SDVOSBs.

The court found that the agency was within its rights to cancel the solicitation and resolicit using a different acquisition strategy once it determined that the original solicitation had failed to result in any proposals that met its needs.

Specifically, COFC cited Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.305(b), which provides that "the source selection authority may reject all proposals received in response to a solicitation, if doing so is in the best interest of the Government," and FAR 9.604(e), which states that the government may "hold the prime contractor fully responsible for contract performance, regardless of any team arrangement between the prime contractor and its subcontractors."

Because the SDVOSB primes were to be the ultimate guarantors of performance of the contract, it was not irrational for the government to decide it was too risky to depend on SDVOSB with no relevant past performance, COFC concluded, nor was it irrational to conclude that the solicitation should be canceled on that basis.  In addition, regarding SDVOSB set-asides, FAR 19.1405(c) provides that, "if the contracting officer receives no acceptable offers from SDVOSB concerns, the SDVOSB set-aside shall be withdrawn, and the requirement, if still valid, set aside for small business concerns, as appropriate," and the solicitation at issue explicitly permitted the agency to make no award at all. hID-14038

DCMS-ISA, Inc., L & R Security Forces, Inc., The Whitestone Group, Inc., and R & D Training and Technical Services, Inc. v. The United States <http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FIRESTONE.DCMS111408.pdf%20> (U.S. Court of Federal Claims, November 14, 2008 ) newsID-19305

My Fellow Patriots:

I want to thank you for your interest in the SDVOSB Joint Venture In A Box Solution.  Simply put – The JV-In-A-Box system is guaranteed to put you in control of more than $1,000,000 in Federal Contracting Opportunities – in 4 weeks or less.

What follows is a description of the program, information on the next available session and registration instructions.

The JV-In-A-Box system is based on an intense 4 week training course that is delivered via the distance learning model (i.e. online presentations, conference calls & electronic data exchange).  Participation is capped at 15 SDVOSBs per session, and we require a minimum of 10 SDVOSBs to initiate a session.

There is also a solution for the Do-It-Yourselfers that want to go it alone!
 

The content that is covered during the class sessions includes:

Week 1: Steps To Setting-UP A JV, Market Opportunity & JV Document-set Review

•     Partner Profile Document

•     NDA

•     JV Phase I Agreement

•     LLC Operating Agreement

Week2: Understanding Your SDVOSB Rights

•     Critical FAR Sections

•     CFR Review

•     Size Standard Management

Week 3: Partner Acquisition SOP (Online Presenter Log-on required)

•     7 Touch Methodology

•     Intro email (i.e. Your JV Value Proposition)

•     Initial Phone Meeting

•     Document Execution Order

•     Market Mapping

Week 4: Partner & Market Capture Best Practices (Online Presenter Log-on required)

•     Phase I Presentation (JV Value Proposition Meeting)

•     Phase II Presentation (NAICS Market Mapping)

•     Phase III Presentation (Contract Capture Strategy)

•     Needs Analysis

Each participant also receives the following document-set and online tool access that is valued at > $15,000:

JV Operating Agreement Template

Letter of agreement Template

7 Touch System (Partner outreach system)

Partner Profiling document

JV Implementation Presentation-set

90 day access to the FEDMINE’s market analytics tool (see: www.fedmine.us).

Notwithstanding that baseline value of the material, knowledge and best practices that are received through the BDR -- this program pays for its self.

Specifically, participants learn how to deliver a partnering value proposition that includes a requirement that obligates their JV Partner to deliver to the SDVOSB a refundable payment of $25,000 to demonstrate their commitment to the relationship and to secure exclusive rights to the industries that the SDVOSB JV will target (Note: $25k is repaid through the profits of the JV -- not out of pocket from the Veteran).

From your perspective, you purchase the system for $5,000, your first JV relationship covers that cost and you have a knowledge base the you can duplicate as many times as you need to build-out your organization's JV capability foundation.

We will be initiating new Roundtable Sessions starting on January 13, 2009.  Go to www.jv-inabox.com to lear more (Note: the JV In A Box Solution is exclusively for SDVOSBs).

In closing, we appreciate your interest in the JV In A Box Solution, taking control of your future and I look forward to helping you grow your business through Joint Venturing!

Warm regards,

Walter Cotton III

True Patriot