[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 82 (Thursday, May 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 
                      REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE SESTAK

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2007

  Mr. SESTAK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a piece of 
legislation to enhance two, critical Small Business Administration, 
SBA, Entrepreneurial Development programs, Small Business Development 
Centers, SBDCs, and the Service Corps for Retired Executives, SCORE.
  Serving as the Representative in a District that has been 
historically driven economically by vibrant local, small businesses, I 
greatly appreciate and support the entrepreneurial development 
assistance that the SBA provides.
  We know that entrepreneurial development assistance programs work. 
Businesses who receive SBA entrepreneurial assistance are twice as 
likely to succeed. In addition, every Federal dollar spent on 
entrepreneurial development generates seven dollars in increased tax 
revenue.
  In the past three years, due to changes in our ever-changing 
globalizing economy, my District has lost 607 small businesses, and 1 
out of 5 manufacturing establishments. This is a trend that I am 
committed to reversing through fostering entrepreneurial development 
and creating the right set of conditions to help businesses flourish, 
stay and be attracted to in my District, and I believe that supporting 
effective small business entrepreneurial development programs is a key 
part of that strategy.
  In 1980, Congress established the SBDC program to foster economic 
development by providing management, technical and research assistance 
to current and prospective small businesses. As you know, SBDCs provide 
services which include, but are not limited to, assisting small 
businesses with financial, marketing, production, organization, 
engineering and technical problems and feasibility studies.
  SBDCs serve Americans with the desire to start their own venture, but 
lack the technical expertise associated with starting and running a 
successful business, and in the past few decades, have provided 
assistance to millions of entrepreneurs across the United States.
  The SBDC program also represents the effective and efficient use of 
allocated Federal monies through public/private collaboration to 
provide necessary technical and mentoring assistance. To that end, 
SBDCs are funded by matching monies by state legislatures, foundations, 
State and local chambers of commerce, public and private universities, 
vocational and technical schools, and community colleges. In fact, 
sponsors' contributions have been increasingly exceeding the minimum 50 
percent matching share, signifying greater participation among such 
groups and institutions.
  This is why I feel especially fortunate to have several Small 
Business Development Sub-Centers located at local universities, such as 
Widener University, Kutztown University, and the University of 
Pennsylvania, Wharton, which provides critical business resources and 
technical assistance to small businesses in and around my District.

  I would like to stress that the core SBDC program has been extremely 
effective, but there are certain operational improvements that can be 
implemented to increase flexibility of Small Business Development 
Centers to better support and serve our local small businesses and our 
aspiring entrepreneurs.
  To that end, changes proposed in this legislation will ensure the 
quality of grant recipients to host SBDCs; help SBDCs maintain their 
autonomy from undue SBA interference; protect the confidentiality of 
SBDC clients; ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent as 
efficiently as possible by not using SBDC funds except for the sole 
purpose of business development; and allowing exemptions to the current 
cap on non-matching portability grants in the event of Federally-
designated natural or human-caused disasters.
  In addition to these operation changes, it is important to strengthen 
the SBDC core program, which successfully navigates entrepreneurs in 
managing their business, by establishing specific grant programs that 
will allow SBDCs to tailor their services to meet the needs of 
particular business constituencies.
  For instance, the Capital Access Initiative would establish grants to 
assist entrepreneurs in processing loan applications and obtaining 
private equity. An Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative would 
establish grants to allow SBDCs to become ``Technology Centers,'' to 
help market technologies and advanced projects to manufacturers. A 
Disaster Recovery Program would establish grants to allow SBDCs to 
assist and coordinate the Federal response for small business disaster 
victims.
  The Older Entrepreneurial Assistance program will target older 
Americans interested in transitioning to become business owners, while 
the Small Business Sustainability Initiative will promote the 
development and implementation of energy efficient and clean energy 
improvements and technology. A National Regulatory Assistance 
Initiative will provide assistance to small businesses to comply with 
Federal regulatory requirements, and an Affordable Health Care 
Initiative, will help small business owners provide affordable health 
care insurance options to their employees.
  As I also mentioned, a second program which this legislation will 
address is SCORE, which provides entrepreneurs with free counseling 
assistance by former executives. SCORE provides a valuable service to 
small businesses, and I believe it will be even stronger with a 
provision to actively recruit volunteer mentors who will greater 
reflect the social and economic diversity of those who utilize SBA 
services, such as women and underrepresented minorities.
  Again, thank you for allowing me to speak this morning about this 
important bill, which will greatly enhance the business development 
resources available to America's small business owners and aspiring 
entrepreneurs.

                          ____________________