28 Million Businesses Strong and Growing: Welcome to SBA’s National Small Business Week!

It’s that time of year again! Today, SBA joins the entire Obama Administration in wishing a very happy National Small Business Week to the more than 28 million American small businesses, their employees and the people they serve! National Small Business Week is a public-private partnership to honor small businesses from communities across America.

Small businesses all over the country continue to thrive, driving the national recovery and creating an American economy built to last. Building on that momentum, President Obama and I visited Taylor Gourmet, a local small business in Washington, to discuss his “to do” list for Congress to create jobs and help restore middle class security last week and kick-off National Small Business Week.

For the past three years, SBA has worked hard to ensure there’s access to opportunity.  We look forward to celebrating small business’ accomplishments, but we know there’s more work to do.  That’s why NSBW is providing small businesses with more tools. 

We will host a matchmaking session to expose small businesses to procurement opportunities with major companies. Registrants will have the opportunity to showcase their products to companies like AT&T, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell looking to buy services from small businesses.

SBA’s Office of International Trade will also host an exporting forum discussion on the opportunities for U.S. small businesses in exporting. The forum will also feature a Turkish Trade Pavilion hosted by the Government of Turkey and explore the possibilities of trade in the growing Turkish market.

Our social media forum on Tuesday provides valuable tips for small businesses looking to take their products to the next level. Following the forum, SBA’s Deputy Administrator Marie Johns will kick off a tweetup sponsored by Mircosoft focused on what it means to be a consumer in the 21^st century and ways to take advantage of opportunities online.

And on Wednesday, I am excited to host a Google+ Hangout with the winners of our SBA Video Contest highlighting SBA products and services that helped grow their businesses.

Check out our full schedule and learn more about what SBA can do for your business.  You can also tune in here to plug-in to our forums and events throughout the week. 

The President believes that this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and supporting small business is an important part of keeping our recovery moving in the right direction creating a robust, resilient economy built to last. At the SBA, our job is to support small businesses and help them do what they do best - grow and create jobs. 

About the Author

Karen Gordon Mills is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA helps both Main Street and high-growth small businesses get access to capital, counseling, federal contracts, disaster assistance and more.