Sending Office: Honorable Abby Finkenauer
Sent By:
Tyler.Wilson@mail.house.gov
Support America’s Entrepreneurs & Small Businesses
Entrepreneurial Development Programs FY20 Programmatic Request Letter
Deadline: COB Monday, April 1, 2019 –
Join Here
Dear Colleague;
Please join us in sending a programmatic request letter to the Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Entrepreneurial Development Programs (EDP). It is important these programs be provided robust funding
this fiscal year to support entrepreneurship, small business success, and economic development in rural and urban communities across the country.
These initiatives help entrepreneurs get businesses started, and help existing small businesses market, find new markets, and manage their businesses while ensuring competitive access to contracts and provide technical assistance – often at no cost. Major
EDP’s include Small Business Development Centers (SDBC), Microloan Technical Assistance, Women’s Business Centers (WBC), State and Trade Export Promotion (STEP), Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), and SCORE.
As the Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship and strong advocates for access to capital, counseling, and contracting for our nation’s entrepreneurs and small businesses,
we all understand the importance of these initiatives. Entrepreneurial Development Programs were funded at $247.1 million in Fiscal Year 2018 and $247.7 million in Fiscal Year 2019.
According to the Small Business Administration, America’s 30 million small businesses account for more than 56 million jobs and create two out of three private sector jobs in the United States. We hope you will join us in supporting these small businesses
that support our rural and urban communities around the country.
Please contact Tyler Wilson (Tyler.Wilson@mail.house.gov) with Rep. Finkenauer (D-IA), Libby Callaway (Libby.Callaway@mail.house.gov) with Rep. Joyce (R-PA),
Dao Nguyen (Dao.Nguyen@mail.house.gov) with Rep. Murphy (D-FL), or Allie Esau (Allie.Esau@mail.house.gov) with Rep. Stauber (R-MN) with questions.
The deadline to sign is COB Monday, April 1, 2019 – please add your name through
this online form.
Sincerely,
Abby Finkenauer Dr. John Joyce Stephanie Murphy Pete Stauber
Chairwoman Ranking Member Member of Congress Member of Congress
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Chairman Quigley and Ranking Member Graves;
We respectfully urge you to provide robust funding for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Entrepreneurial Development Programs (EDP) in the Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. Major EDP’s include Small Business
Development Centers (SDBC), Microloan Technical Assistance, Women’s Business Centers (WBC), State and Trade Export Promotion (STEP), Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), and SCORE.
These programs provide training, counseling, and technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners. According to SBA’s 2013 Impact Study, clients that receive three or more hours of counseling have higher survival rates than firms. Those small
businesses also tend to realize significantly higher growth in revenues and employees, compared to those who received less counseling. In FY 2018, more than 1.5 million entrepreneurs participated in counseling, mentoring, and training programs, a 17 percent
increase from FY 2016.
Entrepreneurial Development Programs were funded at $247.7 million in Fiscal Year 2019 and deserve increased robust funding in FY20. For example:
- SBDC’s are in rural, urban, and suburban communities nationwide and many are housed at universities or state agencies. They provide free or low-cost assistance to small businesses like marketing and business strategy, finance, technology
transfer, government contracting, management, manufacturing, engineering, sales, accounting, exporting, and other subjects. With 63 lead SBDC’s managing more than 900 outreach locations in every state, the District of Columbia, and multiple U.S. territories
– in FY17 they trained and advised more than 430,000 clients, and helped clients start more than 14,000 small businesses, obtain more than $5 billion in capital. - The Microloan Program is open to all small business entrepreneurs, but targets new and, early-stage businesses in underserved markets, including borrowers with little to no credit history, low-income borrowers, and women and minority entrepreneurs
in both rural and urban areas who generally do not qualify for conventional loans, or other, larger SBA guaranteed loans. There are currently 144 active intermediaries servicing 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Since the program’s inception
in 1992, intermediaries have made more than $845 million in loans to small businesses that created or retained some 246,000 jobs. - WBC’s assist women entrepreneurs, particularly those in socially and economically disadvantaged areas. There are over 100 WBC’s, with at least one in most states and territories. Each year, WBC’s provide training and counseling services
to over 140,000 entrepreneurs through multilingual services, maintain evening and weekend hours to accommodate clients who work full time, and allow children to attend training sessions with their mothers. - STEP supports states and small businesses trade and export opportunities. The initiative prioritizes assistance to states that have a small number of small businesses that export or proposals that would assist rural, women-owned, and socially
and economically disadvantaged small businesses. Since its inception, STEP has awarded around $139 million to state trade offices, with an average return on taxpayer’s investment (ROI) of $31 to 1 – so for every $1 awarded, STEP reported approximately $31
in sales. - Veterans Business Outreach Center’s (VBOC) include a variety of training and mentorship programs designed to support aspiring and existing veteran entrepreneurs, including service-disabled veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and
military spouses. VBOC’s train and counsel about 50,000 veteran-owned small businesses, about 17,000 veterans participate in the SBA’s Boots to Business Initiative, and thousands more are served by other programs supported by the SBA’s Office of Veterans Outreach. - SCORE is a national network of than 11,000 volunteers at 350 chapters who are entrepreneurs, business leaders, and executives who serve as counselors, advisors, and mentors. SCORE provides personalized one-on-one counseling to help entrepreneurs
start, grow, and manage their small business, as well as workshops, either on-line or in local communities. In FY 2017, SCORE volunteers mentored and trained more than 646,000 clients. In FY 2016, it helped start 54,072 new businesses and create 78,691 new
jobs.
According to the Small Business Administration, America’s 30 million small businesses account for more than 56 million jobs and create two out of three private sector jobs in the United States. We again respectfully urge your support for robust funding for
these small businesses that in-turn support our rural and urban communities around the country.
Sincerely,
__________________________________ __________________________________
Abby Finkenauer Dr. John Joyce
Member of Congress Member of Congress
__________________________________ __________________________________
Stephanie Murphy Pete Stauber
Member of Congress Member of Congress
__________________________________ __________________________________
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Member of Congress Member of Congress
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