There are often cases where a small business that’s been awarded a contract has grown bigger. This is especially common in the case of multi-year contracts, but can happen with any contract. At TAPE we’re currently awaiting award on contracts we proposed a year or as many as two years ago, and we’ve definitely grown since then.
It takes awhile for the government to evaluate proposals and in that time a company can grow and might no longer be considered small. That’s theoretically a problem if the contract was set-aside for a small business.
As Sam Finnerty explains in this post about changes to SBA’s small business regulations, SBA is proposing to amend 13 C.F.R. § 121.404(a) to make it clear that the size determination is made at the time of initial offer, OR the first formal response that includes price – this is not always the same time, the price discussion might happen later than the initial offer.
There are some other exceptions and special rules, but the important thing is that size is determined on the date of the proposal submission or the initial offer. This is a very important point because it provides more options and opportunities for substantial growth.
A small business, let’s say, could have a size standard of $15 million when they make an offer and a few years later could be $20 million or even $30 or $40 million. If it’s a five-year contract they could be a $100 million company by the end! With this change, none of that will affect the size standard that was applied at the moment of offer.
For all growing, successful companies, this is a wonderful thing and we want to applaud the SBA for doing this. This change creates a runway or a ramp for companies who’ve won contracts as a small business and meanwhile have grown into a large business.
