(a) General.
(1) All solicitations must include the applicable NAICS code and size standards.
(2) The face of each award made pursuant to the program must contain a statement that the award is being issued pursuant to the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program.
(b) Solicitations greater than the ESB reserve amount.
(1) Solicitations for acquisitions in any of the designated industry groups that have an anticipated dollar value greater than the emerging small business reserve amount must not be considered for small business set-asides under Subpart 19.5. However, agencies may reinstate the use of small business set-asides as necessary to meet their assigned goals, but only within organizational units that failed to meet the small business participation goal.
(2) Acquisitions in the designated industry groups must continue to be considered for placement under the 8(a) Program (see Subpart 19.8) and the HUBZone Program (see Subpart 19.13) ,and the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Program (see Subpart 19.14).
(c) Solicitations equal to or less than the ESB reserve amount.
(1) Solicitations for acquisitions in the designated industry groups with an estimated value equal to or less than the emerging small business reserve amount must be set aside for ESBs, provided that the contracting officer determines that there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more responsible ESB’s that will be competitive in terms of market price, quality, and delivery. If no such reasonable expectation exists, the contracting officer must -
(i) For acquisitions $30,000 or less, proceed in accordance with Subpart 19.5, 19.8, 19.13; or 19.14; or
(ii) For acquisitions greater than $30,000 and less than or equal to the ESB reserve amount, proceed in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section.
(2) If the contracting officer proceeds with the ESB set-aside and receives a quotation from only one ESB at a reasonable price, the contracting officer must make the award. If there is no quote from an ESB, or the quote is not at a reasonable price, then the contracting officer must cancel the ESB set-aside and proceed in accordance with paragraph (c)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section.
(d) Expanding small business participation in targeted industry categories. Each participating agency must develop and implement a time-phased strategy with incremental goals, including reporting on goal attainment. To the extent practicable, provisions that encourage and promote teaming and joint ventures must be considered. These provisions should permit small business firms to effectively compete for contracts that individual small businesses would be ineligible to compete for because of lack of production capacity or capability.
