(December 22, 2004) The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking comments from the general public on key issues relating to small business size standards.

These key issues include the rules used by the SBA and other federal agencies to determine whether a business is considered small. 

In March 2004, the SBA proposed restructuring its size standards and reducing the number of 37 different size categories to 10 categories and expressing all size standards in terms of the number of the company’s employees.  The SBA received numerous comments from the public expressing concern about this new approach.  The SBA withdrew its proposal for further study.

Before the SBA considers a different approach to restructuring its size standards, it is seeking comments on a number of issues, including:

• approaches by which to simplify size standards;
• calculating business employment size;
• use of receipts to measure employment size;
• designating size standards on federal procurements;
• establishing a separate set of size standards for federal procurements;
• establishing tiered size standards for small business sub-categories;
• simplification of the affiliation and joint venture provisions;
• grandfathering existing small businesses from revised size standards;
• identifying the use of size standards on non-SBA federal programs and regulations; and
• the impact of size standard changes.

The SBA will also be conducting a series of public meetings across the country on size standards to listen to ideas and concerns from the small business community. The SBA will consider a new size standards proposal once it has completed a thorough review of comments received from the public.  All comments are due by February 1, 2005.

For more information on the purposed restructuring or to submit comments, please visit the SBA website at www.sba.gov.