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Thursday, May 31, 2007

ASBL - New Hampshire Small Businesses Could Lose Millions with New SBA Policy

Petaluma, Calif.- A Small Business Administration Policy proposed by Administrator Steven Preston is set to go into effect June 30th and could cost New Hampshire’s 31,593 businesses with less than 500 employees, millions of dollars over the next five years.

The proposed policy would call for the five-year re-certification of small business status for all firms who have been awarded a federal small business contract based on that standard. The policy will allow Fortune 1000 corporations and their subsidiaries to continue to collect on existing federal small business contracts through the year 2012.

“Five-year re-certification will cost New Hampshire small businesses millions,” American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman said. “Annual re-certification is the best, most reasonable and prudent method of removing Fortune 1000 corporations and their subsidiaries from America’s federal small business contracting program.”

Without annual re-certification, U.S. firms will loose more than $60 billion a year, or more than $300 billion over the next five-years. This could translate to huge losses for New Hampshire small businesses through 2012, Chapman emphasized.

In recent years, the SBA, the SBA Office Inspector General, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Office of Management and Budget and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship have all endorsed an annual re-certification.

The Preston policy could force legitimate small businesses in New Hampshire to compete with some of the largest businesses in the country for even the smallest federal contracts. Groups like the American Small Business League are pledging to rally the support of small businesses around the country and even take legal action if necessary to stop the policy from going into effect.

“The proposed SBA policy is bad for small business and it is bad for New Hampshire,” Chapman said. “New Hampshire’s small business supply more than 305,000 jobs in the state; annual re-certification for all firms with existing federal small business contracts will only protect those employers and their employees.”

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

2008 Presidential Candidates Ignore Backbone of U.S. Economy, According to a Study By My Success Gateway LLC

Petaluma, Calif.- A recent study by My Success Gateway, LLC (www.mysuccessgatway.com/candidate.php) has found that the websites of the 2008 Presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani lack a concentration on solutions for small businesses, seniors and veterans. This is an interesting fact considering that more than 75 million votes are collectively shared between the 25 million small businesses, the 38 million members of the American Association for Retired Persons and the more than 25 million veterans in the United States, says the American Small Business League.

On August 15, 2001, President George W. Bush addressed the Hispano Chamber of Commerce in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in regards to the economic impact of small businesses in America stated, "Most of the new employment in America comes from small-business owners. Small business is the backbone-is the backbone of our economic system."

Contradictory to this statement the Bush Administration has taken action to cut the Small Business Administration's budget significantly during the course of their term. In 2001, the last year in the Clinton administration, the SBA's budget was $1.1 billion. However, at the inception of the Bush Administration the SBA budget proceeded to drop to $579.5 million in 2005 and $456.5 million in 2006, according to a November 21, 2005 article in Inc Magazine.

"It is amazing that this field of candidates are absent of any solutions to strengthen small businesses, the backbone of the U.S. Economy," said Jim Peake of My Success Gateway LLC, a resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses. "Looking at the numbers the current administration has eroded the backbone and America is asleep at the wheel, probably paying more attention to the personal business of Paris Hilton than to the small business backbone of America."

It is concerning that candidates expressed more interest on the war in Iraq, Immigration and wedge issues than the small businesses that make up the backbone of the U.S. economy. "What the candidates fail to realize is that small businesses are funding a significant portion of the war in Iraq, and carrying a heavy burden in repaying the national debt," expressed Peake.

For Instance, in the State of New Hampshire there are 31,593 employer firms with fewer than 500 employees and those firms provide 305,000 jobs in the state. During the 2004 presidential race, George W. Bush received 331,237 popular votes and lost the state to Senator John Kerry who obtained 340,511 popular votes. Thus, by ignoring small business interests the presidential candidates are ignoring a large portion of American voters. "If any one candidate were to focus on small business in New Hampshire they could potentially wrap up the majority of the popular vote for that state," Peake said.

"The fact that the presidential candidates are virtually ignoring small business interests, is an indication that the candidates do not take small businesses seriously," American Small Business League President, Lloyd Chapman said. "Small businesses need to take a look at this situation and realize that it is time to get organized, create a movement for change, and ask these candidates about how are they going to support small businesses in their presidency."

Visit the 2008 presidential candidate web-site review at (www.mysuccessgateway.com/candidate.php) for more information and sign up here (www.asbl.com/join.php) for more breaking information.