WASHINGTON - They are among America's larger companies: Verizon Communications, AT&T Wireless, Barnes & Noble booksellers and Dole Food Co. But in the government's contractor database they are listed as small businesses.

The mistaken designations, contained in records obtained by The Associated Press, mean the government has overstated the contract dollars that are going to small businesses at a time when the Bush administration has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible.

"The numbers are inflated. We just don't know the extent," said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration.

Drabkin, whose agency maintains the records entered by contracting officials across the government, said the GSA is working to ensure accurate entries in the future but past errors are "not something we can clean up overnight."

Once a company's status is mischaracterized, it stays that way through the life of a contract - which can be 20 years. That means smaller firms that the administration intended to help may be frozen out from fresh business by the bigger companies with the incorrect designations.

"This transition has led to the apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business," said Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

One small businessman who is pushing to have the listings corrected says workers are paying in lost jobs.

"Most Americans work for small businesses, and most of all the new jobs are created by small businesses. This certainly has a dramatic impact on job creation," said Lloyd Chapman, who formed the California-based Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association.

The government defines a small business as one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. Size standards change from one industry to another, based on either the number of employees or revenues.

Among the contractors designated as small businesses in the records obtained by the AP were:

• Verizon, the largest local phone company in the nation, and Verizon Wireless, the company's joint venture that is the largest U.S. wireless provider.
• Barnes & Noble, the top U.S. bookseller, with superstores in 49 states and the District of Columbia, plus mall stores under different names.
• AT&T Wireless, the cellular phone spinoff from AT&T.
• KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root. KBR is one of the world's largest providers of oil field services and part of the company Vice President Dick Cheney ran before taking office in 2001.

They are among America's larger companies: Verizon Communications, AT&T Wireless, Barnes & Noble booksellers and Dole Food Co. But in the government's contractor database they are listed as small businesses.

The mistaken designations, contained in records obtained by The Associated Press, mean the government has overstated the contract dollars that are going to small business at a time when the Bush administration has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible.

"The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the extent," said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration.

Drabkin, whose agency maintains the records entered by contracting officials across the government, said the GSA is working to ensure accurate entries in the future but past errors are "not something we can clean up overnight."

Once a company's status is mischaracterized, it stays that way through the life of a contract -- which can be 20 years. That means smaller firms the administration intended to help may be frozen out from fresh business by the bigger companies with the incorrect designations.

"This transition has led to the apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business," said Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

One small businessman who is pushing to have the listings corrected says workers are paying in lost jobs.

"Most Americans work for small businesses and most of all the new jobs are created by small businesses. This certainly has a dramatic impact on job creation," said Lloyd Chapman, who formed the California-based Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association.

The government defines a small business as one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.

Size standards change from one industry to another, based on either the number of employees or revenues.

Among the contractors designated as small businesses in the records obtained by the AP were:

The Bush administration has set a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts, but has fallen about 3 percentage points short after awarding $53 billion to small companies.

Officials now acknowledge that the percentage was inflated by the erroneous database entries and that the true amount of federal business that went to small firms was smaller.

Investigators from Congress' General Accounting Office found no evidence that large companies had tried to manipulate the designations found in the database.

Rather, they blamed the mistakes on federal contracting officials who either entered wrong codes for business size or re-entered outdated information.

Large companies said they never intended to be listed as small businesses.

WASHINGTON -- They are among America's larger companies: Verizon Communications, AT&T Wireless, Barnes & Noble booksellers and Dole Food Co. But in the government's contractor database they are listed as small businesses.

The mistaken designations, contained in records obtained by The Associated Press, mean the government has overstated the contract dollars that are going to small business at a time when the Bush administration has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible.

``The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the extent,'' said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration.

Drabkin, whose agency maintains the records entered by contracting officials across the government, said the GSA is working to ensure accurate entries in the future but past errors are ``not something we can clean up overnight.''

Once a company's status is mischaracterized, it stays that way through the life of a contract -- which can be 20 years. That means smaller firms that the administration intended to help may be frozen out from fresh business by the bigger companies with the incorrect designations.

``This transition has led to the apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business,'' said Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

One small businessman who is pushing to have the listings corrected says workers are paying in lost jobs.

``Most Americans work for small businesses and most of all the new jobs are created by small businesses. This certainly has a dramatic impact on job creation,'' said Lloyd Chapman, who formed the California-based Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association.

The government defines a small business as one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. Size standards change from one industry to another, based on either the number of employees or revenues.

The Bush administration has a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts, but has fallen about 3 percentage points short after awarding $53 billion to small companies.

Officials now acknowledge that the percentage was inflated by the erroneous database entries and that the true amount of federal business that went to small firms was smaller.

Small businesses are major political players, according to campaign contribution figures supplied by the Center for Responsive Politics, an organization that tracks campaign finance donations.

The political action committee of the National Federation of Independent Business, which calls itself the voice of small business, gave more than $762,000 to federal candidates in the 2002 election cycle -- with 97 percent going to Republicans.

Investigators from Congress' General Accounting Office found no evidence that large companies had tried to manipulate the designations found in the database. Rather, they blamed the mistakes on federal contracting officials who either entered wrong codes for business size or re-entered outdated information.

Large companies said they never intended to be listed as small businesses.

``We work with a variety of small businesses in going after federal business. We hope that businesses are properly categorized in accordance with federal regulations,'' said Kevin Irland of Verizon.

A wide range of companies and industry groups raised objections to SBA's proposed rule requiring firms to recertify their small-business eligibility annually.

The proposed rule would require annual recertification for companies on GSA schedules, governmentwide acquisition contracts and other multiple award contracts. It would not affect options on individual contracts awarded by an agency. (SAA, 5/2)

Robert Fithian, CEO of UTD Inc. in Springfield, VA, summed up many small firms' objections in his comment: "The fact that a business grows during the performance periodis a good thing, not something that should be penalized."

But Mike Klewicki, government contracting administrator for Tri-Chem Corp., countered, "The intent of the (procurement) goals is to help businesses that are SBs now, not businesses that used to be SBs back when."

SBA tallied 678 comments on the rule, but more than 500 of them were identical e-mail messages in favor generated by the Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association. The association's president, Lloyd Chapman, has been aggressively pushing the issue.

Among companies, organizations and government agencies filing individual comments, opponents outnumbered those favoring the rule by three-to-one. The comment period ended June 24.

Several commenters favored requiring recertification every five years, when options on GSA schedule contracts are exercised. GSA endorsed five-year re-certification in a directive issued last fall.

The Defense Department, the government's largest buyer, also favors a five-year period. "It is our view that re-certification once a year places an unreasonable burden on both industry and the Government, "wrote Frank Ramos, director of DOD's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business utilization.

He said the uncertainty caused by annual recertification would hamper agencies' acquisition planning.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, called the proposed rule "burdensome, unnecessary ... The natural growth of small businesses should be protected in order to increase the industrial base, foster meaningful employment opportunities, and increase competition for federal work."

Several commenters objected that a firm might exceed small-business size standards one year, then drop back below the limit the next year. Larry Allen, executive vice president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, said the rule would create a "size roller coaster ... penalizing small firms that have one or two good years."

The Professional Services Council, the Contract Services Association of America and Women Impacting Public Policy also filed comments against the proposal.

WIPP president Terry Neese wrote, "(I)t fails to acknowledge that SBA should be encouraging small businesses to increase in size due to natural growth rather than creating a class of businesses penalized for being too small to be big and too big to be small."

Donald Holzworth, CEO of Constella Group Inc. in Durham, NC, said the proposal would be unfair to companies that have formulated their business plans "safe in the knowledge" that they would continue to benefit from small-business status on their GSA schedule contracts.

Several business executives also said the rule would harm teaming arrangements and mentorprotege partnerships if the small partner outgrew size standards.

Among those favoring the rule, several said that annual recertification would not create an administrative or paperwork burden on companies. They

for small business contracts. In the words of John Klein of Digital Technologies Inc. in Sterling, VA, "it will make a huge difference in fairness of competition among small business firms."

But Anthony Terrazas, president of Terra Health Inc. in San Antonio, declared, "the simple fact is that crossing a dollar threshold does not make a company wen positioned to realistically compete with full and open competition that may have billions in revenues."

Angela Styles, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, had pushed for annual recertification, saying it "win lead to more opportunities for real small businesses."

WASHINGTON -- They are among America's larger companies: Verizon Communications, AT&T Wireless, Barnes & Noble booksellers and Dole Food. But in the government's contractor database they are listed as small businesses.

The mistaken designations, contained in records obtained by Associated Press, mean the government has overstated the contract dollars that are going to small business at a time when the Bush administration has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible.

"The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the extent," said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration.

Drabkin, whose agency maintains the records entered by contracting officials across the government, said the GSA is working to ensure accurate entries in the future but past errors are "not something we can clean up overnight."

Once a company's status is set, it stays that way through the life of a contract - which can be 20 years. That means smaller companies that the administration intended to help may be frozen out from fresh business by the bigger companies with the incorrect designations.

"This transition has led to the apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business," said Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

One small businessman who is pushing to have the listings corrected says workers are paying in lost jobs.

"Most Americans work for small businesses and most of all the new jobs are created by small businesses. This certainly has a dramatic impact on job creation," said Lloyd Chapman, who formed the California-based Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association.

The government defines a small business as one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. Size standards change from one industry to another, based on either the number of employees or revenues.

Among the contractors designated as small businesses in the records obtained by the AP:

Verizon, the largest local phone company in the nation, and Verizon Wireless, the company's joint venture that is the largest U.S. wireless provider.

Barnes & Noble, the top U.S. bookseller, with large stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia, plus mall stores under different names.

AT&T Wireless, the cellular phone spinoff from AT&T.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which includes Sheraton, St. Regis and Westin hotels.

Dole Food, the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade, one of the top U.S. transportation engineering firms with projects around the world.

KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root. KBR is one of the world's largest providers of oil field services and part of the company Vice President Dick Cheney ran before taking office in 2001.

The Bush administration has set a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts, but has fallen about 3 percentage points short after awarding $53 billion to small companies.

Officials now acknowledge that the percentage was inflated by the erroneous database entries.

Small businesses are significant political players, according to campaign contribution figures supplied by Center for Responsive Politics, an organization that tracks campaign finance donations.

The political action committee of the National Federation of Independent Business, which calls itself the voice of small businesses, contributed more than $762,000 to federal candidates in the 2002 election cycle--with 97 percent going to Republicans.

Investigators from Congress' General Accounting Office found no evidence that large companies had tried to manipulate the designations found in the database. They blamed the mistakes on federal contracting officials who either entered wrong codes for business size or re-entered outdated information.

Large companies said they never intended to be listed as small businesses.

"We work with a variety of small businesses in going after federal business. We hope that businesses are properly categorized in accordance with federal regulations," said Kevin Irland, a spokesman for Verizon.

The SBA said it refers companies to the agency's inspector general whenever it finds suspected fraudulent misrepresentation.

One company the SBA said it referred is GTSI Corp., of Chantilly, Va., a computer equipment company whose business with the federal government accounts for about three-quarters of its sales. The company has noted in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it lost its "small" designation in February 1998, but continues to have some 80 federal contracts.