The U.S. Small Business Administration plans to widen its definitions of “small business” to add another estimated 110,000 companies to the ranks of the 36.2 million small businesses in the country, an increase of 0.3%. The move would make these firms newly eligible for SBA loans and allow them to bid on government contracts that are reserved for the smallest businesses—though the proposed policy change likely faces months of federal review before it’s fully adopted.
According to a notice published Thursday morning in the Federal Register, the agency aims to update its “size standards” across industries to help more small firms compete with bigger businesses such as Boeing and Raytheon that tend to dominate the government contract arena.