How Do You Define Small Business?
“The saga of the SBA and set-asides - Mar. 14, 2008 [Preferential contracting made easy]” speaks to the Small Business Administration and how the US Gov’t spreads the wealth to qualified small businesses.
And we discover another lame spin that misleads the populace…
For the uninitiated who read, like me, it’s one thing to see that;
“Back in 1953, when Congress established the SBA with passage of the Small Business Act, legislators aimed to drive more government contracts to small companies. The current Congressional target calls for 23% of all federal procurement contracts to go to small firms, an increase from 1997’s 20% goal.”
It confirms existing knowledge with numbers. Feels good except that it also feels like they ought to be doing more - an increase from 20% to 23% in 11 years doesn’t seem to cut it, but that’s personal opinion.
Next, I read the “qualifier.”
“One tool Congress authorized to help make this happen? Set aside programs for small businesses, which were created by a 1977 law. These programs allow government agencies to limit competition for certain contracts to small-business bids only.”
I’m not giving much thought to what a small business is defined as - yet. I had seen another article about set asides recently, also at CNNMoney, but this gave me more;
“Set asides are like boxing, where you have a middleweight and a heavyweight class,” said Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League (ASBL), a lobbying group. “Congress knew the average small business couldn’t compete head-to-head with General Motors.”
Now there is a link to the ASBL and I follow it because it said “lobbying group.” At the very top of their home page is a ticker showing the Billions of dollars small businesses have lost to large corporations in the past year! Well over $21 Billion!
Stunning eh? But not quite as stunning as the scrolling text towards the bottom which lets us in on what companies our gov’t considers small businesses;
- AT&T
- Ford Motor Company
- Microsoft
- Blackwater Security Consulting
- BellSouth
- Exxon Mobil!!!
- Verizon
- Wal-Mart
- British Aerospace Engineering???
- Perot Systems
And many more… I think it might be an eye-opener to read the ASBL’s latest newsletter.
Tags: American Small Business League, ASBL, Bush Administration, SBA, Set Asides, Small Business AdministrationRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Online Money, Worth Passing Along
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