SBA gets expanded oversight role

The Small Business Administration now is responsible for establishing the certification of small businesses as small disadvantaged, 8 (a) certified or HUBZone-certified.

Previously, small businesses that registered or upgraded their profiles online in the federal Central Contractor Register database could indicate their own federal certification status. Effective April 22, SBA will designate the specific status of small-business contractors.

This is one of several changes to the database by SBA, the Office of Management and Budget, General Services Administration and the Department of Defense to expand SBA's oversight over the small-business designation process.

"This upgrade to the CCR database will improve upon the accuracy of the federal government's reporting of small-business achievements and will allow SBA to monitor and confirm the companies' small-business status," said SBA Administrator Hector Barreto in a news release.

The database is an online business portal to help small businesses sell to the federal government and to find partners for contracting opportunities. It's part of the Integrated Acquisition Environment, one of the e-Gov initiatives managed by GSA.

In another change designed to strengthen oversight, small businesses filing information in the database will be given a small-business fraud and misrepresentation acknowledgement statement listing the penalties imposed for misrepresentation as a small business.

In addition, the database industry codes have been updated to a 2002 standard, from a 1997 standard.

While 14 of the 20 industry classification codes remain the same, there are significant changes in coding for Internet publishing and broadcasting, Web hosting, Web design, and provision of telecommunications-related consulting services. There also are changes for construction, wholesale trade and retail classifications, and small changes for administrative and support services and mining.