SBA
Chief rolls out inner city entrepreneurship
initiatives
Computers & BusinessWorld News
Ramon Barquin III
Washington
District of Columbia, USA
Today Steve Preston, head of the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA), announced a new
initiative to boost entrepreneurship in 10
American inner cities as the latest component of
its strategy to advance entrepreneurship in
underserved markets. The Agency will partner with
the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to
develop a program to support the financial and
developmental needs of emerging inner city
companies. The design and city selection process
will begin shortly, with implementation expected
early next year.
“SBA is increasing outreach to areas
historically challenged by high levels of
unemployment and poverty,” said Preston.
“We believe bolstering entrepreneurial
success in these areas will generate new jobs,
attract investment, and provide a more
sustainable economic base in distressed
areas.”
Preston also said SBA intends to modify its
Community Express loan program so that it is
simpler for lenders and borrowers to use and
focused more on underserved markets. This
program, which has the highest minority
participation of any SBA lending product,
involves a cooperative effort between SBA lenders
and development resource partners to focus the
agency’s financial and technical assistance
on distressed communities.
According to SBA’s Office of Advocacy, small
businesses are the greatest source of net new
employment in inner cities and account for 80
percent of total employment. However, the job
growth rate in inner cities lags behind the rest
of metropolitan areas (State of Inner City
Economies: Small Businesses in the Inner
City,” Oct. 2005).
As part of a broader initiative on underserved
markets announced last month, the agency is
working to accelerate entrepreneurship in inner
cities and rural areas through new and improved
SBA programs and activities that fall into four
main tracks:
- Improving entrepreneurial
literacy and technical assistance in
inner city communities;
- Providing more advanced
financial and developmental assistance to
emerging growth companies in inner city
communities;
- Enabling access to capital
across underserved communities;
- Improving access to
government contracting opportunities.
In addition to today’s
announcements, Preston recently unveiled Rural
Lender Advantage, a simpler loan approval process
designed to spur economic growth in
America’s rural communities. Part of the
agency’s popular 7(a) loan program, Rural
Lender Advantage encourages smaller, rural
lenders to partner with SBA by requiring less
paperwork, offering services online, and
providing greater lender support. It will begin
in six states, but the agency expects to expand
it nationwide.
Earlier this month, the agency also announced a
partnership with Operation HOPE, Inc. in New York
City’s Harlem neighborhood to provide
training, counseling and business education to
budding entrepreneurs. Counselors from SBA’s
established resource partners in New York will
work at the center on a rotating basis.
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