Opinion ID: 6661188
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Small Business Selr-Asides

Text: Plaintiffs also suggest that the Air Force might fulfill some of its need for health care services through the use of section 8(a) Small Business set-asides. Evid. Hearing Tr. at 19-20. But, as Mr. Mirrow correctly testified, an 8(a) set-aside “is not a [contracting] vehicle.” Id. at 20. A section 8(a) Small Business set-aside permits the agency to limit competition for certain acquisitions to businesses designated as minority-owned small businesses pursuant to § 8(a) of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 637(a), in conjunction with the SBA. See FAR subpart 19.8. Using an 8(a) or any other type of small business set-aside would not relieve the Air Force of its obligation to perform the acquisition planning and market research requmed by the FAR. The availability of small business set-asides thus does little to lessen the hardship to the Air Force from an immediate injunction.