Set-aside task orders awarded to a small business would no longer have their size status protected for duration of the project per a proposed rule issued recently by the Small Business Administration (SBA) (https://tinyurl.com/yc69vthh)  Current Schedule rules allow a federal customer to use the size status of the contractor at the time of award to determine whether the company is small.  That status usually remains the same through the life of the task order, even if the company’s size status later changes.  The SBA rule, however, would end that practice and require companies to re-certify in the case of a “triggering event”, such as a sale, merger or acquisition, or if a contracting officer requires the company to recertify its size status.  If the company is no longer small, it is ineligible to continue working on a small business set-aside task order and cannot compete for new set-aside orders.  Current rules provide companies flexibility and a reasonable transition period in the event they are purchased or grow beyond their small size status.  The proposed SBA rule would essentially eliminate that runway, requiring companies to transition overnight from small to “other than small”.  Other types of IDIQ contractors would also be impacted.  The proposed rule makes clear that small MAC contractors experiencing the same types of “triggering events” would be ineligible to bid for set-aside work but would retain eligibility to compete for unrestricted task orders.  This latest SBA proposal is just one of many changes it is proposing on how small businesses are defined and conduct business.  While the agency is generally trying to ensure that set-aside projects go to actual small businesses, the net impact may be to penalize companies that have been successful in the market.  If this seems ironic, it’s because it is.  The government says on one hand that they want to attract small businesses and then make them successful.  The proposed SBA rule, however, effectively punishes any company for becoming “too successful”.  Comments on the proposed rule are due to SBA October 7^th.  Make sure your voice is heard.