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Today I had the honor of representing AIA members from around the country at a meeting of a sub-committee of the House's Committee on Small Business. My testimony was on "Proposed Changes to the Small Business Size Standards' brought by the SBA.
These proposed changes would place architectural firms in the same classification as Engineers, Interior Designers, Landscape Architects and Surveyors, just to name a few. It also increases the definition of small firms to ones who generate 19 million dollars in revenue.
Now, I don't know about you, but my 7 person firm would love to generate that kind of revenue. In fact, these standards, if adopted, would cover over 95% of architecture firms in this country. My 5 person firm should not, in my opinion, be competing against the Genslers and SOM's of the world for government projects and loans.
The AIA needs more time to hear from all of you on this subject in order to formulate a position that reflects the majority of our membership, the small practicioner. The AIA asked for that time, and the chair of the committee, Rep Joe Walsh (R-IL) and ranking member Kurt Schrader (D-OR) agreed to write the SBA a letter requesting a delay in instituting these changes. It's a good start.
This is a great example of the power of Architect's in Action. The AIA is committed to representing its members, no matter what the size of their firm or their practice specialty. We have a great advocacy staff, but it's the members that drive the agenda. Please use this forum to let them know your feelings on this subject.
Here's a link to my testimony:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SmallBizRepublicans#p/u/6/h-01pl_VTqo-------------------------------------------
Walter Hainsfurther FAIA
Kurtz Associates Architects
Des Plaines IL
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