Southard

BACKGROUND

26 Kipper Tool Company is a Georgia corporation with its principal place of business in 27 Gainesville, Georgia. (Complaint at 6.1) Kipper was certified as a small business by the United States Small Business Administration. (Dkt. No. 52-1, Garrish Decl. at ¶ 2.) In 2022, Kipper’s total sales were approximately $21 million, but it has been operating at a loss for the last several years, last earning a profit in 2019 when it earned $100,000. (Id.) Kipper has 42 employees who are all based in Gainesville, Georgia. (Id. at ¶ 3.) Jim Southard worked for Kipper from September 2003 to July 2014 in a variety of roles including as the Government Sales, Technical Advisor, and Strategic Business Unit leader in change of General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Defense (DOD) contracts. (Dkt. No. 54-1, Southard Decl. at ¶ 4.) Kipper contracts with GSA to sell tools and other products through the GSA Advantage! Program. (Dkt. No. 52-1, Garrish Decl. at ¶ 5.) The GSA Advantage! Contracting offices are located in Kansas City, Missouri. (Id.) Kipper’s GSA contracts are “entered exclusively with GSA and…