Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc.

Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc. today responded to the U.S. Small Business Administration's proposed revisions to the small business size standards. The 30-page statistical analysis found that the proposed revisions will grow the small business share of federal procurement simply by reclassifying large companies that currently exceed revenue-based size standards, with no new small business spending by federal agencies.

Eagle Eye's analysis focuses on the Top 25 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) categories where the SBA proposes to change its revenue-based size standards to labor-based size standards. Eagle Eye concludes that if federal government procurement spending matches rates of small business participation in the economy as a whole, small business spending would rise in these 25 NAICS markets overall by 4.9 percent.

In all, the SBA proposes changing 474 revenue-based size standards to labor-based size standards. Applying the 4.9 percent multiplier to the $33.3 billion in small business procurement in these 474 NAICS categories means that small business spending would grow to $34.9 billion, raising overall small business spending from $59.8 billion to $60.8 billion and increasing the FY 2003 small business procurement share from 20.6 percent to 20.9 percent.

"Our analysis concludes that on average the proposed size standards revisions will harm the truly small and emerging businesses by re-classifying a group of larger contractors that exceed revenue standards but not the proposed, new labor standards," stated Eagle Eye President Paul Murphy, the study's main author.

The study also looks at the Top 25 Department of Defense NAICS markets. In these markets, several of which overlap the overall Top 25 NAICS categories, Eagle Eye estimates that small business procurement spending will increase $1.6 billion, from $27.3 to $28.9 billion strictly as a result of re-classifying the size standards. More than half of the Top 25 DoD Size Standards will not change under the proposed revisions.

Some facilities management NAICS categories will experience dramatic changes under the revisions. In NAICS 561210 (Facilities Support Services) and NAICS 541513 (Computer Facilities Management Services). estimated small business procurement spending will fall 46 percent and 88 percent respectively.

Other notable changes would occur in NAICS 541519 (Other Computer-Related Services) where the small business revenue share would jump an estimated 54 percent, and in and NAICS 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services), estimated to grow 45 percent.

For more information contact Paul Murphy at pmurphy@eagleeyeinc.com , or 800-875-4201 or 703-359-8980.