Such is the power of inflation that thousands of largecompanies will become "small" next month. Taking into considerationwhat's happened since 2008, the Small Business Administration has revised itssize standard — which is usually stated in number of employees or averageannual receipts — used to determine if a business can be classified as a smallbusiness for SBA and federal contracting programs.

SBA announcedThursday that due to the changes, more than 8,400 additional businesseswill gain small business status under the adjusted size standards and becomeeligible for SBA's financial and federal government procurement programs. TheSBA expects the changes could possibly lead to more than $150 million to $200million in additional federal contracts awarded to small businesses and 80additional loans totaling about $30 million.

The changes are effective July 14.

So what is "small?" The definition varies byindustry, according to the SBA, and is the largest size that a business(including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be to remain classified forassistance. For instance, according to the new guidelines, a funeral home maynot have revenue of more than $7 million while cemeteries and crematories canhave revenue up to $19 million. Appliance repair businesses are capped at $14million in revenue but footwear repair shops can only have revenue of $7million.

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