Asmall-business group will go to trial in December against the Defense Dept. totry to reveal more information about the workings of the DOD's longstandingComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program. The American Small BusinessLeague, headed by Lloyd Chapman, has been criticizing the program for severalyears because Chapman contends it has not performed well and has reducedopportunities for small businesses. Chapman said he has been unable to reviewcrucial documents from the program because of various Freedom of InformationAct exemptions that have been applied by DOD officials. He hopes that thetestimony and documents to be revealed in court will provide sufficientevidence to prove that the program is negatively affecting small businesses,and that problems with the program have been ignored or covered up over theyears. "I'm confident that we will uncover evidence that would force thePentagon and Congress to dismantle the Pentagon's Comprehensive SubcontractingPlan Test Program," Chapman told Set-Aside Alert in an emailedstatement. Congress set up the DOD subcontracting program in 1989. While thevalue of the program has been challenged by Chapman and others, Congress lastyear renewed it for another 10 years. The program allows large DOD contractorsto develop small business subcontracting plans on a corporate, division orplant-wide basis, rather than developing a subcontracting plan for eachcontract. The goal was to determine whether the comprehensive test plan wouldprovide greater opportunity for small businesses. Chapman said the DOD's use ofFOIA exemptions to withhold information on the program has made it verydifficult to evaluate if the program is meeting small business goals. Chapmansued Sikorsky Aircraft and the DOD to gain release of Sikorsky's small businesssubcontracting plan. He won the case in court in 2014 but Sikorsky and DODsuccessfully appealed, and the case was sent back to the lower court. In thelatest development, a California judge approved an agreement between the leagueand DOD to go to trial to examine whether or not a specific FOIA exemptionapplies to information that Sikorsky and DOD withheld on Sikorsky's smallbusiness subcontracting plan. U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California ordered thatthe trial would include as many as 10 depositions from DOD on the program. Aspokesman for Sikorsky told GovExec that at this timeSikorsky is no longer a party to the litigation. A DOD spokesman declined to comment,citing a policy of avoiding commenting on pending litigation.

For the fullstory, click here: https://www.asbl.com/media/Small%20biz%20group%20to%20get%20day%20in%20court%20vs.%20DOD%20subcontracting%20program.pdf

A small-business advocate is fighting two behemothsin an effort to force the Pentagon to disclose a plan showing whether smallbusinesses have access as suppliers of parts and services to Sikorsky AircraftCorp.

Lloyd Chapman, president of the American SmallBusiness League, an advocacy group he founded in 2002, has been fighting alegal battle against the Department of Defense,demanding details about a contracting program he says benefits large militarycontractors.

Chapman won a Freedom of Information Actlawsuit in federal court, but will be back in court later this year following asuccessful appeal by Sikorsky, the Stratford-based helicopter maker, and theDefense Department.

Chapman, of Petaluma, Calif., said the government'sComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program has failed to increasesubcontracting opportunities for small businesses as intended.

"A program that eliminates transparency isn'tgoing to help," he said.

The program eliminated transparency on smallbusiness subcontracting programs for the Pentagon's largest prime contractorsand the Defense Department refuses to release information about the program,Chapman said.

A spokesman for the Defense Department did notimmediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.

Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp., said ina statement that it has complied with all small business requirements underDepartment of Defense guidelines. Information provided in Sikorsky's smallbusiness plan is sensitive and could be used by competitors and "wasrecognized as such" by federal judges who ordered the case back to a lowercourt, Sikorsky said.

Atrial is set for December, Chapman said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of theSenate Armed Services Committee, said Friday he has not encountered widespreadcomplaints by small businesses that contracting opportunities have been denied.But he will speak with companies to determine if suppliers are treated fairly,he said.

"There should be more transparency," saidBlumenthal, D-Conn.

Promoting the many businesses in Sikorsky's supplychain is particularly important since the Malloy administration and legislaturestruck a deal with Lockheed Martin last year guaranteeing production of 200U.S. Navy helicopters in Connecticut until at least 2032 in exchange for up to$220 million in loans and grants.

In addition to increasing manufacturing jobs over14 years, Lockheed Martin agreed to nearly double its spending of $350 milliona year with Connecticut suppliers. The intent is to spur more employment andspending among small subcontractors.

Chapman said he picked Sikorsky for his legalchallenge "quite randomly."

"I'm hoping to prove this program is a fraudand a sham," he said.

For the full story, click here: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-sikorsky-pentagon-lawsuit-20170414-story.html

A small-business advocate has won a dayin court with Pentagon attorneys to argue whether the Defense Department shouldrelease shielded internal documents that the plaintiff argues will reveal agovernment bias against small defense contractors.

Lloyd Chapman, founder of the Petaluma,Calif.-based American Small Business League, for years has sought to expose theworkings of the 28-year-old ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program designed to "determine if comprehensivesubcontracting plans on a corporate, division or plant-wide basis [instead offor individual contracts] would lead to increased opportunities for smallbusinesses."

Chapman argues the program covers upways in which large contractors get work intended for eligible smallbusinesses, and even the Pentagon has expressed a desire for Congress toterminate the program as not effective in organizing contact awards.

On April 12, the small business leagueannounced a new stage in its ongoingsuit against the helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2015) and the DOD. U.S. District Court Judge WilliamAlsup of the Northern District of California, last weekset December as the time for a full trial that will include discovery andas many as 10 depositions from the Defense Department on the mysteriousprogram. "The ASBL believes the release of the information will prove thePentagon has defrauded small businesses out of over two trillion dollars insubcontracts since the program was established in 1989," the league said.

Sikorsky had appealed a 2014 loss indistrict court to the 9th Circuit, which this January ruled in favor of thecompany and the Pentagon. During the litigation, the league reported, Sikorskyargued that parent company Lockheed Martin was a competitor that would gain anunfair advantage with the release of the information submitted to the CSPTP.

But when the 9th Circuit Court remandedthe case back to the District Court this January, the league was given anopportunity by the Justice Department to press for a trial—considered unusualin FOIA cases. "So it would be more like a David and Goliath," the districtjudge said in a 2014 hearing described by the league. "You get to come inthere and be the underdog again against the big company and against the biggovernment. They are trying to suppress the evidence."

A spokesman for Sikorsky told GovernmentExecutive that "at this time Sikorsky is not a party to the ongoing caseand has no additional comment."

A Pentagon spokesman said the departmentdoes not comment on pending litigation.

Chapman told Government Executivethat he is emotional over what he called a "historic" development.

For the full story, click here: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/04/pentagon-headed-court-against-small-business-advocate/136980/#disqus_thread