Don't use other pin pullers, You could get hurt! 
Thursday, June 30, 2005
U.S. Small Business Administration
M & G MFG LLC
http://equalizerpinpuller.com
SAN FRANCISCO - As the U.S. Small Business Administration wraps up its 11th nationwide public hearing this week, it hopes to be one step closer to figuring out what exactly constitutes a small business.
About 30 people - from Sacramento to as far away as Puerto Rico - testified Tuesday in San Francisco on whether the SBA's standards should be changed from its current 37 different benchmarks used to define 1,151 industries and 13 subindustries across the country.
The final hearing will be held today in Los Angeles.
Size standards are important to small-business owners who get priority on certain federal contracts and lending programs based on their size. In most cases, that's determined by the number of employees or the amount of sales.
Last year, small businesses were awarded more than $64 billion in federal contracts set aside for small businesses, about 23 percent of all goods and services purchased by federal agencies.
Dev Shukla, president of Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc., of Walnut Creek, said the SBA standards need to be flexible enough so that small businesses aren't priced out when they grow. Federal contracts are getting bigger, effectively pushing a small business into the big leagues too quickly.
"The idea of SBA protection is to allow a small business to nurture itself into full health," he said. "So, having a size standard so small that as soon as you cross, you're competing against giants is inappropriate. It is tantamount to having a five-year-old declared as an adult."
The agency hopes to have a set of revised size standards by the end of this year, said Gary Jackson, the SBA's assistant administrator for size standards in Washington, D.C.
A small demonstration was held in front of the SBA's San Francisco office on Market Street, where protesters shouted "No more fraud." The protesters, representing the American Small Business League, said the SBA has given small business funds to larger corporations.
Lloyd Chapman of Petaluma, the league's founder and a critic of the SBA, said the number of small businesses receiving federal contracts is misleading because not all are truly small.
John Klein, associate general counsel of the Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C., said problems arise when a business grows, or is bought by a larger business during a federal contract, but now must recertify when they merge, he said.
For California's restaurateurs, the SBA should consider that the restaurant industry is different, said Kerry Lee, senior legislative director of the California Restaurant Association in Sacramento.
"The restaurant industry is extremely labor-intensive, employs a high proportion of part-time workers and is highly seasonal," she said. "An employee-based size standard would not be appropriate for the restaurant industry."
The SBA's Jackson said redefining the size standards will be "daunting, but doable."
http://equalizerpinpuller.com
SAN FRANCISCO - As the U.S. Small Business Administration wraps up its 11th nationwide public hearing this week, it hopes to be one step closer to figuring out what exactly constitutes a small business.
About 30 people - from Sacramento to as far away as Puerto Rico - testified Tuesday in San Francisco on whether the SBA's standards should be changed from its current 37 different benchmarks used to define 1,151 industries and 13 subindustries across the country.
The final hearing will be held today in Los Angeles.
Size standards are important to small-business owners who get priority on certain federal contracts and lending programs based on their size. In most cases, that's determined by the number of employees or the amount of sales.
Last year, small businesses were awarded more than $64 billion in federal contracts set aside for small businesses, about 23 percent of all goods and services purchased by federal agencies.
Dev Shukla, president of Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc., of Walnut Creek, said the SBA standards need to be flexible enough so that small businesses aren't priced out when they grow. Federal contracts are getting bigger, effectively pushing a small business into the big leagues too quickly.
"The idea of SBA protection is to allow a small business to nurture itself into full health," he said. "So, having a size standard so small that as soon as you cross, you're competing against giants is inappropriate. It is tantamount to having a five-year-old declared as an adult."
The agency hopes to have a set of revised size standards by the end of this year, said Gary Jackson, the SBA's assistant administrator for size standards in Washington, D.C.
A small demonstration was held in front of the SBA's San Francisco office on Market Street, where protesters shouted "No more fraud." The protesters, representing the American Small Business League, said the SBA has given small business funds to larger corporations.
Lloyd Chapman of Petaluma, the league's founder and a critic of the SBA, said the number of small businesses receiving federal contracts is misleading because not all are truly small.
John Klein, associate general counsel of the Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C., said problems arise when a business grows, or is bought by a larger business during a federal contract, but now must recertify when they merge, he said.
For California's restaurateurs, the SBA should consider that the restaurant industry is different, said Kerry Lee, senior legislative director of the California Restaurant Association in Sacramento.
"The restaurant industry is extremely labor-intensive, employs a high proportion of part-time workers and is highly seasonal," she said. "An employee-based size standard would not be appropriate for the restaurant industry."
The SBA's Jackson said redefining the size standards will be "daunting, but doable."
