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Please e-mail the American Small Business League (ASBL) at brianreeder@asbl.com. Thank you.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

SBA Moves to Include Big Business in Small Business Programs

Petaluma, Calif. - On Tuesday, May 27, the Small Business Administration (SBA) surprised small business owners around the country by announcing they will hold crucial public meetings regarding a comprehensive review of small business size standards in Washington D.C. on June 3rd. Small business size standards are one of the most important topics concerning small federal contractors because they will determine which companies will be able to participate in federal small business contracting programs.

SBA critics believe the extreme short notice of the meetings is no accident, and was designed to make it more difficult for firms and organizations outside of the Washington D.C. area to be in attendance. Notice of such meetings is normally given months in advance. With such short notice, the input from the meetings will be dominated by subsidiaries of Fortune 1000 firms and large firms in the D.C. area that currently receive a major portion of all federal small business contracts. Lobbyists and trade groups that support large businesses in the IT industry are also expected to attend.

To read more, please click here: http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1055

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

SBA Budget Dropped from $2.23 Billion in FY 2006 to $571.8 Million in FY 2007, According to Businessweek.com

As many of you may have seen, on Friday, May 23, Amy S. Choi with Businessweek.com reported,

"The budget for the SBA dropped to $571.8 million in fiscal 2007, from $2.23 billion in fiscal 2006, including all supplemental funding and congressional earmarks, reported the SBA."

Excluding all supplemental funding and congressional earmarks the SBA's budget has been cut more than any other federal agency since the Bush Administration took office. In fact according to Fred Hochberg at Huffingtonpost.com, "Under the Bush Administration, the SBA has sustained the largest budget cut - 40 percent - of any federal agency." Hochberg notes that Congressional Democrats have been able to restore 15% of the cut, reducing the total budget cut to 25%. However, he also notes that 25% still represents the largest cut of any federal agency.


Sources:

www.businessweek.com


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-hochberg/small-businesses-create-j_b_101601.html