Founder & CEO of Sabre88, LLC. was inducted in the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame 2015

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Robert Cottingham; Founder and CEO of Sabre88, LLC. was inducted in the USA Hall of Fame this year as one of the most decorated Sabre fencers in USA Fencing history. Only two of the USA Fencing’s most embellished athletes and three coaches were inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame for the year 2015. These five inductees after receiving nominations from the Hall of Fame Committee were selected through an online poll which was open to all the individuals aged 18 and older who held current USA Fencing memberships of supporting level or higher.

Robert Cottingham, U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame Nominee

Click here to view the list of Nominees

Robert Cottingham was a member of the 1988 and 1992 Olympic sabre teams and won six U.S. National Championship titles in sabre between 1986 and 1992. He was a Pan Am Team silver medalist in 1987 in Indianapolis. He had an outstanding collegiate career where he had a dominating record of 108-11 whilst he fenced for Columbia and won both individual and team NCAA titles in 1988.

The other four adorned names included in the USA Fencing Hall of Fame for 2015 were,
Becca Ward, two-time Olympic Medalist; Michel Sebastiani, former Olympian and U.S. Fencing Coach; Simon Gershon, Head Coach for U.S. Men’s Foill Team & Fencing Coach; Marty Schneider, Fencing Coach for Riverdale Country School (60 Years).

Sabre88 Awarded Contract with Naval Supply Systems Command for SERD Processing

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Newark, New Jersey:  Sabre88 wins second contract with the Naval Supply Systems Command for SERD Processing in Philadelphia. The Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) is responsible for the supply and delivery of logistics and support to the Navy. Sabre88 will process ‘The Support Equipment Recommendation Data’; a contract deliverable document that lists recommended specific items of support equipment to support a weapon system or item of equipment.

The primary work location of this contract would be at NAVSUP- Weapon System Spaces in Philadelphia. The scope of this partnership includes processing of SERDs and their related spin-off tasks. Additionally, Sabre88 personnel will be responsible for providing and processing an in-depth and focused analysis of the documents with technical and logistics data from the Autoserd.

Sabre88 has been awarded this opportunity for a period of 1 year plus 4 option years. Sabre88 has always been in top crunch in the recent years. “Our company’s proliferating growth has not only left a mark in the business administration, but also has raised the bar for ourselves”, said Chairman and CEO Robert Cottingham, Jr. It is the approach towards our goal which always helps us execute every project swiftly. We are humbled and captivated with our second contract with the Navy.

About Sabre88, LLC.  Sabre88 is a global consulting firm applying capabilities in technology, public policy, international affairs, healthcare and education to government and commercial clients. With more than twenty years of experience offering strategic solutions, Sabre88 staff advance the firm’s mission to provide civilian and defense agencies of the government with the necessary tools to address emerging challenges and pursue global opportunities.

Owner of Newark Information Technology Company Honored as SBA’s 2015 NJ Minority Small Business Person of the Year

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NEWARK, NJ – Robert Cottingham, Jr, founder and CEO of Sabre88, a Newark-based consulting and IT company was named the recipient of U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2015 New Jersey Minority Small Business Person of the Year, it was announced today.

The announcement was made at SBA’s Annual Small Business Week Awards Reception hosted by the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey at the State Museum in Trenton. In making the announcement, New Jersey District Director, Al. Titone .said that Cottingham, an African-American was selected for the award based on criteria that include the company’s Overall Financial Strength, Growth in Sales and Profits, Growth in Number of Employees, and Participation in Community and Charitable Events.

Six years ago, Cottingham started the business from his home. Today, his company has offices in Newark and provides IT and Telecommunications support to government agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Navy among other clients. Sabre88 currently employ 32 fulltime employees and annual revenue in excess of $2 million.

A turning point for Cottingham came in 2011, when Sabre88 became an SBA certified 8(a) company. According to Titone, the 8(a) Program is an essential instrument for helping socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain access to federal contracting opportunities.

Participants of the program can receive sole-source contracts, up to a ceiling of $4 million for goods and services and $6.5 million for manufacturing. While we help 8(a) firms build their competitive and institutional know-how, we also encourage them to participate in competitive acquisitions, said Titone. We believe that contracting is one of the most effective ways for small businesses to create jobs in this country and inner cities like Newark.

Minority small business owners play an essential part in contributing to both our national and local economy, said Titone. I am here to tell you that the American dream does exist for those who have innovative businesses and are willing to work hard to achieve success, We’re just so pleased to be celebrating National Small Business Week (May 4-8) and recognizing the achievements and success of Bob Cottingham and Sabre88.

Contact: Harry Menta (973) 645-6064 (SBA)
Cell Phone: (201) 675-6309Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

Small Business Pushes Recovery Forward Despite Lull in Large Business Growth

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While large companies have slowed in hiring in the first quarter of FY2015, small business continued to push forward last March according to payroll processing company ADP. Small companies added 108,000 workers, up from 105,000 in February making March the second consecutive month of growth since January and almost the strongest in nearly a decade.

Gains were divided almost evenly, with businesses fewer than 20 employees adding 57,000 new workers to the workforce, and 51,000 workers contributed by companies between 20 and 50 employees. In addition, according to the National Federation of Independent Business’ Chief Economists Bill Dunkelberg, one in ten small businesses expect to increase their payrolls in the upcoming months. According to the NFIB that also indexes economic growth in relation to business size, March continued to build upon the readings since the beginning of the new year with levels jumping to points not seen since 2005.

This upward trend for small enterprises continues despite a recent drop-off from large corporations. According to ADP, total employment has fallen in the United States every month since November with all companies accounting for 284,000 jobs in February and falling to 189,000 in March.

Government Unclear on How Many Federal Contractors it Hires

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Between 2000 and 2012, spending on federal contracting grew more quickly than inflation and as a percentage of total federal spending. The fastest-growing category in dollars has been contracts for professional, administrative and management services the top expanding category being medical services.

Unfortunately, according to a March 11 letter released on the CBO website, the agency reports, “Regrettably, CBO is unaware of any comprehensive information about the size of federal government’s contracted workforce.” 2

The CBO’s efforts to deepen the analysis to help lawmakers determine whether contracting is more expensive than hiring federal employees fell short due to incomplete data. The Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG), “is the only comprehensive source of information about federal spending on contracts.” Still, data in FPDS-NG is incomplete and “several reports have called the accuracy of this data into question”. 3

The database, the CBO concluded does not by itself allow analysts to compare the cost of performing a task with contracted employees against the cost of performing the same task with federal employees.

Critics of federal contracting have long expressed skepticism that contracting is more affordable than hiring government workers. On the other hand, advocates strongly disagree and call for fair, balanced policies, and clear, understandable measurements of public-private competition.

Medici, Andy “CBO: No clue on the number of contractors or their pay.”http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/oversight/2015/03/12/cbo-contractors/70201390/

 

2 Elmendorf, Douglas W. “Federal Contracts and the Contracted Workforce.” Letter to Congressman Chris Van Hollen. 11 Mar. 2015.

3 Elmendorf, Douglas W. “Federal Contracts and the Contracted Workforce.” Letter to Congressman Chris Van Hollen. 11 Mar. 2015.

Small Business Administration Proposes Expanded Small Business Mentor-Protege Program

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Earlier last month, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) proposed rule changes that would establish a government-wide mentor-protege program and would increase the opportunity for large and small businesses to partner on unrestricted competitions and small business set asides. The new rule will be modeled after the 8(a) Business Development Program the only SBA program with a mentor-protege program established resulting in the expansion of the mentor-protege program to all small business contractors. The 8(a) mentor-protege program will remain in effect however with modifications to create additional opportunities for contracting with small disadvantaged businesses. The proposed rule comes amongst a series of sweeping changes from the SBA in the hope of creating new opportunities for small businesses.

The proposed rule would expand the mentor-protege program across all SBA programs including: Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), and all small businesses. As opposed to creating multiple mentor-protege program for each of these designations, the SBA has elected to create one all-encompassing program for all SBA small business programs.

The new mentor-protege program will in large measure follow the requirements set in the 8(a) mentor-protege program. Below are the key elements of the proposal:

Mentors:

To be an eligible mentor a business will have to demonstrate: it is strong financially, is not listed on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) and it can impart value to the protege “due to lessons learned and practical experience gained” or “through its knowledge of general business operations and government contracting.”

Proteges:

A protege would need to qualify as small under its primary NAICS code, which the SBA would verify by seeing a formal size determination from the firms regional SBA office. Proteges would generally be allowed to have only one mentor at a time, but a second mentor could be added if the relationship would “not compete or otherwise conflict with the assistance” of the existing relationship.

Benefits:

Once the SBA approves a mentor-protege agreement, the mentor and protege would be eligible to submit offers as joint ventures on set-aside procurements for which the protege is otherwise ineligible. Additionally, a protege could also sell up to 40% ownership interest to the mentor for the purpose of raising capital. The benefits of this relationship would cease when the protege is no longer small for its primary NAICS code.

Congress Renews Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program

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The House of Representatives voted last week to renew the Pentagon’s 25-year old Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test program for three more years of testing despite claims from Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann stating that the Pentagon would like to see the program terminated due to a lack of any quantifiable results proving the programs efficacy. The Senate is expected to renew the Test Program by the end of the week as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDCA).

The Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program was set up in 1990 to “determine if comprehensive subcontracting plans on a corporate, division or plant-wide basis would lead to increased opportunities for small businesses”. Currently the program has failed to publish a report or yield any relevant data, and small business advocates charge that the Test Program’s existence is actually costing smaller companies opportunities by allowing larger firms a loophole exempting them from submitting subcontracting reports used to monitor compliance with small business goals allowing a work to get around the government wide goal of awarding 23 percent of all federal contract dollars to small business. In 2010, the American Small Business League (ASBL) launched a national campaign to potentially block the Test Program’s extension and last September Professor Charles Tiefer, one of the nation’s leading experts in federal contracting law called the program a “sham” due to the egregious lack of transparency and oversight, stating that “The program and its extension will be seriously harmful to vital opportunities for small businesses to get government contracting work.”

Last summer, chairman of the Small Business Committee, Rep. Same Graves, R-Mo, pressed for revision in the NDCA to increase transparency and accountability in the program, however Senators on the Armed Services Committee called for an end to the program entirely. The final bill, which the President is expected to sign will extend the program for another three years but will require thorough reporting in greater detail more frequently.

Government Shutdown Averted at Last Minute

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“WASHINGTON” The House narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion spending package on Thursday that would fund most government operations for the fiscal year after a rancorous debate that reflected the new power held by Republicans and the disarray among Democrats in the aftermath of the midterm elections.

The accord was reached just hours before the midnight deadline, in a 219-206 vote, amid the last-minute brinkmanship and bickering that has come to mark one of Congress’s most polarized and least productive eras. The legislation now heads to the Senate, which is expected to pass it in the coming days” New York Times By ASHLEY PARKER and ROBERT PEAR DEC. 11, 2014

Avoiding Government Shutdown Likely

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Action to come Thursday.

By ASHLEY PARKER and JONATHAN WEISMANDEC. 9, 2014
“WASHINGTON” Congressional leaders reached a deal Tuesday on a more than $1 trillion spending package that would fund most of the federal government through the current fiscal year. But because negotiations on the package dragged over policy details, House lawmakers also prepared to move on a short-term spending measure that would avert a government shutdown if Congress cannot pass the larger bill by Thursday, when the current funding expires. Even with nettlesome last-minute issues, leaders in both parties expressed confidence that they would be able to keep the government running. Lawmakers battled behind the scenes over dozens of additional policy provisions ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction over some bodies of water to the District of Columbia’s marijuana laws to matters of campaign finance. The big spending package, which congressional leaders had hoped to have ready on Monday, did not come until Tuesday evening. The final legislation would largely keep domestic funding at current levels, while providing more money to fight various crises abroad. The House is expected to vote on the package on Thursday before sending it to the Senate. The short-term measure would provide the Senate cover and avoid a government shutdown if the Senate is unable to also pass the bill that day.

The spending bill would fund nearly all of the federal government through September 2015, except for the Department of Homeland Security, which it would fund only through February, in retaliation for President Obama’s unilateral action to defer the deportation of as many as five million undocumented immigrants. Congressional Republicans plan to take up funding for the agency which has primary responsibility for carrying out the president’s immigration directive early next year, when they will control both chambers of Congress and believe they will have more leverage”-New York Times December 10, 2014

Join the Movement: Small Business Saturday, November 29th!

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In 2010, American Express founded Small Business Saturday with the goal of helping small businesses achieve their most pressing need finding new customers. Small Business Saturday encourages people to shop at small business on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Customers that register their American Express cards to shop at small business will be given a monetary credit for each registered cardholder.

Shopping locally can revitalize your community, local economy and creates jobs. This is why Sabre88 is a supporter of Small Business Saturday and the undertaking to promote small business this shopping season.