Concerns about NASA’s sixth iteration of its governmentwide acquisition contract known as SEWP have been bubbling underneath the surface for much of the past few months.
Industry experts have quietly been wringing their collective hands over NASA’s plans for the small business size standard it detailed in the draft solicitation. The worry is the new size standard would exclude or make it nearly impossible for a large swath of small businesses to compete on the contract.
Those fears broke through the surface in a new letter from Reps. Roger Williams (R-Texas) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), chairman and a member of the Small Business Committee.
“The committee is concerned that the revenue-based size standard proposed for use in SEWP VI limits small business’ ability to service task orders without compromising their size status,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The previous vehicle iteration, SEWP V, showed remarkable small business inclusion with small entities winning an estimated 80% of contract dollars. The apparent success of SEWP V makes the decision to use a revenue-based overall contract NAICS code even more concerning. This decision could restrict the ability for small businesses to access task orders and prevent them from fully participating in SEWP VI.”