What is a small business?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
What is a small business?
7
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 1:32pm

"Agencies Made $5B in Small Business Contracting Mistakes

U.S. government agencies made at least $5 billion in mistakes in their recent reports of contracts awarded to small businesses, with many claiming credit for awards to companies that long ago outgrew the designation or never qualified in the first place, according to a new Washington Post analysis.

Staff Writer Carol D. Leonnig of the Post examined a sampling of the $89 billion in contracts the agencies classified as small-business awards, helping them satisfy a congressional mandate to award nearly a fourth of all government work to small firms.

In the data The Post analyzed, federal agencies counted Lockheed Martin and its subsidiaries as "small" on 207 contracts worth $143 million. Dell Computer, a Fortune 500 company, was listed as a small business on $89 million in contracts."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/10/agencies_made_5b_in_small_busi.html

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 1:39pm

What is a small business?

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 2:18pm

Well at least Obama says Joe will qualify, and I don't think there's any gray area when he says that.

Apparently the current administration believes a few interantional defense contractors qualify.

My guess is that if a corporation stuffs enough money goes into the Congressmen's pockets, it will qualify as a small business. It will be interesting to see the followup on the Post article.

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 2:21pm

Here is the page from the Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/services/contractingopportunities/sizestandardstopics/size/index.html

For certain things, "small" is defined as 50 employees or less.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 2:24pm

he also says small business will be exempt ........ but what is small business?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 4:55pm

The info below is from the SBA website sild referenced. It's clear that someone goofed or got paid for awarding contracts to the defense contractors mentioned in the Post article. Also, it's unlikely Obama would use different size standards when talking about exemptions for plumbers.

SBA has several general Size Standards. A business in one of the following industry groups is small if it is not greater than the size standard indicated.

Industry Group-- Size Standard (# of employees or average annual receipts)

Manufacturing 500 employees
Wholesale Trade 100 employees
Agriculture $750,000
Retail Trade $6.5 million
General & Heavy Construction (except Dredging) $31 million
Dredging $18.5 million
Special Trade Contractors $13 million
Travel Agencies $3.5 million (commissions & other income)

Business and Personal Services $6.5 million
Except:

Architectural, Engineering, Surveying, and Mapping Services
$4.5 million

Dry Cleaning and Carpet Cleaning Services
$4.5 million

http://www.sba.gov/services/contractingopportunities/sizestandardstopics/summarywhatis/index.html

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 4:58pm
sorry if I mispoke ... I wasn't talking about Joe any longer.

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Wed, 10-22-2008 - 5:42pm

Just shows how bogus the government can get...


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