Shaun Kennedy is quoted in a Law360 article titled “Proposed Small-Biz Standards Could Hurt Smaller Cos.”
Discussing the U.S. Small Business Administration’s newly proposed size standards aimed at simplifying industry classifications and dramatically increasing size thresholds, Kennedy notes the proposed size standards will either be “an opportunity or a threat,” depending on which side of the spectrum a business falls: “You have a number of small businesses that have really sort of confined their operations to these size standards that have been established, and worked hard to ensure that they remained eligible as a small business to pursue those opportunities as a very dedicated business strategy.” However, should the new standards go into effect, an additional 114,541 businesses will be able to compete for contracts reserved for companies that qualify as small under the new size standards, which didn’t have that access before, Kennedy said.
Under the agency's proposed rule, size standards would be set at the broader industry group or international industry level under the North American Industry Classification System, as opposed to the more specific U.S. industry level that they are currently set at. This simplification could benefit both small businesses and contracting officers: “There is valuable streamlining upsides there, not only from the perspective of contractors identifying which NAICS codes their businesses fit neatly into, and utilizing those NAICS codes for purposes of understanding the size standards, but also aiding contracting officers in simplifying the process for identifying the most likely NAICS code that would be applicable to a particular acquisition,” Kennedy said.
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