The Veterans Affairs Department is switching one of its key contractors this week, with a gap in service expected for several days at minimum. The contractor previously supported processing applications for verifications of veteran-owned small firms.

A recent media report suggested the changeover could lengthen processing times after the experienced vendor leaves on Dec. 2. The new team will be named on Dec. 6 and may need time to get up to speed.

But the VA says it is staffed to fill in the gaps to keep the work flow on schedule.

According to a report from the Washington Business Journal (WBJ), the VA abruptly ended a three-year contract with Ardelle Associates of Alexandria, VA on Dec. 2.

Ardelle employees had been assisting in processing those applications for the last three years, and its contract had been twice extended. From 10 workers initially, the support grew to 85 workers.

A VA spokeswoman said there was nothing abrupt about the end of the contract. “The last extension was scheduled to end on Dec. 2, 2013, which was well known. The program manager had hoped to extend the contract for another couple of weeks to enable a new contract to be put in place before the end of the Ardelle contract. Unfortunately, due to having had two previous extensions, VA was unable to provide another one,” VA spokeswoman Josephine Schuda told Set-Aside Alert.

The VA now is seeking a short-term contract. A solicitation was released in November under an existing blanket purchase agreement, with an award to be made Dec. 6.

VA officials said they hope to avoid or at least minimize any delays that might occur as the new support team learns the ropes.

“The (VA’s) Center for Verification and Evaluation is staffed to fill the gap of the week or so lapse between contracts. It will not have a major impact on verification application processing that would cause applications to exceed the 60-day regulatory time frame,” Schuda said.

In addition, the VA is working to ease the way for hiring of experienced workers on the verifications, Tom Leney, VA’s executive director of small business programs, told WBJ. He said the names of Ardelle employees were provided to the BPA contracting officer, who will determine if it is appropriate and legal to forward the names to the new contractor.

It now takes 27 days for initial verification processing, down from 131 days in 2010, WBJ said.

More information: WBJ article http://goo.gl/7dndP7