Glendale News Press, CA
June 30 2005

When small is slightly too big

Businessman wants federal government to define ‘small business’ to
help procure contracts.
By Robert Chacon, News-Press and Leader

GLENDALE — Local publisher John Krikorian wants to level the playing
field when it comes to competition for government contracts.

City, state and federal governments award small firms contracts
through procurement programs at the U.S. Small Business Administration,
but the larger small businesses have an upper hand, he said.

Currently, businesses with as many as 500 employees can be classified
by the administration as a small business.

“If you have 500 employees, you have a team of CPAs and attorneys that
can help you expedite and complete your application,” said Krikorian,
who owns a marketing firm and publishes Business Life Magazine and
Senior Life Magazine with three full-time employees and several
independent contractors. “But when you are a small business with a
dozen or so employees you have to hire help to get it done.”

Acknowledging a possible disparity, the U.S. Small Business
Administration held a public hearing Wednesday in Glendale to seek
public input on when a firm is too big to be considered a small
business.

The hearing was the last in a series nationwide on size standards,
which are used to determine what types of contract or loan programs
small businesses are eligible for.

The agency is looking to update, streamline and simplify regulations,
said Steve Olear, counsel for the agency’s Los Angeles District.

Krikorian was one of four local business owners who participated in
the hearing.

On March 19, 2004, the U.S. Small Business Administration published a
proposed rule change to restructure its small business size standards
by establishing size based on the number of employees and limiting
the number of other criteria. That plan received widespread criticism
from business owners across the country.

The need for the hearings arose out of the conflict.

Wednesday’s hearings did little to alleviate the differences of
opinion regarding how big a small business could be.

“There were three major points of view,” said Alberto Alvarado,
director of the administration’s Los Angeles district. “The predominant
view was that nothing should change. A second said the size of a small
business should increase and a third said the size should decrease.”

Business owners on both sides of the spectrum expressed the same
concern: that it is difficult to compete for government contracts
with larger businesses, Alvarado said.

All recorded comments will become part of the agency’s permanent
record and will be used to help set the future size standards.

A panel of agency officials presided over each of the 11 hearings,
including hearings in San Francisco, Denver, Seattle and New York.