SBA wants big guys off small business list - Baltimore Business Journal:

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The agency hopes to scrub all large contractors from this list by next Many large companies and their subsidiaries currently are in this primarilybecause they've acquired small businesses or have been miscoded as "small" by procurementy officers, according to the SBA. A new regulatioj that took effect June 30 requires small contractors to recertify theifr size status if they are acquired byanotheer company. Small businesses with long-term government contracts must recertify their size status at the end of five Businesseswith short-term contracts must recertify when their first option is typically after one year.
Unde r the new regulation, businesses that no longeer qualifyas "small businesses" won't lose theit existing contracts, but these deals no longer will be counted as smallp business contracts. The SBA contends this will create more opportunitied for small businesses because agencieds will have to work harder to meet their goal of awardin g 23 percent of all contracting dollars tosmalol businesses.
In the past, some contracts originally awardedx to small businesses were counted as small business contracts for up to20 years, even if thesed businesses grew into large firms or were acquired by big SBA Administrator Steven Preston sent letterse July 3 to chief executivee officers of major federal contractors asking them to identifyy their small business contracts so their statuds can be corrected. "With your cooperation," Prestonb wrote, "we can correct remaining discrepancies so that all large firms are removede from the small business database withithe year." "I don't know if that will actually said Chris Gunn, a spokesman for the .
Contractzs now performed by large businesses can stilkl be counted as small business contracts for up to five years under thenew regulation, the Petaluma, Calif.-baseed ASBL notes. It contendd the SBA should have required small contractors to recertifyu their size status every Federalprocurement officials, however, said they don'tg have the resources to handle annuaol certifications, and many small businesses said this wouldr punish them for growing.
The SBA also plansz to launch a new search tool for the smalol contractor database to make it easietr for procurement officials to identify businessees ownedby minorities, women and service-disablef veterans, as well as small businesses locatedf in low-income areas known as The SBA plans to negotiate agreements to increase contracting with thesd types of businesses at agencieas that haven't met their goals for thesse groups.
SBA district offices and its Small Business Development Centers will providd more counseling and trainingh to small businesses interested in government This will free upthe SBA's procurement center representative s to work with agencies on findingv more contracts suitable for small businesses. The Overseasw Private Investment Corporation hopes a new networmof private-sector partners will encourage more small and medium-size businesses to use its financing and political risk The federal agency has supported $164 billion worth of investmentws in more than 150 developing nations over the past 35 Fees cover the costs of its loans and Small and medium-size businesse account for more than 80 percent of its dealzs now, but OPIC President and CEO Roberft Mosbacher Jr.
said the agency'es small size limits its ability "to go out and beat the drum s to stir upmore OPIC's new Enterprise Development Network, "is just a great way to extenx the reach of the agency," he The network will include loan and insurance originators, which will help small businessesw prepare applications for OPIC products and refin their business plans. These partners are "reallu kind of the front line" in bringing more small businessesto OPIC, Mosbacher said. So far, 14 organizationzs have signed up to beloan originators. OPIC also will designatre lenders toprovide OPIC-backed loans to small and medium-sizse businesses.
The first is , whicnh expects to make up to 50 loans rangingfrom $3 millio to $15 million each. The agency plan s to add more designated lenders in the In addition, specialists in particular business sector and countries will advise OPIC on credit underwritin g and due diligence on particular loans. OPIC'sx mission is not only to help businessees that need help withoverseaw investments, but also to serve the foreign policy interests of the United States. In Afghanistan, it helped finance a five-stare Marriott hotel in downtown Kabul. That's "z great signal to send," Mosbached said.