On Wednesday 25 January 2006 03:23 pm, Fred wrote: > On Tuesday 10 January 2006 10:39, Richard Soule wrote: > ... > > > Some things that can help: Be a HUB (Historically Underutilized > > Business, usually women or minority owned with bonus points for > > being both), > > I might have thought this would come up due to this being the > government we're dealing with. > > Personally, I consider it condescending to land a contract on the > basis of being a "minority" or "woman".
I agree, but you cannot get out of it! At least that was my experience in 1992. The Federal Acquisition Regulations state "If you have or have reason to suspect you have ancestors in one of the following groups < names about 50, including American Indian and French Canadian > check the square below." The regulations eventually go on to say how long you must spend in jail and how much you will be fined for not answering all questions truthfully. With the checked box you are irrevocably a "disadvantaged minority". To not check the box would be submitting false information. I asked the contracting agency how to get out of it, but they said there was no way, it was my right - besides they had a minority contract set-aside to meet. Not trusting their self interest, I contacted the NH Small Business Administration. Upon explaining no more than my one-man company and my full-blood Indian great-grandmother, there was an immediate "Yes, you are certainly a disadvantaged minority". I protested that I did not meet the "disadvantaged" criterion. She asked, "Can you walk into a bank and get a $5 million loan?" "Well, no," I admitted. "Well, then you are disadvantaged." So, the bureaucrats have expanded the category until it became meaningless - with a wink from Congress, I might guess. Some contract officers use the expansion to avoid choosing minorities they don't like. More often though, in my experience, it allows them to assure that the set-aside goes to companies that will provide a good value for the taxpayer - putting qualifications ahead of ethnicity or race. Jim Kuzdrall _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss