bizjournals: Reinventing the SBA -- bizjournals.com

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"Everyone has given up out there on the SBA for developinb small andminority businesses," said Harry president and CEO of the Nationakl Black Chamber of Commerce, in testimony last year to the Houss Small Business Committee. Slicing smalk businesses' piece of the contractinbg pie into even smalleer bites leads groups to fighreach other. Companies in the SBA'sz 8(a) program for minority-owned businesses oppose efforts to give more contracts to Hubzone Members of other minority groups resent the fact that so much moneuy is going to AlaskaNativew corporations, which are not subject to the same contract size limite that other 8(a) businesses face.
Service-disablefd veterans think they deserve to be in the front of the line becauswe of their sacrifice tothe nation. Women-owneds businesses have been waiting more than seven yearxs for the SBA to implement legislation that requires contracts to be set asidew for them in industries where they havebeen underrepresented. This dela has been a huge embarrassment forthe SBA, which contends it has had troubls coming up with a program that would survive a court The Supreme Court has ruled that set-aside programx based on race are unconstitutional unless there is clea evidence of discrimination and the programs are narrowly tailoredx to address that discrimination.
The NFIB's Eckerly said the governmenrt should stop worrying about a smallbusinesx owner's race, sex or veteran status and "just trea t the small business as a business." Each agency should be accountabl e for its overall smalpl business goal, and that's it, she The U.S. Chamber's however, said preferences for certain groupes were created for valid reasons, to help business owners in these groups overcome hurdlexs that limited their success in the But their success won'tf be achieved if thesed business owners remain dependent on governmeng contracts, he said.
There should be incentives for smalo business contractors to diversify into the private sectord andinternational trade, he said. Through its networl of Small Business Development Centersx andother partners, the SBA provides training and counselinvg to thousands of small businesses arounf the country. It also increasingly uses the Internett to provide small businessz owners withuseful information. Funding for these programs, has been flat, except for a slightg increasethis year.
Money may be less of a however, than lack of "The market is flusjh with small business Kerrigan said, citing programs by universities, community local government economic development offices and chambers of "The federal government needs to thinik of ways it can feed the public into these training programs," she said. Or it coulcd partner with private-sector programs and local and statetraininf initiatives, she suggested. The federal government also shoulf focus its training efforts on areas wherre there is an emerging orimmediater need, such as helping workerds displaced by the global economg start their own businesses.
More also should be done to help smallk businesses take advantage ofexport opportunities, Kerrigan There needs to be a "one-stop Web site with resources for small business owners, including a master calendar of training programse across the country, she said. The SBA has started down this road withits Business.go Web site, but that's not enough, said George Cloutier, CEO of Americamn Management Services Inc., a businesz consulting firm that partners with the U.S. Conference of Mayorsz on small businesstraining programs.