GTSI suspension: a shot across the bow? SBA rare action raises questions and concerns

By David Hubler
Oct 04, 2010
The Small Business Administration's suspension Friday of GTSI Corp. from winning new federal contracts because of allegations it received contract dollars meant for small businesses has raised questions and concerns within the contracting community -- and maybe some fear.

“This could be devastating for the company,” said Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting. “They live and die by federal contracts. Being suspended from government contracts could be a crushing blow.”


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“This is one of the first ones of this nature I can recall,” said Bob Dinkel, president and chief operating officer of FedResults. He called the SBA action “a huge albatross around GTSI.”

Dinkel said that the federal government is issuing more and more contracts aimed at small businesses, such as Alliant Small Business, and telling those firms to build their team. “What do you think is on their team? It’s all the big guys,” he said.

“In those kinds of situations it’s still an [indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract] and a shootout on task orders,” Dinkel said. “The big difference here is there is no shootout. The task orders are issued because it’s an Alaska Native Corporation, right?, and noncompetitive.”