SBA Hears Public Feedback on Size Standards SBA opened a month-long round of public hearings on size standards with the first sessions in Seattle and St. Louis June 2. At the Seattle hearing, business representatives clashed over the central question: how small is small? “If you have five-hundred employees, you are not a small business,” said Kathy Lester of Earthworks Environmental Inc. “One hundred or less is at least closer to a small business than five hundred. Fifty is more like it.” Regina Glenn, owner and president of Pacific Communications Inc., said the new size standards should not cause small companies that land a federal contract to find themselves suddenly ineligible for small business programs. “Procurement reform must retain federal contracting as an option [for small businesses],” Glenn said. But most of the 19 speakers opposed a grandfather clause to protect firms during the transition to new standards. The largest number of witnesses at the Seattle hearing represented the biotechnology industry. They urged SBA to allow small businesses that are controlled by large venture capital firms to qualify for Small Business Innovation Research contracts. “Without venture capital, most [medical] treatments wouldn’t be developed,” said Catherine Innes, director of policy and strategic initiatives for the University of Washington’s TechTransfer program. “We are concerned that banning venture capitalist partnerships will eliminate a valuable tool for developing early-stage technologies.” SBA withdrew a proposed revision of size standards last year, in the face of widespread industry opposition. It issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in December, calling for a new round of public comments and saying, “SBA remains committed to modifying its size standards in a manner to make them simpler and easier to use.” The public meetings are the next step in the long process of revising size standards. SBA will digest more than 6,000 written comments it had already received as well as the opinions expressed at the hearings. The rest of the schedule: *June 16, New York; *June 17, Washington; *June 20, Chicago; *June 22, Dallas; *June 28, San Francisco; and *June 29, Los Angeles. For exact locations and times, see the notice at www.sba.gov/size. People wishing to speak or attend must register at least five days in advance at Hearings.sizestandards@sba.gov. Presentations will be limited to five minutes.