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The health and success of the construction industry is critical to our nation’s economy. SBA knows that we must do all we can to make sure this sector grows, compete for contracting opportunities and create jobs. That is why SBA is proud to announce our new “Quick App” for surety bonds. This new application process combines two applications into one to make it easier and faster for small businesses and contractors to compete for contracts. The new application allows the SBA to evaluate risk by asking the contractor to...
Today, I attended a meeting of the White House Rural Council, which focused on our coordinated response to historic drought conditions that are affecting communities across Rural America. Our goal at the SBA and across the Administration is making sure that these hard hit communities have the tools and the resources they need to navigate and recover from these severe drought conditions. To date, the SBA has issued 71 agency drought declarations in 32 states covering more than 1,630 counties. These declarations allow small businesses,...
Remember when Congress voted to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs and the President signed the bill into law back in December, 2011? Implementing laws however, and doing it right, often takes just a little more time. The programs are important to small businesses, each year providing more than $2 billion of R&D funding to innovative small business across a broad range of technologies. After a long series of temporary reauthorizations, this reauthorization...
Over the last three years, SBA has provided small businesses owners and entrepreneurs with the tools they need to not only survive, but thrive in tough economic times. We’ve supported more than $80 billion in loans to more than 150,000 businesses in tight credit markets and worked to bring 1,000 community banks back to SBA lending. Today, we’re seeing commercial markets improve, but we know gaps still remain, especially in underserved communities. At the SBA, and across the Administration, we are committed to building...
SBA has just concluded the public comment period for the size rules on the SBIR program. As we had hoped, the input and comments we received on the rules were robust and included a wide range of opinions. As we now begin the process of digesting the comments and evaluating how to change the proposed rules, I’d like to take this opportunity to let people know where we go from here. Here are four things you should know about the proposed SBIR size rules: SBA was given a tight, congressionally mandated timeline. ...
Today, more than 250,000 service members are transitioning each year from the military to civilian life. These men and women are proven leaders and they have the skills and experience needed to be outstanding business leaders. Veterans over-index in entrepreneurship. One in seven veterans are self-employed or small business owners, and about one quarter of veterans say they are interested in starting or buying their own business. That’s why all across the Administration we are focused on making sure that these brave...
With small businesses that rely on agriculture facing financial hardship as a result of the worst drought to hit the United States in more than 50 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week declared drought disaster areas in nearly half of the counties in the U.S. (1,430 counties out of 3,033) in 32 states. A USDA disaster declaration is different from a declaration by the U.S. Small Business Administration. As you might expect, the declaration makes assistance available to farmers and ranchers in the form of low interest...
Our mission in the Office of Veterans Business Development is to support the men and women who have returned home from active duty and are interested in starting or purchasing their own business. Veterans already over-index in entrepreneurship. Nine percent of all U.S. firms are owned by veterans. More than 2.4 million veteran-owned businesses employ more than 5.75 million individuals. So we know that providing greater access and opportunity to these veteran-owned small businesses will strengthen the American economy...
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs have funded great companies like Qualcomm, Genzyme, and iRobot in their earliest days. These federal programs are what help our entrepreneurs grow, succeed and create jobs, and the Obama Administration has made its success a priority. The good news is, the program was reauthorized for six years by Congress and signed into law by President Obama at the end of 2011. Since then, the Small Business Administration has...
On Thursday, SBA and the White House, in conjunction with the Delta Regional Authority and the Appalachian Regional Commission, will host the Oxford, Mississippi Rural Economic Forum, connecting entrepreneurs and business owners with resources, programs and services to start or a grow a business. The Oxford Rural Economic Forum, the eighth of a multi-city series, will cover topics like the Small Business Investment Company program which helped put more than $400 million in investment capital directly into the hands of high growth...
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by Marie Johns, SBA Deputy Administrator on Friday, August 17, 2012 - 13:28