The program’s rules require that the resellers be small businesses rather than large military-industrial conglomerates. Although the Small Business Administration (SBA) still considers it a small business, ADS has achieved astonishing growth since its early days. And it has repeatedly been accused ― by competitors, suppliers, government officials and others ― of outgrowing a program meant for truly small businesses. It also describes how the Defense Department maintained a close relationship with ADS through fraud settlements, questions raised within the Pentagon and an intervention by a U.S. senator. As a result, ADS was still classified as a small business even as its revenue skyrocketed.

Source: Washington Post February 18, 2021 15:35 UTC