Size Standards: Architects Want Less, IT Contractors Want More Architect/engineering firms bombarded SBA with objections to a proposed massive increase in the industry’s size standard. When the public comment period ended June 15 on SBA’s proposed changes in size standards for NAICS sector 54, covering professional, scientific and technical services, 1,428 comments had been logged through the Regulations.gov website. The vast majority—more than 1,000—appeared to come from a/e firms. Most of those delivered the same message: that the proposed increase in the industry standard to $19 million, from the current $4.5 million, is unjustified and unwelcome. Comments echoed the view of the American Institute of Architects, protesting that the higher standard would mean 97% of all architectural firms would qualify as small businesses, up from 91% today. Many practitioners said the change would open set-asides to larger firms that they don’t consider small. Mark Casso, president of the Construction Industry Round Table, wrote, “Even the government’s own data indicate that the [architect/engineering] community is overwhelmingly dominated by small businesses (which fall within the current $4.5 million size standard) with no evidence that this has changed.” Many commenters urged SBA to work with the profession to determine a more equitable standard. The proposed changes cover 36 industries in NAICS sector 54. SBA expects the increases would make 9,450 new companies eligible for small business programs, approximately 1.2% of the total number of firms in the affected industries. A congressional staff report estimated that sector 54 accounts for nearly one-third of all federal contract spending with small businesses, about $32 billion in 2010. While standards in several industries would double, triple or quadruple, SBA proposed only a tiny increase for IT companies: to $25.5 million from the current $25 million. Most commenters from the IT industry consider the increase inadequate. Fernando Galaviz, chairman of the National Federal Contractors Association and a longtime IT business owner, urged SBA to adopt tiered size standards based on employment rather than receipts. Under a tiered approach, small companies of different sizes would compete against each other rather than against larger firms. He also proposed redefining NAICS code 517110, covering wired telecommunications, to include computer networks and related services. The size standard for that code is 1,500 employees. Those comments were among the ideas developed by small business owners and executives who attended a series of Solutions Summits organized by Set-Aside Alert and NaFCA. SBA will now analyze the public comments before issuing a final rule, a process that often takes more than a year.