What is SBA?

SBA stands for Small Business Association and was established under President Eisenhower over 50 years ago. Its mission is to assist American entrepreneurs who want to start or grow their businesses. It's a very simple mission with a very clear agenda. We work with those entrepreneurs to do a variety of programs and services so they get what they need, when they need it, and we do that in a variety of ways. We have three resource partners: Score, SBDC, and Women's Business Centers that work with entrepreneurs in their communities and essentially provide business coaching face to face, as well as training on topical business subjects; whether it's developing a business plan or doing market research. So that's one component; you can look at it as business consultants if you are in the private sector. If you need financial assistance, we have a whole division on access to capital and credit. They have a variety of financial assistance packages and that's everything from loan to construction loan to surety bond guarantees. So there's a variety of assistance and I think you will be pleased with the diversities. Another area for small businesses is the federal market place government contracting. We have a whole division at SBA that is devoted to ensuring that small businesses get a piece of the federal procurement pie. For those businesses that want to go global, we have an office of international trade that helps them export goods and services. We have special outreach to veterans, to women, to minorities, to youth and we also have an advocacy section, which is the voice for small business within the federal government. The SBA is a federal government agency.