By and large the Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as one with no more than 500 employees and average annual earnings of $7 million. I say "by and large" because there are exceptions for certain industries and whether a business is considered as being a wholesale or retail operation. These exceptions - or perhaps fraud - enable such companies as Raytheon, Lockheed and GE to be awarded small business contracts. Because contracts to such firms are awarded by the SBA, the SBA counts them as helping it to achieve its goal of ensuring that 23% of all federal contracts go to small business. And, like so many things in government, this is not a new phenomenon. The SBA IG has been pointing this situation out for at least five years.
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