The Small Business
Act states that a small
business concern is "one that is independently owned and
operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation." The
law also states that in determining what constitutes a small business,
the definition will vary from industry to industry to
reflect industry differences accurately. SBA's Small
Business Size Regulations implement the Small Business Act's
mandate to SBA. SBA has also established a table of
size standards, matched to North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS)
industries.
When the U.S. Congress first established SBA, the fundamental
question was just what numerical definition should SBA use to define
small businesses,
industry
by industry,
to determine what businesses were eligible for SBA's programs. Over
the years SBA has established and revised numerical definitions
for all for-profit industries, and this numerical
definition is called a "size
standard." It is almost always stated either
as the number of employees or average annual receipts of a business
concern.
In addition to establishing eligibility for SBA programs, all
federal agencies must use SBA's size standards for its Federal
Government contracts it identifies as a small
business. Agencies
must also use SBA's size standards for their other programs and
regulations, unless they are authorized by Federal statute to use
something else.
SBA's Office of Size Standards
develops and recommends small business size standards to the Size
Policy Board
and to the Administrator of SBA. These include recommendations
on small business definitions that other Federal agencies propose. Under
the Small Business Act, Federal agencies must obtain the approval
of the SBA Administrator before adopting a size standard different
from SBA's size standard.
The Office of Government Contracting
makes formal "size determinations" on whether a business
qualifies as an eligible small business for SBA programs.
The Office of Hearings and Appeals
(OHA) reviews appeals of formal size determinations.
The Office of General Counsel interprets size standards regulations
for the Agency and intervenes in OHA size determination appeal cases
if necessary.
The Offices of Size Standards, Government Contracting, and General
Counsel coordinate on all size standard issues.
For further information, you may write or call the Office of Size Standards:
Office of Size Standards
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd St., SW, Washington, DC 20416
Phone: (202) 205-6618
Fax: (202) 205-6390
E-mail: sizestandards@sba.gov
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