Professor Charles Tiefer Joins ASBL's Lloyd Chapman To Protect Small Business Programs

PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Professor Charles Tiefer is one of the nation's leading experts on federal contracting law. Professor Tiefer was appointed by President Obama to serve as commissioner in 2008-2011 on the congressionally chartered, independent Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

American Small Business League (ASBL) President, Lloyd Chapman, has retained Professor Tiefer to review a new SBA policy Chapman has described as "anti-small business". Professor Tiefer will be reviewing the new policy that the SBA proposed on September 20, 2014.

If the new SBA policy were adopted small businesses that provide a wide range of information technology (IT) products would lose their small business status and be forced out of the federal market place. Under current federal policy, most small businesses that provide IT products to the federal government and government prime contractors are classified as Information Technology Value Added Resellers (ITVARs) and operate under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541519.

The current small business size standard for NAICS code 541519 is 150 employees. If the new SBA policy is adopted those small businesses that provide IT products to the federal government will be considered a large business if their annual sales exceed $27.5 million. At the same time thousands of small businesses in the IT industry will be reclassified as large businesses, the SBA will continue to report billions of dollars in awards to Fortune 500 firms and their subsidiaries as small business contracts.

In a recent hearing in the House Small Business Committee, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was scolded for diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Chevron. The SBA has recently adopted policies that will allow many of the largest firms in a variety of industries to be considered small businesses. The Washington Post published a story critical of the new policies titled, "How 8,500 large companies will become small businesses overnight."

The ASBL has launched a national campaign to bring media attention to the significant negative impact the new SBA policy could have on small businesses in the IT industry. Computer Reseller News (CRN) reported on Lloyd Chapman's successful campaign back in 2003 to force the SBA to reduce the small business size standard on NAICS code 541519 from 500 employees down to 150 employees.

CRN journalist Sarah Kuranda has released an in-depth story on the issue with quotes from numerous firms that could be devastated if the new policy is adopted.

Professor Tiefer has been reviewing the new propose SBA policy for several days and agrees with the ASBL that it would have a significant negative impact on thousands of small businesses that are currently providing IT products to the federal government.

Professor Tiefer is expected to submit his formal comment to the SBA later this week. The SBA will be taking public comment on the proposed policy changes until Nov. 10.

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SOURCE American Small Business League