How does SBA develop or revise a size standard?
At SBA, only the Administrator can approve creating or changing size standards. Before this can happen, the Office of Size Standards (OSS) makes recommendations to the the Administrator. Both establishing and modifying size standards involve the examination and analysis of industry structural characteristics and the relative position of firms within an industry in terms of size. Before OSS makes any recommendation to the Administrator, it completes economic studies of the various industry structures, prepares issue papers, and makes preliminary or interim presentations to the Board. In general, we consider these factors in establishing or reviewing size standards: • industry structure analysis, • degree of competition, • average firm size, • startup cost, • entry barriers, • distribution of sales and employment by firm size, • impact of different size standard levels on the objectives of SBA programs, and • comments from the public on notices of proposed rulemaking. • We also take into
