The new big men on the campus of SBA U.

Pressures have shifted in the small-business contracting world.

The smallest mid-tier IT companies will be strutting around as the big guys on campus now that federal officials increased size standards on a number industries, including the IT industry. And today's mid-tier small businesses will basically be the smallest small businesses. They might be skinny freshmen at SBA U.

The Small Business Administration recently increased the size standard for technology companies as well as for 33 other industries. The move means about 8,350 additional companies are now eligible to compete for federal contracts as a small business. The changes take effect in March.

However, small business advocates and business owners say the size standard changes threaten small businesses currently in SBA's set-aside programs.

Small businesses in those industries now face a greater challenge in trying to survive the proving grounds of the small business program. All of a sudden, the changes to the size standards reduce the benefits of the small business programs by putting bigger companies with more resources in the competitive mix, said Guy Timberlake, chief visionary officer and co-founder of the American Small Business Coalition.

“The irony is, those companies being reborn as small businesses on March 12, 2012, will unwittingly subject smaller companies to the exact same challenges they themselves faced outside of the small business program,” he said.

These changes may simply add companies to make it easier to award more small business contracts.

"In my opinion, government and prime contractors are trying to reach their respective small business goals through stacked competition, where more companies and bigger companies are added to the pool of available small businesses," Timberlake said.

Just like a bigger pool of tough athletes can improve a football team, the government may get a better record in small business contracting. In the coming years, it's possible that agencies could have some tougher challenges in meeting their small business contracting goals.

Posted by Matthew Weigelt on Feb 14, 2012 at 10:55 AM