Small Business Administration Agrees to Turn Over PR Executive’s E-Mail

April 2, 2008

Petaluma, Calif. – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has agreed to turn over two years of correspondence from Mike Stamler, the agency’s Press Office Director, to the American Small Business League (ASBL).

The ASBL requested the information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The ASBL believes Stamler’s correspondence will help to expose the SBA’s long-standing public relations campaign to misrepresent the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 1000 firms. The SBA has consistently tried to deny the problem by describing it as “miscoding” and a “myth”. (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/news_07-30.pdf )

The ASBL was preparing to file suit against the SBA in federal district court in San Francisco when the agency finally decided to release the information. The SBA is charging the ASBL $2300.00 to provide the information.

To read more, please visit http://www.asbl.com/press2.php.

Commentary: Small business leaders lacking

George Cloutier, the founder, chairman and CEO of American Management Services and co-chairman of Partner America American Management Services, released this commentary today. In the piece, Mr. Cloutier points to inadequacies within the Bush administration, which have lead to little being done to prevent problems currently facing small businesses across America. Specifically, Mr. Cloutier points to inadequate leadership within presidentially appointed small business positions.

"Steve Preston, the head of the Small Business Administration has no small business experience, while leading a federal agency that is supposed to help out and be the eyes and ears of small businesses communities all around the country. Preston has never started a small business himself or owned a small business. Yet, he is running an agency devoted to entrepreneurs," Cloutier stated.

To read the entire article, please click Here.

Senate Bill Adds $100 Million to the SBA Budget | AllBusiness.com

Senate Bill Adds $100 Million to the SBA Budget

Congress returned to work this week after a mini-break and topping their agenda will be the FY2009 budget. Of particular interest to small businesses is the Senate’s budget bill. It will add $100 million to the fund-starved Small Business Administration (SBA). To read more, please click Here.

By Keith Girard, Business Columnist at www.AllBusiness.com

Who is bidding on that small-business contract? | Sunherald.com

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, the sunherald.com ran an op-ed by American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman regarding the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations. In the piece, Mr. Chapman states:

"Today, small businesses representing hundreds of different industries across America are unknowingly competing head-to-head with Fortune 500 corporations and multibillion-dollar European conglomerates for even the smallest federal contracts.

In fact, the American Small Business League estimates that more than $60 billion a year in federal small-business contracts are diverted from legitimate small businesses to large corporations."

To read more, please click on the following link: http://www.sunherald.com/205/story/456326.html

Wall Street's crisis hitting small business | The Christian Science Monitor

Wall Street's crisis hitting small business
Some companies are having problems getting loans, and others are being informed of reduced credit lines.

By Ron Scherer Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
March 28, 2008 edition

Filed Bankruptcy? Lost Small Business Contracts to Large Corporations? Please Contact the ASBL

The American Small Business League (ASBL) team has been contacted by two reporters who are working on stories that relate to small business matters for mainstream media outlets. We are looking for small business owners that have had an experience that relates to one of the following situations. If you would like to share an experience or an opinion please let us know by sending an e-mail to info (at) asbl.com.

Specifically, these reporters are looking for:

Small business owners that have had to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or take a second mortgage against their house as a means of maintaining their small business.

or

Small business owners that have lost federal contracting opportunities to large DOD contractors like: Boeing, Halliburton and Lockheed Martin.

SBA Refuses To Provide Justification for Withholding Contracting Data in Federal Lawsuit

Please click Here (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1015) to check out the American Small Business League's (ASBL) most recent press release regarding the ASBL's lawsuit against the Small Business Administration, which was filed on February 6 in United States District Court, Northern District of California.

The lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) over the SBA's refusal to release the names of Fortune 1000 firms that received billions of dollars in Federal small business contracts during 2005 and 2006.